During this pandemic the Ontario CLRI is organizing our activities to respond to the change in priorities for long-term care (LTC) homes in the time of COVID-19. New resources will be updated on this page as they become available. Some resources on this page are those from the sector and some are resources that predate COVID-19 but are relevant to the situation facing LTC teams today.
Use the following links to skip down to specific sections:
Resources for the Health and Well-Being of Team Members
Resources for the Health and Well-Being of Residents
Supports for LTC Staffing
LTC Orientation for Incoming Support
Resources Coming Soon
Share Your Education Needs
We know that LTC team members are working under increased pressure right now. We want to say thank you for all you are doing in the midst of this pandemic to make sure residents are well cared for!
Mental Health Supports From Homeweb.ca
Homewood Health is giving free access to their web resources to all Ontario LTC workers during COVID-19. These online resources include a self-directed cognitive behavioural therapy program for anxiety and depression, a health and wellness library, articles, 20+ e-courses and other resources to support the well-being of LTC team members.
Honouring Grief and Increasing Resiliency: Webinar Recording and Workbook
This resource will help leaders and team members learn how to strengthen self-awareness and self-kindness and how to build compassionate and resilient teams when working with individuals experiencing chronic illness, death and dying.
Communication at End-of-Life Mini Recordings
This resource is a series of recordings from mini webinars to support and facilitate communication at end-of-life in LTC homes during COVID-19 and beyond. Ripples of Thoughtful Words offers practical tips for creating calm and strengthening team members.
Wellness Together Canada
A government resource for everyone that needs support during COVID-19. The resource includes a mental health assessment and tracker. Mental health supports can be self-guided, community-based and one-to-one. All resources and supports are free to Canadians.
Virtual Peer Support for Social Workers/Social Service Workers
This community of practice is for social workers and social service workers in LTC. Join us and Family Councils Ontario to discuss psychosocial care of residents and impacts of COVID-19 on LTC social work practice. We will share relevant resources and discuss successes and current challenges.
Simple Activities for Stressful Times
Java Group Programs have created a short video and handout with tips on creating mindfulness in LTC team members and residents during COVID-19. ‘Creating Calm: Simple Activities for Stressful Times’, offers 5 practical activities to reduce worry and create calm for team members and for those that they are supporting.
Coping With Stress During COVID-19
The World Health Organization has developed a resource with helpful tips to help individuals cope with stress, anger, confusion, sadness, and other emotions LTC team members may be experiencing. These tips are can be accessed for free online, or printed and shared as a poster.
Boredom Busters for LTC
In an effort to minimize boredom and loneliness for residents living in long-term care during this challenging time, the Ontario CLRI at Bruyère and iGen Ottawa have put together a list of online resources for recreation therapists and recreation professionals to use in programming for residents.
ECHO Care of the Elderly for LTC: COVID-19
Project ECHO Care of the Elderly is a telehealth, case-based learning program to enhance the quality of care to residents by improving the knowledge and skills of their primary care providers. This session covers topics relevant to LTC homes during COVID-19.
These sessions are recorded and can be found here.
Supporting Visits of Families in LTC
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing requirements and visitor restrictions in LTC have needed to be put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Gradually as visits resume in LTC homes, it is important for homes to engage in deliberate planning, with thorough communication to residents, families and team members. Family members of residents in LTC are important partners in care. This resource card has compiled some resources available that can support homes as they plan for, co-ordinate and support visits.
Non-Pharmacological Approaches to Support Individuals Living with Dementia Maintain Isolation Precautions
This document provides suggestions for non-pharmacological strategies that care teams can use to support frail older adults living with dementia who are at risk due to wandering behaviour. Created by the BSO Provincial Coordinating Office.
Virtual Visits Toolkit
The content was prepared by Family Councils Ontario, the Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils, and Tech Coaches Inc for LTC homes, residents and families to stay connected during social isolation. Includes examples of video calling initiatives that have launched with success since the COVID-19 pandemic started
Tools to Keep Residents & Families Informed
The Ontario Association for Residents’ Councils and Family Councils Ontario have developed easy tools to help homes keep residents and families up to date on what’s happening in the home. Many of these tools are available in French as well.
Communication at End-of-Life eLearning
These three modules are designed to refresh or develop team members’ communication skills to provide quality end-of-life and palliative care in LTC homes.
A Communication Tool to Support Families in LTC (eLearning Course)
This elearning module will introduce you to the Huddle Tool, a set of five simple questions to share any experience, situation, or need with your LTC team over the telephone.
eConsult COVID-19 Specialty Group
This initiative allows LTC homes to connect primary care providers with specialists using eConsult – a secure online platform that allows primary care providers to consult with experts from more than 100 specialties. In partnership with the Ontario eConsult Centre of Excellence and the Champlain BASE eConsult team.
RPNs
To help connect available RPNs with employers, WeRPN (formerly RPNAO) has launched a COVID-19 Staff Needed section where urgent jobs are posted. If you are an employer in need of RPNs, you are asked to fill out the form on the webpage which will allow WeRPN to list your organization as a job posting on the site.
Health Students
The Ontario Long Term Care Association launched a new job board, Link2LTC, powered by Tazwiz, to connect health students to paid openings for critical roles in LTC homes, such as resident support aides.
RNs/NPs
RNAO can now help homes find RNs and NPs. They have launched a web form for employers to fill out to get RNs/NPs to augment their nursing human resources. Please note that the RNAO is not the hiring organization.
PSWs
The Ontario Personal Support Workers Association (OPSWA) has created a provincial database of PSWs who have expressed an interest in returning to assist in both community and LTC settings. They also have PSW students available to work. If you are in need of PSWs, please email the OPSWA with high priority at info@opswa.com and include the subject line “EMERGENCY PSWS NEEDED.”
PSWs
The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario has a PSW Initiative web page that connects nursing students to LTC homes to work as PSWs. Students can search for facilities by city and by the name of the home and apply to the facilities via a web form. If your home would like to be on the list, fill out this PSW request web form.
Existing LTC/Health Care Professionals
The Government of Ontario is seeking those with experience in providing health care who are available to help provincial efforts to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19, if required. They are looking for health care providers who may be working part-time and want to and are prepared to increase their work hours or former healthcare providers who are retired, or on inactive status with their regulatory college.
New to LTC Orientation
This is a free online training on the Ontario CLRI website to help orient new resident support aides and other roles to the LTC culture and give them the basic skills to support residents. These materials can also be used for volunteers and families who are supporting residents with care during visits.
Health Staff Redeployed to LTC
covidcarelearning.ca is an online learning management system to support upskilling for health-care workers being redeployed for COVID-19 care. These materials support orientation of PSWs, nurses, and physicians to LTC homes and helps team members to bridge their knowledge from current practice to the requirements to care for COVID-19 and other residents.
Do you have ideas on how we can better support LTC homes through education during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The Ontario CLRI is funded by the Government of Ontario and hosted at Baycrest Health Sciences, Bruyère, and the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging. This work is supported in part with funding from the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Province.