Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care in the COVID-19 Crisis

April 24, 2020
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The COVID-19 crisis offers an opportunity to create a new, better normal at Canadian long-term residential care facilities.

The report’s short-term recommendations include: making all staff permanent and limiting their work to one nursing home; raising staff wages and benefits, especially sick leave; rapidly providing testing for all those living, working or visiting in homes; ensuring access to protective equipment immediately; and severely limiting transfers from hospitals.

In the long term, evidence suggests policymakers should more effectively integrate long-term residential care into the the public health care system, through federal legislation similar to the Canada Health Act, in order to develop a universal public long-term care plan that is accessible and adequately funded; stop privatization and promote non-profit ownership; ensure protective equipment is stockpiled for the future; build surge capacity into labour force planning and the physical structure of facilities; and establish and enforce minimum staffing levels and regulations.

Further reading on promising practices in long-term care

Offices: 
ISBN: 
978-1-77125-502-8