The goal of the provincial The goal of Senior Friendly Care (sfCare) is for healthcare providers in all sectors to work collaboratively with each other and with older adults and their caregivers to achieve the best possible outcomes for older adults. The sfCare Framework serves as the foundation for what senior friendly care should look like, and the sfCare Getting Started Toolkit provides a self-assessment tool and report card, implementation resources, and training modules.

 

To advance this goal in the Central East Region, Seniors Care Network established the Central East Senior Friendly Care Working Group. Our membership includes representatives from each Region's hospitals, Seniors Care Network, the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto, and Central East Home and Community Care. 

 

The purpose of the Working Group is to provide the strategic direction and leadership for Senior Friendly Care within the Central East Region. The Working Group fosters a culture where senior friendly care, which is woven into the fabric of care organizations.

 

What is A Senior Friendly Hospital?

 

Care seniors receive while in a hospital, and the hospital experience itself, can impact their health and well-being. A Senior Friendly Hospital is one in which the environment, organizational culture, and ways of care-giving accommodate and respond to seniors’ physical and cognitive needs, promote good health (e.g. nutrition and functional activity), maximize safety (e.g. preventing adverse events like a fall in the hospital), and involve patients – along with families and caregivers – to be full participants in their care. The aim is to enable seniors to maintain optimal health while they are hospitalized so that they can return home or transition to the next level of care that best meets their needs.

Shared Goals:

• Having hospital leadership and support in place to make senior friendly care an organizational priority

• Providing care based on best practices for seniors care so their independence is preserved

• Delivering care and service in a way that is free of ageism and respects the unique needs of patients and their caregivers

• Addressing unique ethical situations in seniors care and research as they arise

• Ensuring the hospital’s physical environment minimizes the vulnerabilities of frail patients

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Quotes from Working Group Members

 

“Being part of the Seniors Care Network SFH WG has created a platform of supportive leadership.  It has assisted me in my vision to build excellence of care for seniors within my hospital. Seniors Care Network has created a network of expertise that our willing to share knowledge to implement change to enhance senior friendly care.”

 

“Belonging to the working group has helped us re-design our focus for our Geriatrics Operations and Performance Team, encouraged use of best practice for environmental design when ordering items like new chairs, commodes etc. as we have used the Code Plus document.  It allows us to share practices with our peers in other hospitals in the Region.”

 

 

Resources of Interest

• Click here if you are interested in implementing a Senior Friendly Approach in your organization (370KB)

• Click here if you are interested in implementing Senior Friendly Walkabouts in your organization (495KB)

 

For more resources, please visit the resource portion of this site.