January 06, 2025
With $5 million in funding from the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) are launching the
Dementia Care Preparedness Initiative. Led by the Ontario CLRI team at Baycrest, in collaboration with the Ontario CLRI teams at Bruyère Health and Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging, the program will support and better equip the long-term care sector to care for individuals living with dementia.
“With the
Dementia Care Preparedness Initiative, Baycrest will continue to leverage its expertise in dementia care and world-class innovation in education to meaningfully impact the Ontario long-term care sector,” said Dr. Faith Boutcher, Interim Vice President of Education, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education. “This program will further enable Baycrest to empower more healthcare providers with the skills and knowledge they need to enhance older adults’ well-being and quality of life.”
The Dementia Care Preparedness Initiative will help long-term care homes assess their current approaches and models, and plan for enhanced dementia care and resident outcomes. It will also develop long-term care home capacity for future dementia care best practices.
Participating homes will receive:
- One-on-one support to assess their current approaches to dementia care (achievements, needs) and their preferred future for dementia care delivery
- A stipend to enable home participation
- A data-informed home profile and benchmarking information
The data obtained will provide long-term care homes with insights to make evidence-informed decisions on delivering dementia care. It will also help homes prepare for the
proposed new legislative amendments to the
Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, which, if approved, will require all long-term care homes to have an organized program for dementia as part of a broader effort to improve dementia care and supports in Ontario.
In addition to the Ontario CLRI, this program is also supported by Baycrest’s Kunin-Lunenfeld Centre for Applied Research & Evaluation and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI), powered by Baycrest.
The Dementia Care Preparedness Initiative launches today, and the Ontario CLRI will reach out to homes with next steps. For questions about the program, homes are encouraged to contact
OntarioCLRI@baycrest.org.
As one of the world’s leading distributors of knowledge on seniors’ care, Baycrest supports the Ontario long-term care sector by developing innovative, interprofessional education and programming to address the unique needs of our aging population.