According to research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, caregivers provide approximately 75 per cent of the care delivered in our healthcare system, making their roles vital for patients’ physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being. 

Different from visitors, caregivers play an active role supporting patients, assisting with a range of activities, such as emotional support, assistance with decision-making, meal preparation, dental hygiene, bathing, and changing clothes.  

Evidence shows that formally including caregivers as part of the care team improves not only the health outcomes for patients but decreases the risk of psychological harm and burnout for care providers as well.  

The Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO), in partnership with Ontario Health, launched the Essential Care Partner Support Hub to help healthcare organizations (with an initial focus on hospitals and long-term care homes) formally identify, include, and support caregivers as essential care partners (ECPs) – even during times of health system pressures.  

The Support Hub offers a trusted space for hospitals to gain expert guidance, coaching, and ready-to-use resources to build or enhance an ECP program – facilitating collaboration between ECPs and care providers to promote patients’ well-being and quality of life.  

At a recent session of OCO’s Learning Collaborative, an interactive forum for healthcare organizations with a focus on caregiver inclusion, Lakeridge Health shared how their Essential Partner-in-Care (EPC) Program helps to advance person-centred care and, in turn, enhance patient safety, while demystifying a common concern for care providers: that implementing the program will require extra work and risk consuming their already limited resources. 

Marina Gaziani, Lakeridge Health’s Person-Centred Care Practice Specialist, explained how enhancing person-centred care through their EPC program isn’t about developing new systems, but about reframing their current approach with a new lens. “Consider how it looks different when, in the work you’re already doing, the EPC is embedded in it.” 

For example, EPCs at Lakeridge Health are critical to supporting patients’ safe transition home, which decreases the chances that they’re going to be readmitted into the hospital. By including EPCs as members of the care team, family members and friends can take care of tasks such as arranging safe transportation home, sharing proactive communication with care providers, and collaborating in care planning and decision-making.

This has proven especially valuable when it comes to engaging caregivers who, without an ECP Program, may experience challenges in communicating with care providers which may then lead to frustration. This often leads to escalation through emails, phone calls, and meetings that ultimately require more time and resources from care providers.  

In an effort to engage more people with their EPC program, Lakeridge Health created a video where staff explain how the program works, including how EPCs play a crucial role improving health outcomes for patients, clients, and residents while enhancing the experience for all members of the healthcare team.  

If you’re interested in implementing or enhancing an ECP program, OCO’s ECP Support Hub offers guidance and coaching, leading practices, resources, tools, templates, and connections to settings and peers that have successfully implemented their own programs.  

Contact the Essential Care Partner Support Hub at ecpsupporthub@ontariocaregiver.ca to get started.