Resident care can be influenced by individual circumstances, including language, gender identity and expression, ability, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. This guide aims to assist long-term care (LTC) homes in creating connections with their communities that support and acknowledges resident and team member diversity.
The below resources connect direct care partners and team members to local and provincial health and social services to support quality of life and enhance community integration. We encourage LTC homes to reach out to these organizations to create meaningful and enriching partnerships that can benefit everyone who is part of life in LTC.
Healthline Ontario local health and community services
Putting health information at the fingertips of Ontarians, thehealthline.ca is a website for Ontario patients, doctors, and health care providers to get accurate and up-to-date information about health services in their communities.
thehealthline.ca platform is a provincially integrated database and asset that can be leveraged by health service providers and planners to help make healthcare better together.
Key Features
• 14 regional sites organized by LHIN and sub-LHIN regions
• Free to use and prioritizes government-funded or low-cost services
• 45,000+ services from 20,000+ healthcare organizations
• Data managed by LHINs across Ontario
• Standardized language and quality tools used to update each record yearly
• Online tools for organizations to promote services, jobs, news, and events
• Mapping tools that show catchment area by sub-LHIN, First Nations and more
• Tracking and reporting tools for system planners
• Dynamic platform that easily supports provincial scaling of regional initiatives
211 Ontario community programs and social services
What is 211?
211 is the source Canadians trust when seeking information and services to deal with life’s challenges.
211’s award-winning telephone helpline (2-1-1) and website provide a gateway to community, social, non-clinical health and related government services.
211 helps to navigate the complex network of human services quickly and easily, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in over 150 languages.
211 connects people to the right information and services, strengthens Canada’s health and human services, and helps Canadians to become more engaged with their communities.
Baycrest Behavioural Support Rounds are open to all health professionals and students and provide a learning forum to review leading practices in assessing and managing personal expressions, as demonstrated by individuals who live with dementia.
Accessible through Zoom, these rounds are co-sponsored by the Baycrest Toronto Central – LHIN Behaviour Support for Seniors Program and the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest.
A framework and tools for encouraging discussions about deprescribing
Older adults living in long-term care (LTC) homes often take many medications each day – sometimes this is not necessary and can even be harmful. Deprescribing is the planned and supervised process of reducing doses or stopping medications.
Decisions about medications for residents are best made when people work together with their health-care providers. Everyone in an LTC resident’s care team can help make medication-related care safe and effective.
The Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team worked with stakeholders across Ontario’s LTC sector to identify four behaviours and develop supporting tools that help deprescribing become a part of the culture of care. Click on the links in each behaviour to access tools such as process guides, infographics, cue cards and videos:
People living in LTC homes and their families/caregivers will participate in shared decision-making to establish and monitor goals of care with respect to medication use while taking into consideration effectiveness, safety and non-drug alternatives.
The Bruyère Deprescribing Research Team is a partner of Ontario CLRI at Bruyère. For more information about how these behaviours were identified, read the Deprescribing in LTC report.
Additional resources and tools for optimizing medication use in older adults
Five evidence-based guidelines that help health care providers make informed assessments of a resident’s medication and explore possibilities for non-drug treatments.
Deprescribing.org houses deprescribing guidelines and other resources developed by Dr. Barbara Farrell and Dr. Lisa McCarthy’s research team at the Bruyere Research Institute (Ottawa). Barbara and Lisa are pharmacists who work with older people and are concerned about the risks associated with medications in this population.
The needs of residents in long-term care can be affected by their gender, language, Indigenous identity, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. In response to this diversity, the Ontario Centres for Learning Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) are engaging provincial stakeholders to identify and develop education and other resources that support the diversity of residents in long-term care. This presentation shares inspirational stories and resources that can support long-term care homes in their delivery of resident-centered care in a way that acknowledges individual diversity and aligns with Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors.
This presentation was delivered at the Together We Care Conference on April 20, 2018.
Cycling Without Age (CWA) is an innovative program that makes it possible for seniors or those with mobility challenges to stay active and get back on bicycles, allowing them to enjoy their scenic communities.
This resource page features several informative tools to support long-term care (LTC) leaders and management in implementing CWA, and informing families and care partners that it exists. Included is a descriptive article, a recording of a webinar hosted by the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI), and a program brochure to help LTC homes with implementation.
Background
Bruyère Continuing Care opened Ontario’s first CWA chapter in 2016, in collaboration with community partner Gary Bradshaw. The program has been running in Bruyère’s Saint-Louis Residence, Élisabeth Bruyère Residence, and Bruyère Village, and the success has been tremendous. The Ontario CLRI supported the program evaluation.
Cycling Without Age: Enhancing the Lives of Seniors – The Right to Wind in Your Hair
On March 12, 2018, the Ontario CLRI hosted a webinar focused on the concept of Cycling Without Age (CWA), as well as the pilot project conducted in Bruyère Continuing Care’s long-term care homes. It also discusses the purposes and goals of the program, as well as the benefits and challenges the Bruyère teams came across during implementation.
Background
CWA is an innovative program that has helped seniors stay active and stay connected with their communities. CWA is making it possible for seniors or those with mobility challenges to get back on their bicycles and enjoy their communities and nature. Learn more about the CWA program.
Presenters
Kim Durst-Mackenzie – Therapeutic Recreation and Volunteer Coordinator, Bruyère Continuing Care
In this webinar, Dr. Charlotte Loppie explores anti-Aboriginal racism in Canada – how to understand it in historical context, how it affects individuals and communities, and what programs, policies and strategies exist to combat it. Dr. Loppie describes the construction of race as a form of social hierarchy, followed with an overview of expressions of racism as well as the impact of lived and structural racism on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada. Finally, Dr. Loppie provides examples of efforts to address racism in Canada, including anti-racism interventions, anti-oppressive education and cultural competency, as well as anti-discrimination legislation.
This webinar has been made available through the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH), a national Aboriginal organization established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health renewal and health equity through knowledge translation and exchange.
This webinar has been identified as a resource that supports Indigenous culture in long-term care by the Ontario Caring Advisory Circle.
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are recognized as an emerging health issue in Indigenous communities. Indigenous elders are considered to be among Canada’s most vulnerable citizens because they often face complex health issues stemming from socio-economic marginalization and a legacy of colonialism in addition to barriers in accessing health care. They have higher rates of many of the risk factors for dementia. As a result, the rates of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are expected to increase more rapidly among Indigenous elders compared to non-Indigenous older adults. Despite this recognition, relatively little is known about ADRDs among Indigenous peoples in Canada.
This paper summarizes what is known about the prevalence of ADRDs, the challenges associated with diagnosing dementias, and the risk factors associated with the development of dementias in Indigenous populations. The paper highlights several knowledge gaps with respect to the prevalence of various forms of dementia among different groups of Indigenous peoples, as well as differences in the way dementias present in Indigenous communities. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for integrated multi-sectoral approaches to address socio-economic equities and health disparities as preventative measures for ADRDs.
Copyright: 2018 National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH). This publication was funded by the NCCAH and made possible through a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The Creating Authentic Spaces toolkit is part of The 519’s efforts to challenge transphobia and to foster environments that are inclusive of gender identity and gender expression. People who identify as trans often experience barriers to accessing necessary services due to discrimination or harassment based on their gender identity and gender expression.
This toolkit explores the experiences and challenges faced by trans people and supports organizations and individuals to develop approaches to fostering a trans inclusive environment. The toolkit also highlights the small and larger steps individuals can take personally and within their organizations to create more inclusive spaces and services for trans people. Creating Authentic Spaces info sheets, posters and workshops are also listed on this webpage.
