City Council today voted unanimously to approve a new emotion-centred approach to care to be implemented in the City’s 10 long-term care (LTC) homes.
The made-in-Toronto approach was developed to improve outcomes for residents and their families, and service delivery for residents living in City-operated LTC homes. Seniors Services and Long-Term Care (SSLTC) will implement the comprehensive approach to:
• focus on care relationships and emotional support
• provide consistent caregivers for residents
• redesign the physical space to be less institutional, more home-like and comfortable
• address the significant diversity of Toronto’s Seniors
• increase staffing levels to provide more direct care and meet the increasingly complex care needs of residents
• promote flexibility, teamwork and sharing of best practices
The strategy to implement this new approach to care includes a 12-month pilot project at Lakeshore Lodge to test the new approach before rolling it out to all 10 City-run long-term care homes. Independent experts from the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work will review and evaluate the pilot to assist the City with broader implementation in the future.
It’s estimated that the pilot will cost $500,000 and implementing the new approach in all 10 City-run long-term care homes over six years (including the pilot year) will cost approximately $24 million. Funding will be a year-over-year discussion as part of the budget process.
This approach is the next step for the City to continue its focus on the growing number of seniors in Toronto. In May 2018, Toronto City Council renewed the Toronto Seniors Strategy to improve and integrate services for seniors including health, housing, transportation, employment and access to services. To date, of the 27 recommendations adopted by Council, 17 are fully implemented and 10 are in progress.
The full Seniors Services and Long-Term Care implementation plan and update report is available at toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.EC10.8.
Seniors Services and Long-Term Care are leaders in excellence and ground-breaking services for healthy aging with a commitment to CARE – Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence.
Quotes:
“It’s important that we have the right programs, services and level of care in place that cater to the needs of our diverse population; especially as our senior population continues to grow. This new approach to care positions Toronto as a leader in the area of long-term care and puts us on a path to become a centre of excellence.”
– Mayor John Tory
“One size does not fit all when it comes to long-term care. By combining emotion-centred best practices with strategies tailored to the needs of our residents, the City is ensuring its approach to care remains innovative and focused on improving the lives of our seniors.”
– Councillor Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson, Councillor (Ward 21 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee
“Council has taken an important step forward to improve the lives of seniors living in Toronto’s long-term care homes. Adopting emotion-centred approaches to care, such as the Butterfly Model, has been proven to result in healthier and happier residents. This pilot project builds on the City’s Seniors Strategy to provide innovative and thoughtful delivery of services to support Toronto’s changing demographics.”
– Councillor Josh Matlow (Ward 12 Toronto-St. Paul’s), Toronto Seniors Advocate and Co-chair of the Toronto Seniors Strategy Accountability Table
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