Strict, inconsistent care home rules frustrate families as other Manitoba restrictions relax

For Marlene Perrin, it was business as usual when she visited her parents at their southwestern Manitoba care home earlier this week. 

She put on the required face mask and eye protection, though she knew it would mean Bob and Peggy Hysop, both of whom have dementia, would not recognize her.

Perrin and her niece sat with them in the heat at a small table in front of the Bayside Personal Care Home, one of the Killarney site's few visiting areas.

Hours earlier, officials had announced a sweeping rollback of Manitoba's pandemic rules that included scrapping almost all mask requirements, and eliminating or easing capacity limits and gathering restrictions. 

But in care homes, things haven't changed much. Masks are still required, and while residents who are fully vaccinated can have visits indoors now, some rules are still as strict as ever.

That leaves families like Perrin's baffled, especially with vaccination uptake highest among the elderly in Manitoba. Among Manitoba's entire eligible population, just over 72 per cent of people have at least one dose, but for those over 70, the rate is above 96 per cent.

"There was such a push to get them vaccinated," Perrin said.

"I'm sure it gave them some level of protection. But as far as their daily lives, nothing changed. And that was extremely, extremely frustrating for them and for me."

Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of the national seniors' advocacy group CanAge, said that discrepancy seems ironic.

"It's very hard to understand how the restrictions in the general population are being lifted when there are lower vaccination rates there, but not in personal care homes where the vaccination rates are very high," she said from Sandy Cove, N.S.

Visits 'almost impossible'

Perrin said her visit on Tuesday was one that's usually tough to plan.

For one thing, she lives an hour and a half away from the Killarney care home.

And because the site only allows visits for a couple of hours in the morning and a few more later in the afternoon, it can be hard to make it there.

However, as a designated caregiver, she's allowed to show up anytime in those two windows.

For other visitors — including nieces, nephews, grandchildren — visits are by appointment only and are supposed to happen in designated areas that are sometimes full, Perrin said.

That's made it "almost impossible" for her parents to see most of their family.

"I know lots of that is because they're short-staffed, and they have to have somebody at the door screening people and doing all the protocols and they have to have somebody booking visits," she said.

"I get all that. It just, in the end, has made for a terribly lonely life for seniors in care homes."

But those rules can vary between homes, something both Perrin and Winnipegger Janice Beveridge have noticed recently.

Beveridge said she's been happy with how easy it's been for her to visit her mom at the Misericordia Place care home. But she talked to a friend recently who had a hard time even being allowed to take her mom out for a walk at a care home across the city.

"There has to be a balance," Beveridge said.

"Some of these other places, they're just making up their own rules."

While Manitoba Shared Health's long-term care resident visitation principles offer guidance for care homes, that still leaves room for "operational flexibility depending upon the physical space and other considerations at individual care facilities," a spokesperson said.

Those guidelines are reviewed "at every opportunity … to find a balance between the known risks of the virus and the known benefits of contact with loved ones," the spokesperson said.

With many care home residents at greater risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19, "some restrictions are going to remain in place for the time being."

Tamblyn Watts said those variations in rules between care homes are confusing for families — and the government needs clearly tell care homes what standards need to be met.

"We've seen the Manitoba government take real responsibility in investigations for things like the Maples, and we've seen that there's a real commitment to improving personal care homes," she said.

"But then at the same time, you see a lack of guidance or clarity or support to personal care homes about what they're allowed to do and when. And as a result, we're getting completely inconsistent responses."

Perrin said her 85-year-old parents are close to the end of their lives — so she hopes it won't be too long before they can see more of their family again.

"It's been excruciating to watch their decline at a time in their life when the only thing they have left, really, is visitors," she said.

"It is awful to watch your parents die of loneliness."