“He is the love of my life and I am his last”, She says. Every Wednesday at around 1 p.m. Stéphanie leaves work. She gets behind the wheel and drives fast. Fabrice (first names have been changed) is waiting for him in a nursing home about thirty kilometers from Périgueux.
At 65, the former educator lives in a “closed unit” other residents, like him, suffer from neurodegenerative pathology. Visits to the public retirement home are permitted from 1:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. However, Stéphanie only has one afternoon free per week. Wednesday is the only time the couple can get together. “There is no prison here”, ensures the management of the facility. “Still a little bit!” », laments Stéphanie, who is surprised that some days Fabrice is locked in his room by the staff who keep the key.
At the height of the Covid-19 epidemic in 2020, nursing homes were locked down for weeks. The doors haven’t been opened wide since. The visitor restrictions remain in place. In some cases the hurdles have even increased.
“Restrictions on the presence of loved ones”
“Several recent warnings show the maintenance of certain behaviors, as if the crisis had made it possible to discover a previously unused power of the director.”, confirms Laurent Frémont in a report presented to the Ministry of Health on November 14th. The lawyer who teaches at Sciences Po paints a bleak picture of it “Trauma” Thousands of families, including relatives, “locked up” They died in nursing homes during the health crisis, dying of grief if not the virus. For “Prevent these forced isolations from happening again”, he asks for a “Right to receive and visit loved ones”.
The measure appears in the draft law “on measures to build an aging society in France”. adopted in first reading in the National Assembly on November 23rd. For the first time, a legal text stipulates that the “Right” to “Respect” from “Private and family life” of a resident of a retirement home takes over “visit his family and loved ones”. “It was necessary to pass the law”welcomes Bernadette Ojardias, Vice President the Ehpad Familles 42 collective and other departments. The Loire-based association estimates that of around fifteen nursing homes in Roanne and the surrounding area, five are currently closed to visitors in the morning and evening.
The defender of rights, Claire Hédon, I would have preferred the law to go so far as to provide: “Day visit rights”. The institution also observes the “The presence of loved ones is slowed down” in Ephad. It is based on statements received in recent months, such as those from MMe Z., whose father, as she confides, “completely dependent, cannot feed himself”. The visiting hours (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) prevent her from being present during meal times. The man is malnourished and has several bed sores. The facility says it provides him with nutritional supplements. MMe Z. says “Find it in the closet, unused”.
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