Grant: Project Grant

Older adults are a rapidly growing segment of the population and live longer and healthier lives than in previous generations. In 2014, adults aged 65+ years accounted for six million (15.6%) of Canada's population, and the government estimates that by 2030, this number will surpass 9.5 million (23%). The impact of COVID-19 in long-term care homes (LTCH) in Canada highlighted longstanding challenges in this sector. Recently, a Canadian policy briefing addressed these challenges in Canada's long-term care (LTC) sector, and made recommendations that changes be made to the healthcare workforce. Amongst the most vital issues to address are improvements for the provision of primary medical care for LTC residents, as well as for direct care provided by nurses and personal support workers. To do so, there is an urgent need for researchers to identify and review the currently available research in this area to support comparisons of different models of care and their impact on key measures such as quality of resident care, resident quality of life and hospital admissions. To address this need, we will conduct two systematic reviews of currently available research to answer the following questions: 1. What are the effective models for primary medical care for residents of LTCHs to optimize their quality of care, quality of life and health outcomes? 2. What are the effective models for direct care (including nursing care and personal care) for residents of LTCHs to optimize their quality of care, quality of life and health outcomes? We will use best practice methods to carry out the planned systematic reviews of the evidence with a multi-disciplinary research team having expertise in public health, geriatric medicine and epidemiology. We will partner with Canadian organizations in the LTC setting to disseminate our findings and to maximize their uptake toward optimizing long-term care homes for Canadians.