Long Term Care and Retirement Communities Conference
Two of the themes of Together We Care, the conference on the future of Long Term Care and Retirement Communities: Passion in health, and passion for health.
Keynote, Paul Alofs is the CEO of one of the top 5 Cancer Reserch Centeres, Princess Margaret Foundation. But he’s also been Executive at the Walt Disney Company, was president of HMV music and is author of Passion Capital. He asks on twitter, in his book, and on stage, what is our greatest asset?
“Passion is the greatest asset we each have.”
In health care – be you provider, supporter, patient, caretiver – passion often gets wrung out in the process of getting through the day-to-day. Alofs, having raised 850 million dollars for the Foundation, remains committed to its power. In his (predictably) impassioned speach, he got the audience chuckling with this quote:
Elizabeth Taylor, to her 7th husband, “I won’t keep you long”
Alof delights and inspires with his 7 elements that make up the Passion Potion – detailed in his book:
- Creed (Beliefs)
- Culture
- Courage
- Brand
- Resources
- Strategy
- Persistence
His spirit and energy echo Ontario Home Care Executive Director, Sue VanderBent’s words:
“What we need for the future is hope and optimism, and we have to learn to embrace living with risk. Someone may be competent in different levels: they may not be able to write cheque but can live alone.”
Alofs and VanderBent shake up conventional thinking – and no doubt that’s precisely what’s needed as we move forward into the new territory of living longer, with more chronic, complex conditions.
From healthy to chronic conditions to complex continuing care: the story of life
As our society wraps its head around a ‘continuum of care’ – through to long term and palliative – there is often uncertainty. Kind of like the computer producrs that promise innovation and reliability, but often fall short – so must we revist our expectations.
Another woman passionate about the care of our elderly, Dr Mary Lou Kelley, reminded in a workshop for Personal Support Workers in Long Term Care: ‘Every treatment (for frail seniors) is a on a trial basis.”
Of the health system, Sue VanderBent describes it as a Gordian Knot: so many work-arounds that it’s impossible to untangle. It has to be sliced apart and started over. What a great image and metaphor.
As Alofs says, there can – and should be – a passion for being responsive to making things better. And who’s to take the lead? This tweet, quoting Psychcologist, Dr Maggie Gibson says it all:
And with that thought, a reminder of the importance of keeping us patients and families involved towards better health for all.
#TogetherWeCare Conference totalled 592,393 twitter impressions. To read all tweets:
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©Kathy Kastner
My granny, whine I lost a day ago was 97 years old. She was completely healthy and fit until a week ago.
Then, once she insisted to visit her house all by herself and stayed there over night, which she had often been doing whenever she wanted and was not a problem until she fell thrice on the ground on the same day. She asked her tenant to call the relatives. The non-medical relative took her to his home and then informed the whole big family about what happened. We- ( me, my Mom and my Dad) rushed at once to see/treat her. My Dad, being a doctor took enough medications to treat her. We reached there, Dad treated her and she was fine that night. Next morning, she fell down in the washroom. Luckily there were no fractures in her bones. We saw her the same morning and she was physiologically totally fine! Ensuring her well-being, we all left for work. Right after reaching our home; I sensed something weird was coming our way and called my sister in law, at whose place she was resting at that time. She said, she is fine, but need someone to talk to her. I rushed immediately to her on a two wheeler vehicle. I stayed there with her that day. Lucky her that I was there with her that night. She got hypoglycaemic while she was asleep and I was right beside her and figured what was happening instantly. Gave her sugar first and then measured her sugar- it was 60. She had trouble breathing right after the three falls episodes the other day. I got worried even after having handled the situation. I called my Mom Dad and insisted them to come instantly. They rushed at the middle of the night and lucky granny again! She had another hypoglycaemic episode right in front of all of us. We gave her oral sugar and a glucose drip. She returned back to normal state in half an hour. She was fine the rest of the day. While she was fine, we decided to take her to the doctors to treat her breathlessness. We took her to the doctor, the doctor was confident that he would be able to restore her health completely within 2 days. Day-1: she was fine, talking to everyone, still doing all her cleaning jobs all by herself (capable and independent both). I slept with her that night. Her strong cough and breathlessness was unbearable for me to see her go through this. I woke up every time she coughed! I would calm her down by rubbing her back, to make her feel soothing! She talked to me in the morning about her old memories with my grandpa, which was fun! Feeling the she is recovering, I went into finish my other works( I had a flight to catch from India to Canada the next day). My cousins were taking care of her! In the afternoon, my cousin called informing us that her pulses shoot up suddenly and what should we do now. We suggested to move her to the ICU. We rushed to her once again and she was fine again. This time the doctors put a catheter on her, though she could walk; they gave her hepperin to dissolve blood clots if any, they started diuretics on her to restore her heart functions. And my granny got weaker than before after all these treatments. More, psychologically than physiologically! She gradually weakened due to stupid medical protocols. My talkative granny was been forced to keep mum and not meet anyone. She was kept in the iCU for the next 2 days. She had stopped eating completely, which was not a good sign. Still totally in her senses, she had decided till her end what she wanted to do and what are her further plans, once she recovers! She is the person I think has the strongest will power, yes, even stronger than the Alexander the Great! Finally, the doctor, when approached by my dad; told my dad that the antibiotics have stopped working on her. Not sure, how?! Plus the forceful medical protocols had given her a new infection by inserting her catheter. Finally, my granny insisted to go home, having felt that she is trapped in the commercial oriented medical treatment. The doctor had to listen as the whole family supported her. So, she was been moved to the general ward the next day; where she slept better. The next morning, I talked to her, she was just like before; totally recovered and normal- my happy and healthy granny! She got discharge upon her insistence! We took her to my aunt’s home; where she wanted to go! She was fine till the afternoon. Until in the evening, she got hypoglycaemic again and didn’t recover through oral sugar. I feel, had she been given exact required treatment, in a timely manner, she had survived and had also avoided a lot of unnecessary pain on her. I regret that I’m not a doctor and that I had to rely upon somebody else’s treatment! I’m sorry, granny! But, in my lifetime, I will do everything possible to bring people’s self esteem high so that they consider each life as valuable irrespective of their age!