With over 29,000 publicly funded long-term care home residents to be surveyed in B.C., volunteers will be needed to cover Campbell River.
The survey by the Office of the Seniors Advocate was last done in 2016 and aims to ask residents about their quality of care in the province’s 294 homes. They say it was the first of its kind in Canada and resulted in recommendations including a $240 million investment from the province over three years.
While it is underway in other parts of the province, BC Patient-Centred Measurement regional engagement lead Emily Jurek says the survey will be done in Campbell River in early March.
Jurek says they will try to interview around 300 long-term care residents and they need volunteers to do the job.
This survey follows the COVID-19 pandemic and Jurek adds they are expecting seniors to report different needs than in 2016, but staffing will likely remain an issue.
“We know that there’s a lot of human resource issues,” said Jurek. “There will also likely be some things around family visitation, we’ve heard a lot about that through COVID.
“Another thing that may come up once again that we’re hoping has improved since 2016 is the personal autonomy piece.”
Jurek says that includes daily decisions about when they get up in the morning or eat their meals and make other decisions.
With the survey set to begin early in March, Jurek is encouraging others to volunteer. She adds it takes a couple weeks to get ready for the position, and people can register on their website.
“While the survey is collecting data across the province, it’s also a really neat way to engage with seniors and make an individual difference on a daily basis,” said Jurek. “So many of our volunteers have told me how special it is to get to be there, to listen to the seniors’ stories.”
