The Canadian Long-Term Care Sector Collapse from COVID-19: Innovations to Support People in the Workforce
The COVID-19 pandemic rattled Canada's long-term care (LTC) sector by exacerbating the ingrained systemic and structural issues, resulting in tragic consequences for the residents, family members and LTC staff. At the core of LTC's challenges is chronic under-staffing, leading to lower quality of care for residents and higher degrees of moral distress among staff. A rejuvenation of the LTC sector to support its workforce is overdue. A group of diverse and renowned researchers from across Canada set out to implement innovative evidence-informed solutions in various LTC homes. Their findings call for immediate action from po...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - December 12, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Pandemic Preparedness and Beyond: Person- Centred Care for Older Adults Living in Long- Term Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The increasing complexity of residents' needs, emphasis on social distancing and limited access to high-quality support presented challenges to patient-centred care during the pandemic. Yet the pandemic created an opportunity to explore novel approaches to achieving person-centred care within long-term care (LTC). We share three projects designed to enhance care delivery in the context of the pandemic: to address personhood needs during outbreaks, to improve the quality of medical care and to deliver personalized palliative and end-of-life care using a prediction algorithm. These projects enabled better care during the pan...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - December 12, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Strengthening Pandemic Preparedness in Long-Term Care
This article provides context in terms of introducing the purpose of this special issue and outlining the research initiative, the ISTs' research areas of focus and the program's overall reach. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - December 12, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Long-Term Care: Where Do We Go Next?
(Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - December 12, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
From the Editors
(Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - November 2, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Creation of a Clinical Demonstration Unit: Embedding Academic Research into Point of Care in a Geriatric Unit
Given that there are limited evidence-informed non-pharmacological interventions to treat behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, a specialized psychiatric hospital partnered with an academic university to create a clinical demonstration unit (CDU) – a learning health systems (LHS) model to advance dementia care. In this paper, we identify five key enablers that led to the successful creation of the CDU, its achievements and challenges encountered. The paper provides learnings for other healthcare providers who are considering initiating an LHS model within their setting to advance patient care. (Sour...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Create and Sustain a Culture of Curiosity: A Case Study of a Home Healthcare Organization in Toronto
We present the roadmap used by one home healthcare organization to create an embedded research unit to drive this transformation. The use of a relevant model and a framework provided structure to guide and sustain the process. We expect that the core strategies and combination of frameworks should be transferrable to others wishing to contribute meaningfully to evidence-based health system transformation. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Understanding the Use of Patient Rooms to Inform Family Zone Implementation: A Qualitative Study
A family zone (FZ) is a portion of the patient room that visitors use to visit their loved one. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of patients, family and hospital staff to inform potential FZ implementation. Two focus groups (N = 17) were conducted using semi-structured interviews. Participants reported that family members assisted with patient care and engaged in positive social interactions while in the patient room, but physical design elements and organizational policies may act as barriers. Understanding the current use of and barriers to FZs can guide future implementation to maximize benefits ...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Hôpital Montfort’s Postnatal Care-at-Home Program: An Innovative Model for Early Postnatal Care
The Montfort Postnatal Care-at-Home (MPCH) Program is an innovative, integrated physician, nurse and midwifery model of care that offers an early hospital discharge option to families. The MPCH Program provides care and support to families throughout their transition from hospital to home. The program has the potential to improve families' experiences and maternal–newborn health outcomes, and provides a safety net to families 24/7 during the first seven days postpartum at home. This model transforms how postnatal care is delivered, and has the potential to improve the flow of the birthing unit and the unit capaci...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Factors that Delay Transfers from Acute Care to a Local Palliative Care Unit
This article makes clinical recommendations to address these barriers. (Source: Healthcare Quarterly)
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Evaluating Toronto Hospitals’ COVID-19 Visitor Policy Using Accountability for Reasonableness
In March 2020, the Toronto Region COVID-19 Hospital Operations Table developed a policy to guide visitor restrictions at six hospitals (Toronto Region COVID-19 Hospital Operations Table 2021). We conducted nine interviews with the developers and implementers of the policy based on the accountability for reasonableness (A4R) framework. Participants agreed that the A4R principles were met suggesting fair development and implementation of the policy. However, recurrent themes suggested that the policy disadvantaged those unable to advocate for themselves and that there were unaccounted costs to patients, such as lost time and...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Using Trusted Relationships and Community-Led Approaches to Promote COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence and Uptake across Ontario
Data underscore how challenging it can be for populations that experience systemic and historical barriers to access necessary health information and services, including COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. In this paper, we describe the initiatives used by member centres of Alliance for Healthier Communities to promote vaccine confidence and uptake, highlight specific examples that applied a health equity lens, describe some of the challenges that centres faced and explore the key enablers for these initiatives. Lessons learned here can be used to engage in other health promoting activities including population health effor...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Identifying Opportunities for Greenhouse Gas Reductions and Cost Savings in Hospitals: A Knowledge Translation Tree
Research has shown that the healthcare sector is among the least green sectors and constitutes one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, posing risks to human health. This review discusses the development of a knowledge translation tool that aims to compare a range of interventions that can be applied in hospital settings to reduce the local GHG emissions and associated financial costs. It discusses several interventions that potentially have the most impact on GHG reduction and compares these to interventions that are commonly used in different hospital departments. The authors propose opportuniti...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Toward an Integrated Strategy for Care in the Home for Frail Elders
Canada requires a strategic plan to care for frail elders in the home. The nation needs a holistic system that addresses the multiple, often unique and dynamic needs of seniors, caregivers and families. This essay introduces ethical, technological and stakeholder engagement considerations that may help Canada move forward with a strategy that offers the capacity to better understand the perspectives of different stakeholders and champions high-quality homecare services. Stakeholder engagement can draw on the concept of brokered dialogue (Parsons and Lavery 2012) as a way to study and ethically design a high-quality nationa...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Virtual Care: A Major Shift for Physicians and Patients
To reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Canada, patients receiving physician services experienced a significant shift to virtual appointments by telephone, video conference and online messaging as many physician visits moved from in-person to virtual delivery. The Canadian Institute for Health Information's analysis of the physician billing data in five provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) shows that during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, up to twice as many physicians provided care virtually compared to 2019. At the same time, the rate at which patients received virtual services qu...
Source: Healthcare Quarterly - October 25, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research
