Some posts on the social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, imply the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø government has brought new continuing care regulations that drop minimum hours of care from staff to zero. This is misleading. The federal government has not rolled out changes to long-term or continuing care standards nationally. The only apply to Alberta as a part of health care system restructuring, and the government says funding to providers is tied to the number of care hours provided.
The X user Wall Street Apes,who has more than 320,000 followers and calls themselves a conspiracy theorist in their bio, shared and video, writing: "Canada Effective April 1st 2024: NEW Continuing Care Regulation Moving to 0 hours of care.†The post has over 2.7 million views as of the day of publication.
The post provides a partial transcript of the video, and under "More information" at the end uses text, without attribution, appearing to be from : "Alberta’s nurses warn that new provincial regulations will eliminate any legal requirement for continuing care operators to provide nursing care to residents."
using the video did not mention Alberta and instead tied the changes directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It is both tragic and an indictment of our healthcare system as it relates to the care of the elderly. … Trudeau I ask why ??" the post reads.
Rating: Misleading
The video is from TikTok influencer Roxy Stylez, who laments the changes to long-term care in a two-minute-58-second-long clip. "Now the government is telling them (nurses), you don't even have to do the bare minimum to keep your job," Stylez, who claims she is a former nurse, tells her followers on TikTok.
Stylez doesn't mention Alberta in her video, leading some in her comments, as well as those who reposted her video, to imply the changes are Canada-wide. Her video on TikTok garnered more than 187,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments as of the day of publication and was shared onseveral other social media platforms.
Minimum hours of care
Andrea Smith, press secretary at Alberta Minister of Health's office, said the zero-hour care claim is untrue. "There are still minimum staffing requirements," she said in an emailed response.
A minimum of 1.9 hours of direct care was mandatory as a part of the previous governing the operation of nursing homes. "The previous 1.9 minimum average of direct care hours was outdated and has not been updated since 1985," she said.
Alberta Health has been following the for continuing care since 2010.
"The fact is in Alberta we fund continuing care homes to provide an average of 3.62 worked care hours per resident per day, and funding to providers is directly tied to this requirement being met," she said.
from the Auditor General of Alberta said that on average, Alberta Health Services funds the care homes for 3.6 paid hours of care per resident per day. suggested increasing direct hours of care to an average of 4.5 hours per resident day for long-term care.
AHS said during a on April 3 that budgets 2023 and 2024 included funding to incrementally increase direct hours of care in continuing care homes in response to recommendations from the 2021 facility-based continuing care review. Alberta's does mention plans to increase the hours of care per resident, but does not provide any specific number of hours.
The new law, the was passed in 2022and was implemented on April 1.
Medical communities, including , have expressed concerns over dropping the minimum hours of direct care from the legislation.
No province in Canada has minimum hours of direct care written in their long-term care legislation. has a target of an average of four hours of direct care per resident per day, with an aim to achieve that target by March 31, 2025. Health care are also pushing to bring mandatory minimum hours to the provincial legislation.
Role of the federal government in provincial health care decisions
The federal government has limited jurisdiction on decisions related to the provincial health care system. The government of Canada's says: "The provincial and territorial governments are responsible for the management, organization and delivery of health care services for their residents."
It adds that the federal government is responsible for "setting and administering" national standards for the health care systems through the Canada Health Act, providing funding support for provincial health care services and supporting specific groups, including First Nations and ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Forces,
Alberta restructures health care system
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith passed laws to to create a "unified health system with four specialized areas of focus" – , , and
Alberta Health System, created 15 years ago by amalgamating disparate health regions into one superboard, will be reduced to acute care services. Under the new system, Alberta will still have an integrated provincewide health system.
In its 2024 budget, Alberta has dedicated a larger portion to ," with an operating budget of $26.2 billion for the Health Ministry, up by $1.1 billion last year.
Sources
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Alberta announces new health delivery system, promises to try to protect jobs – ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø ()
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