New report on long-term care in Ontario shows residents’ care needs are increasing

TORONTO, November 23, 2015 - Today, the Ontario Long Term Care Association released its annual report on long-term care in Ontario, This is Long-Term Care 2015, highlighting the increasing needs of residents in long-term care homes over the last five years.

Since 2010, when the government changed the admission criteria for long-term care, new residents have been coming to long-term care homes at a later stage in the progression of their diseases. Their health is more likely to be unstable, their health issues are more complex, and they are more physically frail. The report shows that:

• 40.6% of residents now need monitoring for an acute medical condition, up from 29.6% just five years ago. 
• A larger proportion of residents (62%) now have Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, up 6% from 2010. 
• There has been a growing increase since 2010 in residents’ needs for extensive support with activities such as personal hygiene (7.2% increase), toilet use (8.9% increase), and bed mobility (11.6% increase). 
• Nearly half (46%) of residents exhibit some form of aggressive behaviour related to their dementia or mental health condition; more than one in five (22.2%) exhibits severe or very severe aggressive behaviour.

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The report is intended as a “long-term care 101,” says Candace Chartier, CEO of the Ontario Long Term Care Association. “Unless they have personal experience with a relative or friend, most people don’t know much about long-term care or the people we care for. This report helps people to have a better understanding of what long-term care homes are all about, and provides some background for the stories they hear in the news.” 

This is Long-Term Care provides current statistics on residents, funding, staffing, and quality of care. It also highlights specific challenges and proposed solutions such as reducing the incidence of aggression by funding specially trained behaviour management teams in every long-term care home, and by funding significant renovations or rebuilds of older homes where crowded spaces and reduced privacy increase the risk of aggression between residents. 

The Association has asked the government for additional funding for long-term care homes that will allow them to continue to improve care for residents. “This report shows why it’s needed,” Chartier says.

The report is being released on the first day of the Ontario Long Term Care Association’s annual conference on research, quality, and innovation, held in Toronto. 

About the Ontario Long Term Care Association 
The Ontario Long Term Care Association is the largest association of long-term care providers in Ontario and the only association that represents the full mix of long-term care operators – private, not-for-profit, charitable, and municipal. Our members provide care and accommodation services to over 70,000 residents annually in 437 long-term care homes in communities throughout Ontario. 

For further information
Judy Irwin, Senior Manager, Communications, 647-967-8995, [email protected]