Lions Prairie Manor Personal Care Home in Portage la Prairie. (GOOGLE STREET VIEW)
WINNIPEG — A new University of Manitoba study is asking the province to create a website where Manitobans can easily evaluate personal care homes.
The website would provide a so-called “report card” for personal care homes as measured by medical indicators, such as the prevalence of bedsores, urinary tract infections, self-reported moderate to severe pain, inadequate oral care and untreated depression.
The U of M’s Manitoba Centre for Health Policy created the study, which also suggests the website include information regarding social care, such as what daily life would be like for residents living there and how much the facility feels like home.
“Everyone agrees that residents of personal care homes should receive the best care possible,” says Malcolm Doupe, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of community health sciences in the U of M’s the Max Rady College of Medicine.
“But how should we measure personal care homes’ quality in a way that is fair, appropriate and consistent? Manitoba Health asked our research team to help determine the most useful criteria, and to recommend how this information should be transparently shared with the public and care providers.”
Survey data showing how satisfied residents and their families are should also be included, the study says.
