[Ottawa, January 30, 2024) – The RSC has released its latest report titled "Repair and Recovery in Long-Term Care: Restoring Trust in the Aftermath of COVID-19 (2020-2023).” The report is an update to “Restoring Trust: COVID-19 and the Future of Long-Term Care," originally published in July 2020. Both reports have been developed by working groups chaired by Dr. Carole Estabrooks, FRSC.
It has been nearly four years since The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and while there have been positive developments in the systems and policies that govern long-term care in Canada, challenges persist. In charting the policy and legislative evolution since the 2020 report, “Repair and Recovery in Long-Term Care” makes eight recommendations for urgent action.
“Long-term care homes and the systems that support them were unprepared for a global pandemic, having suffered decades long under resourcing and inaction. Repair and recovery, while they may take near Herculean effort and a grit akin to dust-bowl determination, is possible. It could result in a highly resilient system equipped to meet the challenges ahead, and LTC homes that older adults do not fear but understand as places where life and the end of life are lived with dignity, choice, and enough joyful moments to make a good life. It is going to take consequential action,” says Chair of the Working Group, Dr. Carole Estabrooks, FRSC, University of Alberta.
This report is available online now. For further information or media requests, contact Paige Beveridge, Communications Manager, at (613) 991-6990 / pbeveridge@rsc-src.ca
Stay tuned to the RSC for details about an upcoming webinar announcement. www.rsc-src.ca; @src_rsc
Background
Established by the President of the Royal Society of Canada in April 2020, the RSC Task Force on COVID-19 was mandated to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19.
The Task Force established a series of Working Groups to rapidly develop Policy Briefings, with the objective of supporting policy makers with evidence to inform their decisions.
