Advocare’s Program Manager for Advocacy, Shawnee, shares her thoughts in this article about ageing, ageism, dignity, and a health system unprepared.
The phrase ‘Bedblocking’ is bandied about… but let’s be clear: older people are not the problem here. The real issue lies with a health system that has failed to prepare for what we’ve all known was coming – an ageing population.
Older people have the same rights as anyone else to access care and support through our public health system. To label them as “bed blockers” is to strip them of that right and paint them as burdens, when in reality, they are patients in need of treatment, safety and dignity.
Many older people live with complex conditions – physical, mental, and cognitive – that naturally take longer to treat. Recovery is often slower than it is for other patients. A longer hospital stay is not a sign of inefficiency or reluctance to leave; it’s simply what good clinical care requires.
And let’s not forget: no older person wants to remain in hospital longer than necessary.
Most are desperate to return home, to their communities, to their familiar lives. But if safe, adequate supports are not in place, then what choice do they really have?
This is where the system is letting people down.