Category: Unclassified

Join us at OLTCA’s ‘This is Long-Term Care’ Conference!

This is Long-Term Care (TiLTC) Conference: From Innovation to Impact, is back from October 22-24, 2023, at the Beanfield Centre and Hotel X. This is your chance to come and say hi to project teams and leaders from all three Ontario CLRI host centers in our own, dedicated room: 200A.

Personal Support Worker Education Fund Available in 2023-24

Ontario, Canada: The Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) is excited to announce renewed funding for training direct care team members in long-term care. The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) at the RIA will distribute funding for training through the Personal Support Worker Education Fund in Long-Term Care (PWS Fund), funded by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care.

The PSW Fund provides tuition and backfill to train LTC team members through virtual and in-person continuing education that develops and fosters a skilled, motivated and resilient workforce.

“Ensuring high-quality care for our aging population means investing in team member education and training to support their professional growth and skill development as we navigate the health human resource challenges facing the long-term care sector,” says Tina Mah, executive director of the RIA.

Two education options are available in advance of the official launch of the fund in the summer of 2023:

• LIVING the Dementia Journey (LDJ)
• Learning Inter-Professionally Healthcare Accelerator (LIPHA)

LDJ participants gain awareness and understanding of dementia and the people they support who live with it. The RIA’s Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program created LDJ in collaboration with people living with dementia and their care partners.

LIPHA is a simulation, coaching and community platform providing a virtual space with simulated cases and a serious educational game for LTC personal support workers and nurses. This initiative is led by the Ontario CLRI at Baycrest and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation with support from Launch 57 and the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest.

The PSW Education Fund started in 2017 with more than 21,000 personal support workers and other team members receiving training in LTC homes across the province. Watch for announcements of other program training dates in the coming weeks. Learn more about the fund, or enroll in LDJ or LIPHA online by visiting the PSW Education Fund website.

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About Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging

The Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) is a charitable, non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life and care of older adults. The RIA tackles some of the biggest issues facing an aging population by driving research and innovation to improve education and practice. The RIA develops and shares solutions that make a difference to benefit older adults everywhere.

About Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care

The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) strengthen the quality of life and care for residents across the province. The Ontario CLRI is mandated by the Ministry of Long-Term Care to be a resource for the sector by providing education and sharing research and innovations to enhance the health and well-being of people who live and work in long-term care. The program is funded by the Government of Ontario and hosted at Baycrest Health Sciences, Bruyère and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging.

Media Contact

Noel Gruber

Director, Communications and Public Relations
Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging
noel.gruber@the-ria.ca

The Orientation eLearning courses, created by the Ontario CLRI at the RIA, provide education for new team members during orientation, and for existing team members during their annual training. These scenario-based learning courses ensure that learners have the knowledge and skills needed to assist the people they support and are in line with Ministry of Long-Term Care guidelines. They were developed using evidence-based best practices and adult education principles, in collaboration with subject matter experts and LTC leaders.

Skin and Wound Care in Long-Term Care is a self-paced Orientation course on skin and wound care that will equip or refresh long-term care team members on the knowledge and skills required to support residents. Taking care of a resident’s skin and preventing a breakdown of skin is an important part of care. It’s important for team members to understand skin integrity and wound care as skin breakdown can lead to infection and a decrease in resident’s quality of life. Our new course can equip clinical and non-clinical team members with the skills to prevent skin and wound care issues and to implement skin and wound care interventions connected to their role.

Click here to access the eLearning course for clinical team members

Click here to access the eLearning course for non-clinical team members

This eLearning course, part of the Orientation course series, was developed by the Ontario CLRI at RIA in 2022 with the generous support of Schlegel Villages. We would like to thank the people who contributed to the development and review of content for this course including:

Jennifer Bilbie RN, BScN, MCISc, CIC, Long-Term Care Nurse Consultant, Extendicare

Kim Arquette, Clinical Specialist, Schlegel Villages

Please join us in the celebration of having reached over 10,000 Person-Centred Language pledges!

Last summer, we reached our goal of 5,000 Person-Centred Language (PCL) pledges from health care providers and persons with lived experience to commit to changing the way we interact with and refer to people living with dementia and other complex mental health conditions. We are pleased to announce that as of September 17, 2022, we have doubled that number and now have over 10,316 pledges! We wish to recognize everyone who reviewed our commitment statements posters, signed our pledge, and encouraged colleagues, co-residents, family and friends to do the same.

Reaching 10,000 pledges marks an important milestone for the PCL Initiative which is co-led by the Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) Provincial Coordinating Office at the North Bay Regional Health Centre and the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research & Innovations in Long-Term Care (CLRI) at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). Since its launch in 2017, The goal of the PCL Initiative has been to develop a set of commitment statements and associated products to inspire language choices that are appropriate, respectful, life-affirming and inclusive when interacting with and referring to individuals who communicate via responsive behaviours/personal expressions associated with dementia, complex mental health, substance use and/or other neurological conditions, as well as their partners in care.

If you have not yet signed our PCL pledge, it’s not too late! Fill out your pledge and download your certificate today at www.behaviouralsupportsontario.ca/pledge

I’ve completed my pledge, what can I do next?

Complete the e-course

The back-to-school season is the perfect time to complete our PCL eCourse. Available in English and French, this FREE eCourse demonstrates how PCL can have a positive impact on communication, care, and help to reduce stigma and discrimination (45min).

Explore examples

Check out our Word Swap Poster for ideas on how to incorporate PCL in your everyday conversations.

Receive a free Commitment Pledge Poster

Get in touch

Tell us how you’ve incorporated the PCL initiative in your organization by e-mailing us at provincialBSO@nbrhc.on.ca

Thank you for your commitment to the PCL Initiative!

The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) has released a new Orientation course: Preventing Falls in Long-Term Care. This course is available at no cost to support new and existing team members in fulfilling Ministry of LTC’s training requirements.

Falls can result in serious injury, hospital admission, and long-term loss of mobility and function. By taking this course, team members will learn, at their own pace, appropriate awareness and corresponding actions to take to effectively prevent falls and keep residents safe. Two versions are available: one for non-clinical team members and one for clinical team members.

Visit our eLearning course for clinical team members

Visit our eLearning course for non-clinical team members

The use of multiple drugs and medications to treat diseases and other health conditions is known as polypharmacy. Oftentimes, older adults use several drugs to help manage and treat their different illnesses.

This April, the Ontario CLRI Supporting Diversity and Inclusion Committee hosted our virtual forum: Allied for Inclusivity in LTC: A Forum to Build Connections.

Whether you couldn’t attend, or did and just want to view it all again, we have a recorded version now available for your viewing pleasure! In addition to this, we’ve made available a key learnings PDF to highlight some of the main points from the forum.

The recording includes presentations from four Ontario LTC homes on EDI initiatives being implemented in their homes, EDI researchers sharing findings and a powerful opening keynote address from Erin Beckwell!

Check out the full resource for the forum on equity, diversity and inclusion!