Should a person with dementia systematically be able to be accompanied by adapted transport? The Société de transport de Laval prohibits a woman from traveling with her husband subject to cognitive loss, which confines the elderly couple to their home.
“It is clear that if the gentleman loses his license for reasons of cognitive loss, he cannot take paratransit alone. This is nonsense! », protests Marie-Josée Noël.
The woman is a caregiver for Yvon and Ghislaine Bourdon, a Laval couple whose lives were turned upside down last September when the 92-year-old man had his driving license revoked.
Like a growing number of seniors, he was deemed unfit to drive by his doctor after showing signs of cognitive loss.
On the recommendation of his treatment team, the nonagenarian applied for eligibility for paratransit in Laval, which was granted.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Aged 92, Mr. Bourdon was deemed unfit to drive last fall.
As her husband suffers from short-term memory loss, Ghislaine Bourdon – who has not driven for a long time – made a request to be able to accompany him on his trips.
But the Laval Transport Service (STL) refused. The reason given? Mr. Bourdon does not suffer from a physical handicap.
“Following the committee’s evaluation, the gentleman actually obtained adapted transport, but as he has no physical problem, he was not entitled to an escort,” explains the general director of the Laval Transport Association adapted (ALTA), Annie Des Rosiers, to The Press.
Mme Des Rosiers is well aware of the file, having accompanied the couple at each stage of their application for admission until it was transmitted to the STL, where a committee was responsible for evaluating it.
Consequence: the couple has been confined at home for weeks. “They’re not going anywhere anymore. They order their groceries online. Mr. Bourdon loved going to the shopping center, and now he can no longer go there,” laments Mr.me Christmas.
“The obstacles in the way of paratransit only exacerbate his anxiety and his state of unease. »
Public transportation as an alternative
By email, the Laval Transport Service states that it evaluates each request based on the Paratransit Eligibility Policy.
Established by the Ministry of Transport, this provides in particular that a user can use an attendant if use of the service would otherwise be “impossible or unsafe”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Ghislaine Bourdon travels with a walker, which makes public transport difficult to access.
On the other hand, a disabled person is not authorized to be accompanied by adapted transport if they can use public transport in the company of another person.
“ [Le STL] told us that if the gentleman could take paratransit with his wife, he was probably able to take public transport with her. The other option would be for the gentleman to travel by adapted transport and for the lady to join him at his destination using traditional public transport,” indicates Annie Des Rosiers.
Nonsense, believes Marie-Josée Noël. At 87 years old, Ghislaine Bourdon gets around with a walker. “She is not able to take public transport,” she said.
More and more cases
Annie Des Rosiers shares the couple’s “frustration” and “dismay”. The simple diagnosis of a cognitive disorder “should be sufficient to justify the right to a companion” for paratransit, she argues.
In his eyes, the Ministry of Transport “demonstrates a certain lack of understanding of cognitive disorders and the challenges that these impairments can cause for elderly people”.
The disorganization that can result from using regular public transport [l’achalandage, les mouvements, le bruit, la présence d’usagers de tous âges] is a headache for people who suffer from it and their caregivers.
Annie Des Rosiers, general director of the Laval Adapted Transport Association
The stakes are all the more important as with the aging of the population, his association deals with “more and more cases of requests for seniors with cognitive disorders”.
A meeting is also planned with the STL in February to discuss these particular cases, she says.
By email, the Ministry of Transport indicates that “the decision on the type of support is made on a case-by-case basis by the admissions committee, which must reassess the type of support if the user’s situation changes and justifies it. “.
It also reminds that a person feeling aggrieved by a decision rendered regarding their eligibility for paratransit “may request a review by the Paratransit Eligibility Review Office”.
What is paratransit?
Paratransit is a door-to-door travel service offered to people with disabilities. To be eligible, you must be able to demonstrate limitations in terms of mobility, for example the inability to walk 400 meters or to orient yourself in time and space. Supervised by the government, the service is provided by public transport organizations and municipalities.