Canadians share why they did or didn’t remove a parent from a care home
By Al Donato
Dr. Samir Sinha sympathizes with Canadians wracked with worry. He told HuffPost Canada that those who have experienced a COVID-19 death are “just in agony over feeling helpless about how they couldn’t help their loved ones.”For Sinha, it is important to recognize that care home residents have rights and should feel empowered to choose to leave if they want to.“If a resident says, ‘Thank you for trying to make this as safe as possible, but I’d rather go and live with my loved ones,’ we have to respect their decision,” he said. “We shouldn’t be paternalistic to families and say, ‘No, you have to stay here.’” With no easy answers, making the tough call requires informed choices by the senior or their legal substitute decision-maker, which are usually their adult children.