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History
On September 7,
1980 a small group of people met at the Bedford Park Church in Toronto
to discuss their concerns about the care their family members were receiving
in long-term care facilities. They had responded to a notice in the
newspaper placed by Betty Hatt who was upset by the conditions in her
mother's nursing home. This dedicated group researched information about
nursing homes, started a newsletter, organized publicity and a membership
drive, developed by-laws, and, in 1982, incorporated as a non-profit
registered charitable organization.
Highlights and
Activities
~Concerned Friends
influenced amendments to the Nursing Homes Act to include the Bill of
Rights for Residents, mandatory reporting of harm to residents, and
nursing home financial accountability provisions.
~We advocated for the creation of the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly,
the Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens Organizations, and Residents
Councils in long-term care facilities, as well as the mandatory posting
of the compliance review report in each home.
~Concerned Friends reviews all Compliance Review Reports and prepares
Report Cards that analyses the overall performance of Ontario's long-term
care facilities.
~We worked on the standardization of the curriculum for the training
of personal support workers, and we continue to have input onto the
upgrading of provincial standards for all long-term care facilities.
~Concerned Friends initiated the Family Council Project in 1998 and
advocated for a directive to long-term care facilities to support the
establishment of autonomous Family Councils. We also urged the Ministry
of Health and Long Term Care to provide sustainable funding for the
Family Council Project.
~Concerned Friends works closely with other groups to advocate for improvements
to the long-term care system, the compliance management program, and
the funding process. |
