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Friday, March 28, 2014

Carol Goar: Fighting for help for voiceless seniors (in The Toronto Star)

"Minoo Shakibai sometimes wants to weep as she examines a patient’s ulcerated feet. Many of the chiropodist’s clients are elderly and diabetic. They come to the Dufferin Foot Clinic thinking she can fix the “small cuts” on their feet.

"In severe cases, she sends them straight to the emergency department of the nearest hospital, knowing the lesions are gangrenous. In less urgent circumstances, she cleans and dresses their wounds and tells them to make an appointment with their family doctor immediately. Most don’t. ...

"Too often, the young chiropodist watches seniors — mostly Italian and Portuguese immigrants from the neighbourhood — walk out the door, knowing they’ll eventually face amputation.

"This month, she launched a one-woman crusade to raise public awareness and get help for seniors with no private health coverage. “They deserve to be taken care of and treated right,” she appealed to then-MP Olivia Chow, who passed her entreaty on to Shakibai’s federal representative, Andrew Cash, before launching her mayoral bid. He phoned Shakibai back and gently explained that health-care services are a provincial responsibility, promising to raise the issue with his counterpart at Queen’s Park, Jonah Schein.

"Shakibai doesn’t know much about politics, as she readily admits. She has no allies or advisers. She’s never spoken out before. But she can no longer remain silent."

Fighting for help for voiceless seniors: Goar | Toronto Star

A classic case of "penny-wise, pound-foolish".  If you've had a friend lose a foot because of an untreated ingrown toe-nail, it seems a no-brainer!