When lockdowns and COVID-19-related staff shortages crippled our aged care system, an 86-year-old known by her pen name Barbara Canin put pen to paper and self-published a book on the struggles faced by carers and residents alike.
“I want everybody to know what old people go through in old age homes,” Canin told A Current Affair.
“I thought ‘these old people haven’t got a voice. Nobody is speaking up for them’.”
The result was a memoir titled Truth is the Best Lie.
As the name suggests, Canin was attempting to tackle a serious topic with a sense of humour.
“I’m trying to show the funny side of living in an old age home. There’s a funny side too. It’s hilarious, you have no idea how hilarious it is,” Canin said with a smile.
Canin has always been the creative type.
“I’m extremely active, I can’t live a day without producing a woollen hat, book, poem or something,” she said.
But the book has ruffled some feathers at the nursing home.
Canin’s memoir includes stories about her residents, which had led to complaints.
Her aged care provider, Jewish Care, wrote to her, stating: “You have named fellow residents and articulated medical conditions”.
“Your document is potentially breaching confidentiality,” it said.
Read the article by Seb Costello and watch the story on A Current Affair.