Concerned Friends: March 2010 What We've Been Doing The complete renovation that is occurring in the long-term care system is keeping Concerned Friends board members very busy. In all the activities, we continue to advocate for the best possible care for long-term care residents at this time of major change and transition. Here is what we have been doing. • Phyllis Hymmen (President) and Lois Dent (Past President) appeared before the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions at Queen's Park. The Concerned Friends presentation focused on the needs and challenges for the mental health of the residents in Ontario's long-term care homes. • As a partner in the Family Councils' Program, we participated as a member of the Implementation Team in the development of a strategic plan for the Family Councils' Program. Other team members were our partner, the Self-Help Resource Centre, family council facilitators and family council network chairs. • At the Ontario Health Quality Council (OHQC), we have been attending meetings as a member of the Council's Quality Improvement Initiative Steering Committee. This initiative is focused on a program of quality improvement in the areas of falls, incontinence, pressure ulcers, avoiding Emergency Department visits and the consistency of staff providing care to a resident. Over one hundred long-term care homes across the province have volunteered to participate in the initiative. Concerned Friends has also been working with OHQC staff in the development of the curriculum that will be used to train facilitators in the quality improvement for the homes. This is the beginning of a five year quality improvement plan called Residents First. • Concerned Friends has also been a member of the OHQC's Public Reporting Work Group and the Council's development of a public reporting website. We have provided feedback as the site has been developed. This website will provide information on key areas where long-term care homes are measuring quality. It is based on the province's data collection and the implementation of the new tool the Resident Assessment Instrument- Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS). It is anticipated that when all homes are using RAI-MDS for a significant period, the results will be available for them on the website for the public to examine. At the moment, the website reports on a few homes that are participating. The OHQC anticipates that the results for all homes will be reported by the end of 2011. • The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) is transforming the inspection system of long-term care homes. Concerned Friends has been part of the Compliance Transformation Advisory Group. Other members of the Advisory Group are representatives of the long-term care home associations, Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, the Executive Director of the Ontario Association of Residents Councils, and staff from the Family Councils' Program. We listen to the proposals for change to an outcome, resident focused base, and provide feedback based on our experience of dealing with concerns about the standards of care expected and how they are enforced. • In the renovation of long-term care, the MOHLTC is reviewing its funding to long-term care homes. The review involves collaborative discussions on improving the current ways that homes are funded and financially managed. This has to be done within the existing financial resources and those available in the future. Concerned Friends is a member of the Funding Review Steering Committee. Other members are representatives of the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), Long-Term Care Home operators, and MOHLC officials and one from the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat. Concerned Friends brings the perspective of residents and their families to the table. We have assisted the Funding Review Team in developing a communiqué that explains the review in terms that make the very technical understandable to those not directly involved in long-term care funding issues. • Phyllis Hymmen and Lois Dent received an invitation to a reception from the Seniors Secretariat of the Ontario Government to meet Gerry Phillips in his new portfolio of Minister with responsibility for seniors. They were able to take this opportunity to briefly explain to him the work of Concerned Friends. |