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How Approaches To Care Shape The Pathways Of Older Adult Home Care Clients

To better understand the journey through the home care system and how policy, practice and decision-making shape that journey, Dr. Janice Keefe, Mount Saint Vincent University, her team and her partners received more than $860,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct a new four-year research project “How approaches to care shape the pathways of older adult home care clients”.

The project has multiple partners and spans across Canada, it includes the Nova Scotia Health Authority, University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and other policy and practice stakeholders such as: Northwood, Nova Scotia Department of Health & Wellness, Manitoba Caregiver Coalition, Caregivers Nova Scotia, Canadian Home Care Association and Health Canada. The project is set to start in April 2018.

Over the last few year, more and more emphasis is being placed on supporting older adults to live at home for as long as possible. However, depending on where a senior lives the level of support and care that is received can vary greatly. The research will explore how the individual experience of clients and their caregivers is shaped by different models of care. Presently, there is a need for cross-jurisdictional knowledge on home care models for older adult clients and this study will help to fill that gap.

The outcomes will be used to project home care utilization, inform strategic planning and decision making, and support changes in care practice. Nova Scotia and Manitoba have distinct geographic and cultural compositions but are similar in terms of population and rural-urban issues. Both provinces are experiencing population ageing and increased demand for home care services.

The project includes an established interdisciplinary team with several of Canada’s leading experts in home care and caregiving research. Service providers and senior-level administrators of Health Authorities and Provincial Ministries are also actively engaged in the research. Voices of home care users and caregivers are included through the representation of caregiver groups.

To read the full article in the Mount Saint Vincent News, click here.

Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash