Grant: HSPR Training Modernization Start-Up Grant - Western Canada

Team members in Manitoba will teach a postdoctoral fellow how evidence can be used to improve housing with health services (HHS, also called supportive housing or assisted living) programs, that are designed to help older people remain in the community. This is important as our guidelines for using HHS care are outdated. Without improvements, some people will continue being admitted into nursing homes before it is necessary, and our province will need to build many more nursing homes. Manitoba already has more nursing home beds than most other provinces. Three activities are planned. First, the fellow will engage with leaders provincially and across Canada to learn about the different HSS programs that exist and how they work. Second, the fellow will interview newly admitted nursing home residents and their providers to gain ideas about things in HHS that work well, and what should be changed. This evidence will be used to identify key HHS policy change ideas. Third, the fellow will use healthcare use records to understand what would happen (i.e., how HHS and nursing home use would change) if these policy changes were implemented. In addition to completing these activities, the fellow will receive additional training to improve their networking, communication, and similar skills. This training will enable the fellow to not only apply the skills they develop, but also to more effectively lead healthcare reform in HHS and other areas. Our diverse of team of researchers and healthcare stakeholders is committed to working together to train the fellow, and also to help and learn from other teams across Canada