Care Watch collaborates and participates with researchers and organizations exploring ways to improve the lives of older adults.
Current Partnerships
Developing an evidence-base to inform retirement home policy development using an equity and diversity lens: A mixed methods study
Retirement homes support many older adults as they age. In Ontario, the demand for retirement homes is growing. Yet, Ontario retirement homes are among the most expensive in Canada. Ontario is the only province that does not offer government help to cover some of the costs of living in a retirement home. Retirement home experts are worried that people from minority groups (e.g., low-income groups, non-English speakers) cannot access retirement homes in the same way as those from other groups. We do not know much about how issues of equity and diversity impact people’s experiences accessing and receiving care in retirement homes.
This study will use statistics and interviews of older adults and their caregivers from minority groups to better understand the unfair differences that exist in access, choice, and care quality for people from minority groups when they move from their private home to either a retirement home or a nursing home. This project will be sure to explore women’s experiences as they are the greatest users of care homes and tend to live longer than men. Our project will be guided by a Community Advisory Committee made up of people with experience running, working, or living in retirement homes and who represent the diversity of the minority groups we are studying. We will work to share our findings with the policy makers who create the rules that control retirement homes. We hope to help inform their future policy work by offering new information on issues related to equity and diversity in retirement homes.
Investigative Team: Principal Investigators: Isenberg S (NPI), Costa A, Tanuseputro P. Co-Investigators: Backman C, Beogo I, Dash D, Fisher S, Johnston S, Kehoe MacLeod K, Kendall C, Konikoff L, Li W, Manis D, Muray M, Patel K, Tugwell P, Webber C.
Funding Source: Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant Fall 2023. Care Watch’s Role: Collaborator. Duration: 2024 – 2028
A comparative analysis of regulatory approaches to the assisted living/retirement home sector in Ontario and British Columbia
Retirement homes and assisted living support ageing in place for many older Canadians. Care Watch is pleased to contribute and provide advice to a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) study analyzing regulatory approaches to the assisted living/retirement home sector in Ontario and British Columbia. The study aims to develop policy options and support informed decisions. We will provide input to the investigators as part of an Advisory Committee and Policy Workshop.
Background: The retirement home/assisted living (AL) sector supports aging in place for many older Canadians by providing housing; support for meals, housekeeping and laundry; and limited assistance with activities of daily living. This sector is largely unregulated, majority owned and operated by the private sector, and its interlinkages with the health care system are poorly understood. AL sector growth has outpaced long-term care (LTC) growth despite AL residents approaching the frailty and clinical complexity of those in LTC . Regulation is a key policy tool to guide and monitor AL services helping to protect residents and optimize the role of the sector in the continuum of care.
Aims: To develop policy options to inform on the role of regulatory approaches in integrating the AL sector into the continuum of care to support aging in the right place by detailing the policy drivers influencing the adoption and reform of different AL regulatory approaches in Ontario (ON) and British Columbia (BC); and evaluating the strengths, gaps, and/or limitations of the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (ON) and the Office of the Assisted Living Registrar (BC).
Discussion: AL residents have higher rates of emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and alternate level of care days than LTC residents, contributing to adverse health outcomes, poorer continuity of care, and increased costs to the public system. This project will inform decision-making to advance a higher-performing and more integrated health care system with better outcomes and care experiences for AL residents.
Investigative Team: Principal Investigators: Tanuseputro P (NPA), Pinto M, Wingrove S, Hillmer, M. Co-Investigators: Kehoe MacLeod K, Manis D, McGrail K, Allin S, Archibald D, Corman M, Costa A, Hsu A, McGregor M, Bruce B, Green, F.
Funding Source: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst Grant: Policy Research for Health System Transformation. Care Watch’s Role: Co-Investigator. Duration: 2023 – 2025
Imagining Age-Friendly “Communities Within Communities”: International Promising Practices
The project addresses critical knowledge gaps identified by the World Health Organization, including how culture and gender matter in creating age-friendly cities. The goal is to enhance the effectiveness of age-friendly practices in light of demographic shifts associated with both population ageing and diversity
Funding Source: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Project Director: Tamara Daly. Care Watch’s Role: Partner. Duration: 2018 – 2015
Past Partnerships
Engaging Citizenship in an Ageist World
In 2012, Care Watch’s Social Action Committee initiated a participatory action research project funded by the federal government’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council. The project examined Care Watch’s Social Action Committee’s reflections on how senior citizen advocates experience, understand, and resist ageism in our efforts to improve home and community services.
Together, the Toronto Seniors’ Forum and Care Watch carried out a project entitled “Still Acting Out” to address age-based discrimination in Toronto.
Care Watch 