People from Regina and across the province participated in the Seniors’ Summit on Saturday afternoon to have a discussion on pressing issues in seniors health care in Saskatchewan.
Health care workers, family members, researchers and others gathered at the mâmawêyatitân centre in Regina. Hosted by CUPE 5430, the event offered participants a chance to gather information and share their experiences in the health sector.
Sandra Seitz, president of CUPE 5430 which represents 14,000 health care providers in Saskatchewan, said workers are honoured to care for residents within the province’s facilities.
But she feels the government is taking the pride away from employees by not giving them the ability to offer proper care.
“It’s not happening. There needs to be proper staffing in order to provide the care that is needed for any resident in long-term care,” she said.
Sidney Hall, a health care aid from North Battleford, was one of the participants at the summit who wanted to share his experiences working in long-term care in the province.
One of the issues he addressed was the lack of staff that exists in his workplace.
“The situation as it stands now [has us] totally, 100 per cent understaffed on the floor,” he explained. “That puts the stress not only on the workers, since it burns you out really fast, but it puts it onto the resident too.”
Other concerns Hall noted were time restraints when workers are taking care of residents and how staffing problems have not been adjusted properly for the additional work employees face on a daily basis.
He hopes the government will take the time to listen to cries from senior care workers and residents, and find solutions to the problems at hand. “I’d like the government to think about the dignity people deserve.”
Among the presentations that afternoon was keynote speaker Dr. Susan Braedley from Carleton University in Ottawa.
An associate professor at the School of Social Work, Dr. Braedley compiled a report that focuses on the issues surrounding the province’s long-term residential care system named Crumbling Away: Saskatchewan’s Long-Term Residential Care Policy and Its Consequences.
Seitz said they plan to present these findings to the Saskatchewan government.
“Hopefully we can get a meeting with government. They will definitely be getting a copy of this report.”