Despite some easing, the EHPAD remain confined to guarantee the health security of the seniors who live there. Families denounce heterogeneous and complicated situations.
“It is horrible and inhuman. I couldn’t see mom on Sunday to wish her a happy birthday. I left a bouquet in front of the nursing home… I called her in the afternoon, after her nap. The flowers had been sent to her, but she was crying that she couldn’t see me. She’s like a prisoner, it’s unacceptable. ” B.’s testimony is painful. Anonymous, too, for fear that the situation will continue to get tense between the family and the management of the establishment for obtaining future visits.
The scene takes place in an EHPAD (accommodation establishment for dependent elderly people) in a town south of Toulouse. But the testimonies of family pain are also found elsewhere.
“We know the barrier gestures, we are not going to do anything with our elders! We just want to see them more often”
Since the first measures of deconfinement, B. had been able to see his mother twice, behind a window, for thirty minutes, not one more. “As soon as I heard that the measures were easing and the government wanted families to be able to celebrate moms, I asked to be able to come on Sunday. But either I was not answered or I was told that the time was too short to organize the protocol, “she said, very annoyed that no effort was made.
“My mother has not eaten for three weeks”
“We know the barrier gestures, we are not going to do anything with our parents! We just want to see them a little more and more often. Are they going to end their lives like this? My mother has not eaten for three weeks, she is sad, depressed and I am not offered a visit because the slots are already taken … But since we can see them in the rooms, there should not be have these roadblocks! “, She adds, intending to write to management and denounce the situation.
In Toulouse, it was J., whose mother lives in an independent residence of the CCAS (Communal Center for Social Action) who does not take heart. The proposed visiting hours are too restrictive according to him.
“The EHPADs as well as the EHPAs (autonomous residences) remain confined with regulated visits, therefore by appointment and according to precise methods: outside when possible or in a dedicated place, in a room on the grounds of the resident’s state of health or end of life. Visitors must also comply with several rules (hand washing, mask, temperature measurement, charter of good conduct). However, flexibility has arrived, such as visits by minors, the possible presence of two people. Everything is done progressively and with the personnel resources we have ”, says Daniel Rougé, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of social affairs and solidarity.
An online petition
Means, Michel demands. He has only seen his mother twice in three months, including once with five meters between them to keep the distance. “She couldn’t hear me, couldn’t see me … I had to give her back who her grandchildren were. Our elders are not going to die from Covid-19 but from grief, ”says this Toulousain who launched a petition (1).
He asked that the situation be clarified “since the government has left it to each establishment to implement protective measures. The result is very disparate, sometimes difficult, situations. The chronic lack of staff aggravates the situation and we are witnessing aberrations: hairdressers can come but not families who are not trusted to respect the barrier gestures.
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