Grant: Project Grant

Almost one-half of Canadians in nursing homes are frail, over 80 years of age, managing with the effects of multiple diseases and many of them have a diagnosis of dementia. People in nursing homes are very dependent upon their caregivers and this leads to increased staff workload and unfortunately, results in a lower quality of care. Working life for those caregivers is often poor. For a long time there has been, and continues to be, concern about the quality of care in nursing homes. National and international reports have repeatedly highlighted this problem. As Canadians live longer and growing numbers survive into very late life, the need for high quality nursing home care for the elderly will increase dramatically. The Safer Care for Older Persons (in residential) Environments (SCOPE) study will provide healthcare aides, the front line staff who provide the majority of direct care, with the skills necessary to improve the quality of care through the use of best practices and enhanced team work. SCOPE actively engages nursing home leaders to support this work.