Transforming our long-term care facilities into warm and nurturing environments requires a comprehensive and concerted effort. Changes that promote a Home-Like environment can be achieved when the following key points are thoughtfully and proactively addressed.
Staff and Volunteers
Working Conditions
- Value, support, recognize and respect all staff and volunteers for their work.
- Provide fair compensation with fitting salaries and benefits including sick leave.
- Ensure staff positions are full-time wherever possible with staff dedicated to working only in one long-term care home and with realistic workloads.
- Provide more hours for direct care.
Recruitment and Retention
- Recruit staff and volunteers who exhibit emotional intelligence, empathy, compassion, have a willingness and ability to learn new approaches, and work as a team.
- Actively involve staff and volunteers in decision-making that is integral to better resident care.
Education / Training
- Educate staff and volunteers on relationship-based approaches.
- Strengthen staff and volunteer skills in empathy, social interaction and team work.
- Provide timely, on-the-job continuing education for staff and volunteers that is responsive to changing residents’ needs.
Infrastructure
- Many LTC homes in Ontario are old and outdated with some residents living four to a room and sharing one bathroom.
- Support shift from institutional to home-like environments.
- Require facilities (existing and new) to create an environment that supports a culture focused on the resident, shared living spaces, and private bedrooms.
- Change provincial design guidelines
- Shorten provincial timelines for requirement of homes to meet
Inspections
- Use cumulative reports of LTC home inspections and data to guide timely improvements in Ontario’s provincial LTC system. Engage family councils, residents, families and front-line staff in this process.
- Evolve the role of LTC inspectors to that of compliance advisors or resource persons who foster a partnership between government funders and providers of care.
Families/caregivers
- Value, support, recognize and respect families and caregivers as part of the community in the home.
- Activate timely and up-to-date communication protocols between families and LTC homes when a crisis occurs.
- Support and help maintain family-resident relationships when a crisis occurs.
Innovative models
There are several innovative models of care that have embraced effective change and that already exist in other countries, with a few in Canada and even Ontario. These are The Butterfly Approach, The Eden Alternative, The Hogeweyk Villages, and the Green House Project.