Ontario’s long-term care homes will have access to high-quality virtual education on person-centred care. The Ontario CLRI at the RIA is once again offering training through the Personal Support Worker Education Fund.  The training is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer this virtual education program that will support Ontario’s long-term care sector in providing person-centred care that enhances quality of life for residents,” says Josie d’Avernas, executive director of the RIA.

This is the fourth year the Fund has been in operation. It provides funding to long-term care homes for their team members to participate in skill-building education. This year, the Fund will support tuition and backfill for the virtual delivery of the Excellence in Resident-Centred Care (ERCC) course to support homes in adopting person-centred models of care, a priority identified in the recent recommendations from the Ontario Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission.

ERCC provides team members with practical skills in person-centred care. The virtual education offered through the Fund includes seven modules covering key topics, including person-centred care, infection control, safety and mobility, self-care, working with others and nutrition. The course increases team member self-confidence, job satisfaction and morale. ERCC was co-developed by Conestoga College and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging.

Due to pandemic restrictions, ERCC will be offered virtually through a 7-hour virtual course, instead of the train-the-trainer model offered in previous years.

Additional training course options will be released in the coming months.

To learn more about the fund and to enroll online, visit the PSW Education Fund website.

The Fund has been in operation since 2017 and has been used to train more than 15,000 personal support workers in 303 long-term care homes across the province.