The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted long-term care policy, while the home and community care sector is overlooked. Most older adults are community-dwellers, and wish to stay in their homes and communities for as long as possible, or “age in place”. The purpose of this study is to understand how older Canadians and their caregivers have changed their perceptions of care options in later life, including long-term care and home and community care. We hope to co-create resources and media from this research, to raise the profile of health care, specifically home and community care, for older adults living in Ontario.
We are looking for community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older and/or their family caregivers, from all backgrounds who would be willing to participate in a research study. Participants would interviewed by a member of our research team once. Participants will be asked questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed perceptions of health care options available in later life, how the pandemic has impacted strategies to “age in place”, and how community-dwelling older adults and family caregivers can be supported to “age in place”. The interview will take approximately 45-60 minutes and will be done by telephone or online video call. The results of this research will be used to develop impactful resources, with the Seniors Helping as Research Partners (SHARP) group, that supports advocacy work and raises the profile of health care, specifically home and community care, for older adults in Ontario.
This research is being led by Principal Investigator Jacobi Elliott, PhD.
This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee (#43347)
If you are interested in participating in this study, or if would like to learn more, please contact the co-investigator Dr. Tong at Catherine.tong@uwaterloo.ca