Medical Cannabis and Long-Term Care

When assessing under what circumstances the Government and private insurers should #CoverCannabis, residents living in long term care facilities would be a great place to start. These people have been through so much over the last year--particularly those living with dementia, as the prolonged isolation and disruption to their routines can lead to increased behavioural and psychological symptoms.

Medical cannabis offers a safe & effective multimodal medication that can improve quality of life amongst LTC residents in a range of medical scenarios, including dementia, chronic pain, insomnia and mental health--but the cost is precluding too many seniors from accessing this treatment. We must do better for our most vulnerable citizens.

Special thanks to my colleague Kelly Batson, Manager, Resident Care, Education and Operations at Steeves & Rozema’s Trillium Villa for her vision, leadership and sharing her experience.

The #CoverCannabis Project: A Look Into Long-Term Care

According to a recent report from the Ontario Long Term Care Association, approximately 64% of residents living in long term care have been diagnosed with dementia and 90% have some form of cognitive impairment.

This is one of the first areas that the Government should consider covering.

Not only have we seen that cannabinoid medicines have a strong treatment success rate, they have a safer side-effect profile compared to other traditionally used medications and are multi-modal, meaning we can often treat more than one symptom at a time and reduce other meds. This is super important amongst the elderly, as polypharmacy (taking multiple medications) is the number one cause of hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions amongst seniors.

So, not only can we improve quality of life and decrease side-effects through cannabinoid therapy, we can often reduce other medications, which has an inherent cost savings. Who else sees this as a win-win?

Sarnia doctor partners with Trillium Villa to assess benefits of medical marijuana in nursing homes: Lambton Shield

Dr. Blake Pearson partners with Trillium Villa on a new, trailblazing collaboration to determine whether medicinal marijuana can improve quality of life for residents of Sarnia's long-term care community who are living with conditions such as chronic pain, movement disorders and anxiety. Read here.

Medical marijuana therapy program to help seniors: Blackburn News Canada

Dr. Blake Pearson says, “In my clinic daily, I see the benefits of THC and CBD, and in a continuing care facility we see patients suffering from chronic pain, sleep disorders, and dementia-related anxiety. I think it’s a natural fit to try it out and hopefully reduce some of the polypharmacy going on in those types of settings." Full article.

Sarnia doctor using medical marijuana to treat nursing home residents: Sarnia Journal

Dr. Blake Pearson is using oil produced from cannabis to treat nursing home patients with a wide range of disorders, including arthritis, degenerative discs, sleep disorders and the treatment of chronic pain.

“I’ve been able to lower patient opiate doses in some cases,” the Corunna native said.

“We’ve been able to take people off three or four different medications and replace them with… some form of cannabis drops.” Full article.