Plight of elderly in B.C.

About two months ago, my brother entered a hospital facility in Victoria because he was suffering with COVID.

My brother had already been already diagnosed with Lewey body dementia. Although my brother received from COVID during his hospital stay, his dementia turned into delirium. He has remained in the hospital as a result. He is waiting for long-term care.

Suggestions were made to my ailing sister-in-law that she take him home. By that time, a geriatric specialist assessed my brother and said he is in the last stages of dementia and is in need of long-term care. Hospital staff continued to pressure

my sister-in-law to take him home.

(After) a brief stay at home, my brother’s case worker and an occupational

therapist assessed him in his home and had him returned to the hospital because they could see that being at home was not an option.

My brother is now in a long wait for long-term care, in a facility with no enrichment program for the residents. He just has to lay in bed and wait for two or three years. He is not the only one. Thousands of people in our province are waiting for long-term care in very similar situations, either at home (with a loved one who cannot provide adequate care) or in a hospital situation.

I would advise all residents of our province who are approaching old age, or have loved ones in the elderly age group, to read the recent Senior's Advocate report, which was released to the public in December 2024.

I have written to the premier, the health minister, (Opposition leader) John Rustad and Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau more than once. I have not received a response from any of them.

I think my letters were heart-wrenching, but there it is—no response. Elderly residents of our province are invisible.

Anne Hunter, West Kelowna