Alberta Health Services a provincial health minister Fred Horne really should be ashamed of themselves. Horne spoke to the media Tuesday and said he has no plans of reversing changes to home care for senior citizens. Horne says he’s facing a time-crunch. Well, Mr. Horne: make more time. Because what you are doing to the very cornerstone of this province is most disrespectful.
Home care touches me personally. I have cerebral palsy and rely on home care so I can be a member of society. When AHS announced in June they were making sweeping changes — including eliminating the self-directed program I use — we bluntly told them “no.” We started a campaign on social media and mainstream media … and we won. Three self-directed contracts were reversed. If AHS and the government did it for us, why can’t they afford the same logical way of thinking for senior citizens? What kind of an example is this for our young people in regards to respecting seniors?
Sadly, I think, this comes down to disrespect from the government. The very fact senior citizens were not consulted about changes to their care doesn’t show much respect. Seniors in Alberta needing home care are being steamrolled. What a disgraceful way to treat Alberta pioneers. They deserve to be honored for all the work they have done by getting the proper care in their golden years. That’s a way to honor them. And Mr. Horne and AHS need to re-think this. Because this is wrong.
Please email me your comments by CLICKING HERE. We need to circle the wagons again — and make absolutely certain senior citizens in Albertans are respected the way they should.
I ask you bear with me this morning. Because I try to make Cam ‘n Eggs upbeat, positive and motivational to get your day headed on a good start. Today, however, I cannot. Because I have concerns and several questions of how something so violent and so brazen could happen to a senior citizen in Edmonton — someone who could have been a teacher, a school bus driver, an engineer or who could have been countless other things, and someone who help build this city, this province and this happen.
How? How could an 86-year-old man was working his back yard, police believe, and was robbed and beaten? How could something happen in the bright daylight of 11 a.m. Tuesday? Clearly, there are no clear answers — and perhaps the mystery of such an attack ignites even more questions.
It is indeed interesting sociological study if we consider the world’s population is getting bigger and bigger, and rather than working with one another to help out, often, the exact opposite happens. More to the point, though, we have to ask ourselves where mutual respect has gone? Specifically, in past generations “respecting your elders” was as common as liking something on Facebook, but now that respect for our seniors — and, in fact, each other — is clearly lacking. Perhaps we can challenge ourselves to be better. Maybe, just maybe, we can start the day off with such a thought.
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