About
Our objective is to empower long-term care (LTC) home residents to shape the place they call home. Our
project brings together researchers, knowledge users (including co-investigators at the Ontario Association of
Residents’ Councils (OARC) and LTC residents) and highly qualified personnel in their shared interests in
engagement and quality of life in LTC homes. Guided by an integrated approach to research – in which
stakeholders are actively involved in all aspects of the study – we will undertake two aims:
- Collect and summarize existing knowledge on approaches to engaging LTC home residents in program and service design, delivery and evaluation. As part of this process, we will involve LTC residents, staff and decision-makers to review the completeness, relevance and applicability of these findings to the current context of LTC homes.
- Share findings as evidence-informed tools/products, using approaches that specifically target LTC residents, staff and decision-maker audiences.
This work is particularly timely in light of new legislative requirements (Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021) that
requires LTC licensees to engage residents in quality improvement and operational planning. OARC, a nonprofit
association funded by the Ministry of LTC, is uniquely positioned to contribute and facilitate knowledge
from the perspectives of LTC residents and disseminate findings through their networks of LTC residents,
homes and stakeholder organisations. Our findings will be integrated into OARC’s strategic and operational
plans, thereby ensuring impact for LTC home policy and practice and, ultimately, improve quality of life and
sense of home for LTC residents.
