B.C. woman says ‘door is shut in our faces’ as she fights for sister’s mental health care – CBC

Families say efforts to provide input on patients’ history during mental health crises are rebuffed

Feb 06, 2023

For the past 13 years, Kala Hooker has tried every legal option to be involved in the care of her sister Kora-lea, who has bipolar disorder and has been in and out of hospitals and treatment centres across B.C., Alberta, the U.S., Haiti and Jamaica.

Hooker, who lives in Creston, B.C., has power of attorney, signed confidentiality disclosure agreements, community health directives and a legal plan outlining Kora-lea’s future treatment wishes.

But despite that documentation, Hooker says she is still often blocked from speaking to her sister’s care teams when she’s admitted to hospital in B.C. and elsewhere because of concerns about patient privacy.

“For years and years, I’ve been trying to help her and advocate on her behalf and feel completely shut out. There’s so much red tape, and [I] feel like the door is just shut in our faces,” Hooker said.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-family-shut-out-mental-health-1.6734284