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Call for Expressions of Interest

Workplace Mental Health in LTC for Early Adopters: Leadership Training and Support Program

The deadline to submit expressions of interest is now closed.

The Ontario CLRI at the RIA invites leaders in long-term care to take your workplace mental health strategy to the next level. Learn how to build an organizational culture that promotes and protects the mental health of all team members, and improves workforce productivity, recruitment and retention.

Go to the Call for Expressions of Interest

About the Initiative

This Workplace Mental Health in LTC initiative supports long-term care (LTC) homes across Ontario to adopt the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. The Standard was published in 2013 and defines a systematic approach to creating and sustaining a psychologically safe and healthy work environment.

Working in LTC is psychologically demanding. Frontline workers experience physical and emotional stress, time pressures, bullying, violence, racism, and a workplace culture that often devalues the role of care providers. According to the Ontario government’s Long-Term Care Staffing Study (July 2020), team members in LTC are “feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, and unrecognized.” These conditions contribute to high rates of injury, disability, absenteeism, staff turnover and recruitment challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has only magnified these issues and highlighted the need for change in Ontario’s long-term care system. Emerging research shows that workers are experiencing rising levels of depression, anxiety, grief and post-traumatic stress.

The Ontario CLRI is collaborating with mental health experts, occupational health and safety service providers, unions, researchers, educators, provincial associations and other stakeholders to co-design an effective and sustainable support system for LTC homes. The Psychological Health and Safety in Long-Term Care initiative will promote evidence-based resources, offer training programs tailored for the LTC sector, and cultivate a network of psychological health and safety champions. By creating a workplace culture that promotes and protects mental health, leaders in LTC can build and retain a resilient workforce that is well equipped to provide quality care for residents and support for families.

A Psychological Health and Safety in Long-Term Care Advisory Committee (see below) and other experts contribute to the work of this initiative.