“Directors refuse to be the armed wing of systemic mistreatment”. After the Orpéa scandal, the Association of directors serving the elderly (AD-PA) calls for an electric shock to profoundly change our society’s relationship to old age. In a plea presented this Thursday morning – and that the newspapers of the EBRA group detail for you exclusively -, it formulates 44 proposals, with a slogan “Let’s stop mistreating the old!” »
Changes must take place at all levels of society – education, citizenship, change of outlook. On the other hand, they will only be possible if, collectively, the French decide to put the means there. The Libault report – submitted in 2019 to Agnès Buzyn, then Minister of Health – pleaded for “a 25% increase in the rate of supervision in nursing homes by 2024 compared to 2015, i.e. 80,000 additional positions with the person old”. And figured the investment needs in the Old Age at some 9 billion per year until 2030.
“Forbid tying and locking up”
“The quality of support is not there due to a lack of consideration of the expectations of the elderly and because the time spent by professionals is too short. This leads the public authorities in particular to ask them to go so far as to tie up and lock up citizens, and this to general indifference,” denounces the AD-PA in its plea.
“The State must invest in human resources to allow professionals to stop any measure of confinement or restraint of vulnerable elderly people in establishments, such as at home. The argument of protecting people against themselves is not acceptable, it is contrary to respect for fundamental rights and to the Constitution. »
Once the means have been made available to the elderly, “it will then be time to remove the texts depriving the elderly of the full exercise of their freedom (2003 decree on the guarantee of security due to the elderly by the establishments where they live, law on unintentional crimes, circular on reinforced accommodation units imposing closed places, etc.). »
Self-guided tours
“With the exception of exceptional periods such as the first Covid phase when all French people were confined, residents living in establishments cannot be deprived of exchanges with the outside world.
Visits must therefore be free at any time of the day or night if this corresponds to the wishes of the resident”, pleads the AD-PA.
Right to own a pet
The directors also plead for residents to be able to be freely accompanied by a pet. “In no country, even those undergoing the most dictatorial regimes, can inhabitants be prohibited from owning a pet. The maintenance of obscure supposedly health reasons without any foundation, means that French citizens are deprived of them, which is an unacceptable anomaly”. According to Pascal Champvert, one in two establishments prevents residents from having a pet. In question, “a safe atmosphere”, which leads managers to limit anything that may appear to be a risk, or a problem for day-to-day operations.
Alcohol, tobacco and sexuality
The AD-PA also pleads for “affirming a right to sexuality”, and calls for “refusing any ban on tobacco or alcohol” on the grounds that one lives in a retirement home.
“When Xavier Bertrand introduced the ban on smoking in public places, he had indeed accepted, at the request of the AD-PA, that the elderly could smoke in establishments in their private space”, recalls the association. which denounces that certain establishments give up, under the pressure of the safety commissions.
Furnish your bedroom to your liking
Another claim: “being at home implies being able to bring or acquire the furniture of one’s choice” and allow residents to benefit from a balanced diet.
“As the budgets imposed by the public authorities are increasingly tight and do not take any account of salary increases or food expenses, directors are forced to cut back on all items. Such a situation is not acceptable and must be overcome”.
A classification of retirement homes, with stars
“The external evaluations did not make it possible to gauge the actual quality of the services provided. Consequently, it is now necessary to develop quality criteria corresponding to the expectations expressed, as well as to ensure a national publication of the results inspired mainly by the star rating system for tourist hotels, the evaluation of the quality of life in the different municipalities and the classification of hospitals and clinics”, pleads the AD-PA.
Listen to the words of seniors, polling stations in nursing homes
To better take into account the elderly, we must listen to their words, and not focus the system on the needs of other stakeholders (family, staff, etc.). The AD-PA pleads to involve the elderly in all decisions that concern them. This involves, as suggested in the report by LREM MP Audrey Dufeu in 2019, the establishment of “a minimum number of seats reserved for organizations of the elderly in consultative bodies, particularly in the transport sector, town planning and housing”. And to implement methodologies to “facilitate the speech of the elderly on all subjects of public life.” It is also necessary to encourage citizen participation, in particular “installing polling stations open to the outside in establishments during each election and organizing travel for people who are able to move around”.
Ensure respect for freedoms
The AD-PA considers that it is appropriate to create a “Committee for the respect of freedoms at all ages” under the chairmanship of an independent senior civil servant or the Defender of Rights, whose mission will be to ensure that common law is applicable to all ages and in all places of life. »