Thank you very much, and thank you for the question.
I think that in the immediate term, the issue requiring immediate attention is staffing and staff ratios. In a previous panel the call for a minimum of four hours one-on-one care per day, an ask that's been around for a very long time, was flagged. It's essential to support the staff with increased staff ratios and having the right ratios of registered nurses, personal care workers and resident assistants.
We talked about the wages. Vicky spoke to it so eloquently. This work is skilled work, but it's undervalued. People seem to think it's nothing to take care of a person with dementia. It is hard work to understand the needs of that person and how to communicate with that person. As a society we have to value that work. We have to pay for that work and give people permanent jobs. That's the place to start.
A great study was written by the Royal Society of Canada. Pat Armstrong was part of that. She was here last week. The solutions are mapped out. It's people like Pat and Carole Estabrooks who have done the work. It's there. The heavy lifting is done, once again by women. What we need is for the decision-makers, the provinces and federal government, to come together with the experts and act now, before it's too late.