Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

11.3 Therapeutic ActivityThis category focused on activities which were designed to contribute tothe residents’ well-being, independence and health. Such activities includedphysiotherapy, occupational therapy, art therapy, Sonas and massage. Threetherapies: physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapywere deemed by staff as essential to maintaining resident independence. Staffsuggested that these therapies enabled residents to regain or maintain optimalfunctioning. Staff and residents described the availability of these therapies withintheir facilities (Table 11.2). Many staff respondents were concerned that they couldnot access services for residents when they perceived that a resident could benefitfrom them. There was some suggestion that a lack of these therapists had adetrimental effect on residents’ cognitive abilities.It was evident from residents’ accounts that there were widespread differencesin the availability of physiotherapy. In some public facilities there was aphysiotherapist but in others there was not. Sometimes there was a verylimited service because there were not enough physiotherapists to meet theneeds of residents. Some residents were very concerned that they could notget physiotherapy when they clearly perceived that they would benefit fromit. Concern was expressed that residents in private facilities lost access tophysiotherapy unless they had the capacity to pay for it themselves. Staff alsohighlighted the problems that they had in trying to access physiotherapy forresidents. Many working in private facilities raised the question of payment forthis service and suggested that it was inequitable that a person living in a privatefacility had to pay but would have received this service free if they were living ina public facility. The difficulty of accessing these services and the equity issueswere also raised by focus group participants.203