LTC+: Acting on Pandemic Learning Together

From 2020 to 2022, this program brought together more than 1,500 homes caring for older adults in congregate settings to navigate challenges and opportunities related to the COVID-19 pandemic and enhance their organization’s skills and resilience. Teams received funding and coaching and participated in virtual learning and peer support opportunities.

This program focused on creating ways for teams to learn from and with each other in six key areas:

1. preparation

2. prevention

3. people in the workforce

4. pandemic response and surge capacity

5. planning for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care

6. presence of family

LTC+ was delivered by HEC with support from Health Quality BC (previously the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council), Shared Health (previously Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety), New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes and CADTH, with additional funding support from the CMA Foundation.

The Implementation Science Teams approach

This rapid research initiative brought together quality improvement efforts through the LTC+ Acting on the Pandemic Learning Together program with implementation science so that learnings could be quickly shared across the sector to improve preparedness for future waves of the pandemic.

Each team included:

• researchers with expertise in long-term care and/or implementation science

• long-term care home knowledge users with decision-making authority

• residents, family members and essential care partners

This work is complemented by a Common Measurement Framework project to collectively identify a common set of indicators about enablers and barriers for successful and maximum impact of promising practices.