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EVERYTHING ABOUT RESIDENTS INVOLVES RESIDENTS A Co-Designed Toolkit Inspiring Resident Engagement in Long-Term Care Homes

EVERYTHING ABOUT RESIDENTS INVOLVES RESIDENTS A Co-Designed Toolkit Inspiring Resident Engagement in Long-Term Care Homes

URL: https://goltc.org/projects/goltc-1770217517

Attitudes and Expectations about Long-Term CareSocial connectionStigma and discrimination Canada Public (including government) Co-production methodsParticipatory research methodsScoping reviewsVignettes and narratives

Project website
https://www.ontarc.com/education-support/resident-engagement-toolkit.html
Project status
Ongoing
Contact
Chloe Yeung
PI Name
Jennifer Bethell
Host institution
KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network
Team members
Jennifer Bethell, Scientist, KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network Beryl Collingwood, Retired. Former Senior Leader, Southbridge Care Homes Julia Fineczko, Doctor of Nursing Graduate, Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto Jim Gilhuly, REAL Member and Board Director, OARC Jennifer Langston, Operations and Project Manager, OARC Melissa Matheson, Education and Home Support Manager, OARC Carrie McAiney, Associate Professor, School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo and Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging Katherine McGilton, Senior Scientist, KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network Melissa McVie, Director of Communications, OARC Gale Ramsden, REAL Co-Chair and Board Director, OARC Dee Tripp, Executive Director, OARC Stephanie Ventura, Director of Education, OARC Chloe Yeung, Evaluation and Quality Manager, OARC
Funded by
The development of this toolkit was supported through research funding provided by the Canadian Frailty Network, Perley Health, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

KEYWORDS / CATEGORIES

Countries
Canada
Topics
Attitudes and Expectations about Long-Term Care | Social connection | Stigma and discrimination
Funding Type
Public (including government)
Methods
Co-production methods | Participatory research methods | Scoping reviews | Vignettes and narratives
Project Summary
Objective: To co-develop an evidence-informed resource that would help long-term care homes to engage residents in organizational design and governance (i.e., to incorporate residents’ needs, values, and preferences into home-level decision-making).
Method: We undertook a co-design project that brought together residents of long-term care homes, knowledge users from the Ontario Association of Residents’ Councils (OARC), researchers and others. First, we conducted a scoping review to describe existing research on resident engagement as well as the associated barriers, enablers and approaches to evaluation. Next, we interviewed people living and working in long-term care homes in order to understand community capacity for resident engagement. Finally, we developed and iteratively refined a toolkit with input from residents, long-term care home staff and administrators and other experts.
Results: Our co-design project created a toolkit that compiled a series of adaptable resources with real-life examples of creative approaches to resident engagement from long-term care homes across Ontario. The toolkit is freely-available through OARC.
Conclusions: Meaningful resident engagement moves beyond legislative requirements to a commitment to considering resident-centred approaches across long-term care home operations. It is an approach to improving quality of life, social connection and sense of home for residents. The OARC toolkit is intended for anyone involved in making decisions that affects their long-term home, including Administrators, managers, team members, residents and families.
Outputs

Lee C, Tripp D, McVie M, Fineczko J, Ramsden G, Hothi S, Langston J, Gilhuly J, Collingwood B, McAiney C, McGilton KS, Bethell J. Empowering Ontario’s long-term care residents to shape the place they call home: a codesign protocol. BMJ Open. 2024 Feb 6;14(2):e077791. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077791. PMID: 38320841; PMCID: PMC10860031.

Hutchinson M, Gilhuly J, Ramsden G, Lee C, Tripp D, Collingwood B, Fineczko J, McAiney C, McGilton KS, McVie M, Bethell J. Listened to but Rarely Heard: A Scoping Review of Resident Engagement in the Organizational Design and Governance of their Long-Term Care Homes. Can J Aging. 2025 Dec;44(4):552-564. doi: 10.1017/S0714980825100263. PMID: 41047600.

PUBLICATIONS & OTHER OUTPUTS

Output 1EVERYTHING ABOUT RESIDENTS INVOLVES RESIDENTS A Co-Designed Toolkit Inspiring Resident Engagement in Long-Term Care Homes