COVCARES STUDIES
COVCARES stands for COVID-19 and Caregivers of Assisted living Residents: their Experiences and Support needs. COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on older adults living in long-term care (LTC) homes and assisted living (AL), also called retirement homes or supportive housing. There settings have both had high rates of COVID-19 infection and more serious outcomes among those living in these settings with up to 80% of COVID-19 related deaths in Canada being among residents in AL and LTC. So far, most media and research attention has focused on LTC homes with less attention paid to AL, which has grown rapidly in provinces like Alberta and British Columbia. Residents of AL are similar in a number of ways to those in LTC, but AL settings provide lower staffing levels and fewer services than LTC. Therefore, expectations for family/friend caregiver involvement in resident care is higher in AL than in LTC. AL homes have faced the same concerns about the staffing, oversight and resources provided for infection prevention and control as LTC. This study program includes two studies: COVCARES AB/BC & COVCARES AB.
QUALITY OF LIFE STUDIES
This research addresses one of the most pressing issues in Canadian long-term care homes: understanding and improving the quality of life (QoL) of older adults who are living with dementia and other intersecting vulnerabilities in LTC homes. This research program includes two studies: Counting What Counts & the Feasibility Study.