Halifax ER sees rise in patients who need community services, not acute medical care | 24CA News
Halifax’s emergency division is reporting an increase in sufferers admitted solely due to social circumstances — and the variety of these sufferers is anticipated to spike over the vacations, a doctor and researcher mentioned Tuesday.
Dr. Jasmine Mah, the Dalhousie University researcher main a examine geared toward studying the best way to look after so-called “social admissions,” mentioned they’re usually older than the common affected person and should not have an acute medical subject however are unable to entry residence care or neighborhood providers.
As properly, these sufferers could also be coping with points associated to psychological well being, dementia or unstable housing, and infrequently find yourself in hospital as a result of their households are having hassle caring for them, Mah mentioned.
“They deserve to be treated well by our system,” she mentioned.
“They deserve to have their needs met.”
“It just seems they haven’t found a place, or service, that provides for those needs in a health system that’s already so constrained.”
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The physician mentioned she’s discovered that all these sufferers are admitted across the vacation season extra usually than the remainder of the 12 months. During her analysis, she has heard tales of grownup youngsters who return residence for the vacations to search out that their mother and father’ well being has declined.
In circumstances the place a household isn’t capable of finding the long-term care, psychological well being care or residence care wanted, Mah says they could flip to the hospital after they really feel like they’ve run out of choices.
“These are families that are trying their best and have nowhere else to turn.”
Sometimes these sufferers are “older adults who don’t have nearby family, so there’s no one to advocate on their behalf,” she mentioned.
Last 12 months, Halifax’s QEII Health Sciences Centre emergency division recorded 109 circumstances of social admissions, Mah mentioned, including that the hospital is on monitor to see 120 circumstances in 2022 — up from 33 reported in 2019.
While these sufferers make up lower than one per cent of admissions, Mah mentioned her analysis discovered that they compose 3.6 per cent of hospital mattress occupants.
“They stay much longer than the average patient.”
Mah mentioned it’s anticipated that if motion isn’t taken to assist this affected person group, extra of them shall be admitted subsequent 12 months.
While analysis continues to be in its early phases, Mah mentioned she sees two approaches that may very well be taken to raised look after social admissions: both growing hospital assets or ramping up assist providers and entry to major care.
Adding extra workers and hospital beds to look after these distinctive and sophisticated sufferers would contain a “shift in perception” concerning the type of sufferers ER medical doctors are ready to look after, Mah mentioned.
She added that if hospitals are usually not thought of the very best place for all these sufferers, “then we have to support community-based intervention.” That would come with, she mentioned, growing sufferers’ entry to major well being care, occupational remedy and physiotherapy inside their residence or neighborhood.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Dec. 20, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
