#16
Aging in Place with Nursing Home Without Walls: From Pilot Project to Provincial Program
Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard1, Allison Haché-Chiasson1, Danielle Theriault1
1Universite de Moncton Centre on Aging, Moncton.
The province of New Brunswick was the recipient of federal funding for the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project (2019-2023) initiative which supported innovative pilot projects on healthy aging. One project funded was Nursing Home Without Walls (NHWW). An innovative program where additional resources are provided to LTC facilities to offer support and services to older adults living at home was developed and pilot tested to respond to aging in place. Guided by evidence on aging in place and an asset-based community development approach, the objectives of the NHWW program are 1) to ensure that older adults have access to services and information related to aging in place; 2) provide social health initiatives to counter social isolation and loneliness; 3) increase knowledge on health-related issues important to aging in place; and, 4) empower local communities to respond to the needs of an aging population. This presentation will focus on the final evaluation results and impact of the pilot project. Using a mixed-methods approach, data was collected using surveys with 397 older adults who completed the evaluation components of the program along with 18 semi-structured individual interviews with program participants. Results from data analysis confirmed the positive impact of the project on the desired outcomes. Community based LTC initiatives for aging in place should be prioritized so that older adults and their caregivers are supported to access services and navigate the health care system while preventing or delaying admission to LTC facilities. This pilot project is now a provincial program in New Brunswick.
#96
Assessing Community Paramedicine in The Treatment of Patients Suffering from Chronic Life-Limiting Illnesses
Mark Couves1
1Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s.
Introduction: Community palliative care is a priority in many Canadian jurisdictions but, the ability for patients to receive in-home community palliative aligns differently from Canadian survey responses of the increasing number of patients wishing to remain in their homes during a time of chronic life-limiting illness. Community paramedicine allows healthcare professionals to provide care to patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in-home.
Methods: My research was based on assessing community paramedics in the delivery of palliative care treatment in-home. Data obtained from a rural pilot project following 126 patients was utilized to evaluate community paramedics providing community palliative care based on, (1) the number of transports, (2) symptom management, (3) patient satisfaction, (4) patient transport disposition, and (4) costs associated with treating patients in-home. My research aimed to look at alternative treatment pathways versus standard EMS transport to assess the provided data metrics. A literature review examined the existing research including (1) emergency department strain, (2) primary care strain, (3) alternative treatment pathways, (4) scope expansion of health care providers, and (5) integration of paramedicine into primary care.
Results: The research for this study analyzed the data metrics for 126 participants enrolled in a rural community palliative care program and all associated calls to EMS. The data was collected between May 2021 and January 2022.
Conclusion: This research will help expand the body of knowledge for palliative patients and the benefit of having the ability to receive care through alternative streams outside of primary care and EDs.
#98
Care Transitions of Older Persons from Federal Corrections Institutions to the Community
Marilyn Macdonald1, Andrea Tricco2, Erin Langman3
1School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax. 2Unity Health Toronto, Toronto. 3University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
Caring for an ageing population presents varying challenges. One population rarely mentioned is that of the incarcerated older person upon release. Currently, this population represents 25% of incarcerated persons. Canadian Correctional institutions, and communities are not prepared to meet their home care needs, and their reintegration to the community on release.
This presentation is part of a rapid review/scan to identify reviews of health services in Canadian federal correctional institutions, and to extract health services related recommendations as well as identify models of healthcare in correctional institutions in several countries.
Method: Searches of academic databases MEDLINE (Ovid) and CINAHL (EBSCO) were conducted and found no reports of reviews of healthcare in Canadian correctional institutions, therefore an environmental scan focused on relevant grey literature was conducted. Subsequently searches in MEDLINE (Ovid) and PsycInfo (EBSCO) were undertaken to identify models of healthcare in correctional institutions in other countries. These searches produced few reports that met the inclusion criteria; therefore, an environmental scan was conducted focused on relevant grey literature.
Findings/Results: Twenty (20) documents were retained for review and extraction of healthcare related recommendations. Models of healthcare were extracted from five documents emanating from five countries. The recommendations extracted in relation to this presentation focus on transitioning from a correctional facility to the home and community setting.
Conclusion: Integration of incarcerated persons to home and community happens at the margins and needs to move from margin to centre with the general population.
#91
Information access and management to support community-dwelling older people with complex needs: A modified Delphi Study
Elaine Moody1, Heather McDougall1, Lizbeth Escobedo2, Amy Grant3, Elizabeth Lappin3, Emily Rutledge4, Grace Warner5
1School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax. 2 Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax. 3Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit, Halifax. 4 Dalhousie University, Halifax. 5School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University, Halifax.
With the increasing number of older people in the Maritime region, there is a need to better support older people to live in the community as they age. A range of community supports and services exist through publicly funded programs, community organizations and the private sector; however, they are not always integrated well to support the people who use them. To support the ongoing research in this region related to supporting older people living in the community, there is a need to better understand how information about services and supports is managed and accessed. Our aim was to complete a Delphi process to identify research priorities to inform future practice and planning.
Methods: Questions related to information access and management were identified through group discussions at a stakeholder engagement event held by the Maritime SPOR Support Unit (MSSU) in June 2024. Questions were prioritized through a two-round modified Delphi process. Stakeholders were recruited from MSSU event and professional contacts.
Findings: The process produced ten research priorities that are specific to the Maritimes. These findings will inform future research activity through interprovincial and interdisciplinary research collaboration.
Conclusion: Gathering the input of diverse stakeholders related to research priorities for community dwelling older people living in the Maritimes has informed a research agenda that can better enable the sharing and access to information to support aging well in the community.