CCBI Resources for COVID-19 Matters – May 27 2020

Dear Friends of CCBI,

This week, even more has come to light about the state of some long term care homes, in particular in Quebec and Ontario. The premier of Ontario announced there would be a commission to assess the impact of the pandemic on these homes, but this was followed by demands for a full scale public enquiry. The deaths of elderly residents account for about 80% of the total numbers of deaths in Canada, and it has become ever more clear that something is seriously flawed with their organization and management. On Tuesday May 26, the Armed Forces submitted a devastating report based on their experiences of working to bridge the terrible gaps in the worst-hit homes, where the results of poor or misinformed decision-making and adverse circumstances have been disastrous for vulnerable and helpless residents,  the very ones who need and deserve our best care.

These articles make for sombre reading, and are a lesson for us about the sad reality of conditions in some residences and also about how they should be, not in a perfect world, simply in a reasonably decent one. The standard in many facilities does not reach even that level. Surely things will change???

Warm regards,

Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD
Executive Director, Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute
Lecturer, Faculty of Theology
University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto

Rethinking the future

“We have gone ahead at breakneck speed,” said Pope Francis on 27 March during the Extraordinary Urbi et Orbi<http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/urbi/documents/papa-francesco_20200327_urbi-et-orbi-epidemia.html>-“feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste. We did not stop at your reproach to us, we were not shaken awake by wars or injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet.”

https://www.catholicoutlook.org/laudato-si-an-encyclical-to-help-us-look-to-the-post-pandemic-future/
[cid:image002.jpg@01D63448.3DD53180]<https://www.catholicoutlook.org/laudato-si-an-encyclical-to-help-us-look-to-the-post-pandemic-future/>
Laudato si’: An Encyclical to help us look to the post-pandemic future – Catholic Outlook<https://www.catholicoutlook.org/laudato-si-an-encyclical-to-help-us-look-to-the-post-pandemic-future/>
Five years ago, Pope Francis signed a document which represented a major step forward in the Church’s Social Doctrine and is a road map for building more just societies that are capable of safeguarding human life and all Creation.
www.catholicoutlook.org<http://www.catholicoutlook.org>

Tragedy in Some Long Term Care Homes
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ontario-announces-independent-commission-for-pandemics-impact-on-long/

The Ford Government announces Probe into Long Term Care
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-morning-update-ontarios-ford-government-announces-probe-into-long/

Grief and Bereavement
Leaders in grief and bereavement in Canada have come together with the Canadian Virtual Hospice to provide a plan to the Government of Canada to support and expand grief services and resources in Canada. Below is the media release issued today. You can read the proposal, “A National Grief Strategy: the Time is Now,” by the Canadian Grief Alliance here.<https://virtualhospice.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c07fa235771066576396bbc7a&id=d3ff45785e&e=b5b08ab4a7> A quote from the document reveals part of its rationale and why such counselling is and is going to continue to be, so important:

“The pandemic has brought to the forefront the urgent need to respond to and support the healing of grieving Canadians. The scholarly literature anticipates the dire social, physical and psychological consequences of deaths and other losses (jobs, business failure, life as we know it, financial security) incurred during the unique circumstances of the pandemic for the public, healthcare workers, first responders and others delivering essential services. In some cases, this can lead to increased instances of complicated and prolonged grief, depression, and the risk of suicide.”