Grant: Fellowship - Priority Announcement: Evidence Informed Healthcare Renewal

While frontline careworkers comprise the majority of the residential care workforce and are responsible for the bulk of hands-on elder care, they are often excluded from decision-making processes. Recent studies are drawing links between this marginalization and the perpetuation of injury, violence and poor quality care. This study investigates a promising practice that integrates the knowledge and experience of frontline careworkers within the institutional processes of residential facilities, resulting in fewer injuries and better quality care. This practice involves regular meetings between frontline careworkers and managers. These meetings are facilitated and follow an agenda set by the careworkers themselves. By observing these meetings, conducting focus groups with frontline careworkers and interviewing managers, this study seeks to: 1) explain why this program has been so successful, 2) better understand what is required to provide quality care safely, and 3) make recommendations that can benefit other facilities and jurisdictions. Results of this study will be distributed through presentations and publications tailored to a wide range of audiences, including academics, administrators, policymakers, careworkers and the general public.