Workforce utilization in three continuing care facilities

The role of unregulated care providers in Canada—A scoping review

“…The activities performed in the traditional UCP role include (i) support for ADLs—feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, lifts and transfers, personal hygiene of oral, skin and nail care; (ii) instrumental activities of daily livings (IADLs)—menu and meal planning, meal preparation, transportation or accompanying patients, shopping, educational and recreational assistance; and (iii) light housekeeping (e.g., sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming, washing dishes and laundry; Canadian Nurses Association, ; Community Care Access Centre (CCAC), ; Government of Alberta, ; Johnson & Noel, ; Knopp‐Sihota, Niehaus, Squires, Norton, & Estabrooks, ; Ontario Personal Support Workers Association, ; Sullivan & Sharpe, ; Suter et al., ; Zeytinoglu, Denton, Brookman, & Plenderleith, ).…”

“…In terms of care settings, twenty (31.7%) focused on long-term care and eighteen (28.5%) on home and community care settings (including Retirement Homes and Supportive Housing). Johnson & Noel, 2007;Knopp-Sihota, Niehaus, Squires, Norton, & Estabrooks, 2015;Ontario Personal Support Workers Association, 2016;Sullivan & Sharpe, 2005;Suter et al, 2014;Zeytinoglu, Denton, Brookman, & Plenderleith, 2014).…”

“…Qualitative study Residential long-term care -Co-operation of special care aides (SCAs) can contribute to the success of therapeutic recreational programmes in long-term care; for example, if SCAs fail to provide personalised care to residents immediately after a meal they may miss a recreational programme because they are using the restroom -SCAs working in long-term care should be educated by recreation staff on health benefits of therapeutic recreation among older adults; this will help them to understand the influence of recreational activities on quality of life and resident care 57. Suter et al (2014) Case study Complex continuing care hospitals -Healthcare aides (HCAs) roles and responsibilities vary significantly across facilities where they provide care -In one facility, they may chart residents progress, take notes to stay abreast with the changing health status of residents, administer medications and participate in meetings to plan for resident's personalised care -In contrast, at another facility, their role is limited to traditional ADL such as toileting, bathing and feeding, as well as serving meals and doing laundry -HCAs are not called for input in customising resident's care planning 58.…”

Are healthcare aides underused in long-term care? A cross-sectional study on continuing care facilities in Canada

“…11 Despite the standardised curriculum and HCA competency profile, research shows that HCAs are not used optimally in Alberta’s continuing care system. 6 In addition to HCAs’ competency profile, several individual and contextual factors play an important role in best-utilising HCAs in continuing care facilities. 12 Involving HCAs in more skilled work such as medication assistance could help enhance their sense of personal accomplishment and importance to the organisation.…”

Retention and Task Shifting in Human Resources for Health through Data Mining

“…The health workforce is the backbone of every health system (Anyangwe & Mtonga, 2007). The workforce utilization of human resources for health (HRH) is a key component of effective health service delivery (Suter et al, 2014). Challenges related to human resources for health (HRH) are important in low-and middle-income countries.…”