You asked us ...
THE PROGRESS OF BILL 140
Bill 140, An Act Respecting Long-Term Care Homes, has passed all the necessary steps as it moved through the Legislature of the Province of Ontario. It will replace 3 (or more, in minor ways) previous Acts, and will become the definitive law in Ontario regarding long-term care homes.
Many of its provisions regarding Residents’ Councils are carried over from previous legislation passed in the late 1980’s, including broad powers, automatic membership for all residents of the home, etc. (Some homes choose to have an Executive, but all residents are members, and there are no rules regarding having an Executive, etc.) Two parts of Bill 140’s sections regarding Residents’ Councils are new/different: one major one, sought by OARC at the public hearings, and granted, was that now only residents can be members of Residents’ Council. Previously people who had Personal Care Power of Attorney for a resident deemed mentally incompetent were allowed to be members of Residents’ Council. With the growth and effectiveness of Family Councils in homes, the change seemed logical and fair to all. The second change regarding Residents’ Councils was suggested at hearings by the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, and is now included: a Residents’ Council will have to approve the choice of the staff person who will work with them.
For the past few months since the Act cleared the legislative steps, attention has turned to the complicated and time-consuming job of drawing up Regulations to accompany the Act. a necessary step to its becoming law. Eventually, perhaps before year’s end, the draft Regulations will be ready for public comment and public hearings. This summer, staff of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) will be visiting a random sample of homes to speak to and hear in private conversation the comments and suggestions of 3 separate and different groups: all residents, family/friends of residents, and front-line staff. This unusual step is a way for at least a sample of residents, those most affected by the Act and Regulations, to “have their say”. In addition, Ministry staff have arranged to visit our OARC Board meeting in June to spend a couple of hours speaking to Board members, all of whom are residents of long-term care homes. We thank them, and look forward to their visit with us.
NEWS ABOUT OUR MANUAL, “WORKING WITH YOUR RESIDENTS’ COUNCIL”
You may remember that to celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary, we pulled together what we had learned in those years, added new material and ideas, and arranged them in a way we hoped staff who worked with Residents’ Councils would find helpful. Every long-term care home in Ontario (over 600 of them plus some small chronic care units of hospitals) received a free copy. Included were an alternative CD-ROM format, and an evaluation form for users to tell us what they liked – or didn’t like! If your received a manual, and have been working with your Residents’ Council using it, we are anxious to hear your feedback.
Now that all our Ontario homes have the manual, we are prepared to offer copies
to retirement homes, and to long-term care settings outside Ontario. We
are charging $55 for each manual, plus $15 for postage (they are large). If
you are interested, give us a call.