Why does it take an outbreak to put long-term care homes back in the news? The news of the latest outbreak in a long-term care home is a stark reminder that residents in long-term care homes have been, and still are, vulnerable to this terrible pandemic. The need for change in long-term care is patently obvious.
Although measures to deal with staffing are critical to fix the immediate problem, there is a greater need to fix the culture of long-term care homes for the longer term. This can be done. CARP Ottawa is working with other organizations in Ontario to bring about transformative culture change in Ontario’s long-term care homes through a grassroots movement.
An independent commission set up by the province to investigate how and why COVID-19 spread in long-term care homes, what was done to prevent the spread, and the impact of key elements of the existing system on the spread has begun its work. We should all follow the work of this commission with great interest. And we should all make our voices heard to make sure the changes recommended are truly transformative.
Elizabeth Spence, Letter to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, September 26/20
If you are interested in helping to bring about transformative culture change to Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes, please either write a letter to the editor in your local paper or write directly to the Commission. You can write to them at info@LTCcommission-commissionSLD.ca
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