Care of the Elderly Program

The Canadian population is aging in unprecedented numbers presenting unique challenges to the health care system. The largest expected increase will be persons over eighty years of age, many of whom will require residential care. To meet the predicted future need for long-term care, 20,000 beds were added to this sector in Ontario in 2002-03.

In 2001, the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University established a partnership with Shalom Village, a long-term care facility in Hamilton, and initiated a collaboration with the School of Nursing at McMaster University and the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. Together they submitted a proposal, Actively Building Capacity in Long-Term Care (ABC in LTC), to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), which was funded in November 2002.

The project had three objectives:

1. To prepare a strategy document for recruitment and retention of family physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists in long-term care
2. To design a collaborative service delivery model for family physicians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists in long-term care
3. To develop a collaborative curriculum for training family medicine residents, nurse practitioners and pharmacy students in the care of long-term care patients

• Actively Building Capacity in Long Term Care Facilities - Final Report (pdf) download
• Carl Moore Lecture by Dr. Michael Gordon (2004), Humanity in Long Term Care: Ethical, Clinical and Social Challenges (PowerPoint) download
• Clinical Resource for LTC