Daniel Pilote
DANIEL PILOTE, resident in a public nursing and long-term care facility
President, Mesures collectives pour l’autonomie au Québec (Quebec Association of Collective Actions for Independence)
Column written by Mr. P.
dpilote@gmail.com
Accounts of my life
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I would like to share with you an account of my life in nursing and long-term care facilities (CHSLD). I am a 56-year-old male living at the Centre d’hébergement Champagnat. Over the past 4-1/2 years, it has been a CHSLD in the CISSS Montérégie-Centre. I have suffered from Becker’s muscular dystrophy since the age of 11; I have a tracheostomy that allows me to breathe through a respirator at night. In October 2011, I came down with a severe bout of pneumonia. I was treated at the Charles-Lemoyne hospital, “but at what price“? After three months of rehab, I had to reorganize my home-based support with the CLSC Richelieu with the assistance of my family and spouse. However, it was difficult for everybody! In September 2012, I had to move to Saint-André d’Argenteuil to live at my brother’s home. Again, the procedure was difficult because there was a lack of home-based support resources.
One year later, in September 2013, I decided to return to Montérégie with my spouse. In May 2014, my spouse tried to commit suicide; I then moved to the Centre d’hébergement Champagnat in St-Jean-sur-Richilieu. The ordeal did not end there! Following a bout of major depression, my son Danny took his own life in January 2015. I always thought that CHSLDs were inhabitable living environments. I noticed that there is unintentional organizational abuse. I believe that our society needs to change with better practices of proper care in CHSLDs. Everyone suffers and the most vulnerable individuals who live in CHSLDs are victimized by this organizational abuse. Society’s new philosophy should be proper care, a normal way to live with dignity in society.