Researchers at UBC’s faculty of medicine and school of nursing are leading an investigation to understand the impact and implementation of staffing policies to control the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care (LTC) homes.
Dr. Joanie Sims-Gould
The UBC research team is one of 14 groups across the country to receive funding from the Government of Canada, as part of a $1.8 million investment announced last week. The teams will partner with LTC and retirement homes to study the effectiveness of promising practices, interventions, and policy options designed to keep residents, their families and caregivers, and staff safe.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic problems in long-term care and retirement homes. Research projects like these are essential to building capacity and expanding our knowledge about what we can do now and in the future to keep the residents and workers of long-term care and retirement homes safe during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, last week.
The UBC research team—led by the faculty of medicine’s Dr. Joanie Sims-Gould, an associate professor in the faculty of medicine’s department of family practice and principal scientist with the Active Aging Research Team (AART), and Farinaz Havaei, an assistant professor in the school of nursing—will investigate the “one high-risk site” policy, which prohibits LTC staff from employment in more than one facility.
“COVID-19 has changed staffing practices in long-term care. We urgently need to understand how these practices impact residents, their families, and staff.”
Dr. Joanie Sims-Gould
“COVID-19 has changed staffing practices in long-term care. We urgently need to understand how these practices impact residents, their families, and staff,” explained Dr. Sims-Gould.
For one year, the team will study how the policy impacts long-term care homes in Vancouver, Richmond and Mission, British Columbia. The team will also look to understand the implementation of the policy across all four sites.
A version of this story was originally published on the Active Aging Research Team website.