
Training Tools to Improve Team Response to Early Acute Deterioration in LTC Residents

Simplify QIPs • Enhance Team Performance • Sustain Practice Change
Quality care and safety in LTC depend on teams that are proactive, reflective, and collaborative.
Team Essentials Leadership Coaching is part of the Team Essentials program that provides innovative educational solutions for LTC team members around priority issues in LTC through workshops, eLearning and follow-up visits.
Team Essentials Leadership Coaching provides leadership in LTC homes support to implement the skills learned in Team Essentials among team members. Experiential, team-based learning and interprofessional competencies are integrated into the Team Essentials program in order to encourage discovery, critical thinking, communication, and solution-focused team responses.
Use Team Essentials training to streamline your QIPs and set meaningful targets you can meet. Contact us for more info!
Enhance your team’s performance and well-being by using Team Essentials to create a shared vision of success. Contact us for more info!
Reinforce Team Essentials learning and boost performance change from 15% (training alone) to 85% (training with leadership engagement). Contact us for more info!
Quality care and safety in LTC depend on teams that are proactive, reflective, and collaborative. Team Essentials program is based on leading practices; experiential, team-based learning and interprofessional competencies are integrated into the program in order to encourage discovery, critical thinking, communication, and solution-focused team responses.
The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) are excited to introduce a series of three videos called #theatregamesin90seconds, a condensed version of applied theatre training in quick, fun, and easy-to-learn video segments. The Ontario CLRI at Baycrest developed the applied theatre approach in 2013 to train direct care and support services staff in LTC on the harder-to-reach skills crucial to resident quality of life and care: non-verbal communication, empathy, and awareness of self. The videos offer a way to scale this approach across the province; they give concrete strategies and debriefing prompts that even the most novice educator can use to introduce applied theatre training in a variety of learning environments.
“The theatre games videos were created in response to feedback from interested educators about the need for ‘bite size’ learning opportunities that could be viewed in a simple and quick format from any device at any time,” explains Melissa Tafler, interprofessional arts-based learning specialist with the Ontario CLRI at Baycrest.
The Ontario CLRI at Baycrest held four Train-the-Trainer Applied Theatre workshops in 2018. Each event was met with enthusiasm and excitement from participants:
Applied Theatre Games Explained Applied Theatre Games Explained
For those new to the applied theatre games, this training approach uses facilitated theatre activities and games in non-theatre settings to teach skills in communication, perspective taking, empathy, personal development, and team building. The approach is effective because it relies on simple exercises that offer accessible entry points for staff at all organizational levels.
Participants engage in a range of facilitated theatre exercises and then debrief as a group to pull the learning out of the experiences and apply it to the practice setting. Learning is experienced through the whole body so that knowledge can be absorbed in multiple ways. The group talks about a concept and then uses theatre exercises to experience the concept in real time and reflect on what it actually feels like.
The games offer opportunities for people to step out of their clinical and service roles and meet together in creative spaces where there are no right or wrong answers. This encourages freedom to share thoughts and ideas in a safe way and to step into another person’s perspective.
Across the province, long-term care (LTC) and retirement homes are struggling to meet staffing needs. A shortage of skilled workers is making it increasingly difficult for LTC homes to meet legislative requirements and continue to deliver quality care and services to their residents.
Canada’s rapidly aging population complicates this issue, as LTC homes must attract and recruit additional team members to prepare for the expected increase in residents. There is a lack of awareness about the opportunities that exist in LTC, which can make it difficult to generate interest in these careers. Other influential factors include ageism and negative perceptions of LTC.
Creating opportunities for students to learn about the many career opportunities that exist within LTC and retirement homes will contribute to the continued growth of this workforce. Ontario secondary schools offer co-operative education (co-op) and volunteer opportunities, and schools are regularly seeking meaningful positions for their students.
By forming structured partnerships, secondary schools and LTC operators can work together to:
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.
This resource offers English and French activities for low-cost simulations that are easy to use in large or small groups. The exercises can help long-term care staff develop a better understanding and empathy for residents affected by speech, visual, mobility, and hearing impairments.
The following activities are described in detail, including materials required, instructions and reflection questions.
The following simulations are described in detail in this PDF:
Tracy Luciani is an Arts and Wellness Specialist working at Bruyère Continuing Care, and former Knowledge Broker with the Ontario CLRI at Bruyère. She aims to create spaces that invite collaboration and transformative action.