COVID-19 is changing the way we think about aging and long-term care

Long-term care homes have taken the brunt of the impact of COVID-19, and the tragic effects of the pandemic have led one Sudbury home to change the way its future facilities will be designed.

The Finlandia Village in Sudbury provides a continuum of care to older adults in the region, which includes housing options for those who are still mobile and independent as well as a long-term care facility on site for those in need of more care. 

"It just means we're not one dimensional. We don't just have a long-term care home on site, we actually have townhouses on site that are geared to younger seniors ... and then we have three apartment buildings on site that cater to individuals as they age. They can live independently, in their one or two bedroom apartment," said David Munch, chief executive officer of the village.

"But say they develop arthritis or they get a medical condition, where it's harder for them to live alone we can provide them with services," he said, "God forbid if their health fails even more they can maybe transition to our long-term care home." 

Expanding in the era of COVID-19

Munch said the village's long-term care home has about 110 residents. He said the village has about 150 personal support workers (PSWs), with a total of about 280 people in the workforce altogether.

Munch added that the wait list for Finlandia's long-term care facility generally sits at between 50 and 100 people.

He said while the ongoing nature of the pandemic has presented some challenges, it hasn't halted the village's plan to expand. The facility has plans to add another building to the site, which would house older adults, but, it will look and feel different.

Do we want to [cluster] 30, 40 people in a close-proximity setting? Because remember, they are renting an apartment, there's nothing wrong with eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in your apartment.— David Munch, chief executive officer at Finlandia Village

"Part of that planning is to recognize the pandemic issue," he said, "Not COVID per se, just general pandemics in the future and how we can keep people protected and isolated." 

As part of the new layout, Munch said officials planning the project are considering constructing the building without a dining room that would be shared by residents. 

"Do we want to [cluster] 30, 40 people in a close-proximity setting? Because remember, they are renting an apartment, there's nothing wrong with eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in your apartment," he said. 

'No shared accommodations'

"In the next building we're looking to build additional nursing home beds, if we can get approval from the government, and all the rooms would be private rooms — so, no shared accommodations." 

According to Canada's National Institute for Aging (NIA), long-term care homes aren't the only ones with altered perspectives on aging because of COVID-19. 

In a survey conducted in July, the institute found that about 60 per cent of Canadians, and almost 70 per cent of Canadians 65 years and older, reported that COVID-19 has changed their opinion on whether or not they'd arrange for themselves or an older loved one to live in a nursing or retirement home.

What's more is that 91 per cent of Canadians of all ages and almost 100 per cent of Canadians 65 years of age and older reported that they plan on supporting themselves to live safely and independently in their own home as long as possible.

"It's really given people a wake-up call as to what happens when you do become disabled in older age, and really the gaps that are in the current long-term care system," said Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald, the NIA's director of financial security research.

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the realities of aging and long-term care, MacDonald fears they're not planning for it far enough in advance, financially. 

"People are living longer and on top of that, they are not going to have their family around to support them in the same way that Canadians in the past have."

The NIA's online survey of took a sample of 1,517 Canadians aged 18 and over in July 2020. The survey's margin of error is +/-2.5 per cent or 19 times out of 20.