Online curriculum supports homecare workers caring for seniors

 

By Magdalena Stec

Women’s College Hospital’s (WCH) Centre for Ambulatory Care Education (CACE) is thrilled to announce the launch of CACE #Homecare Curriculum – a first of its kind evidence-informed #online curriculum designed to support a variety of homecare workers in providing care to #seniors experiencing delirium, dementia, or depression.

Launched in March of this year, cacehome.ca is a free, mobile-friendly website featuring a virtual home-based homecare curriculum that uses teaching and learning tools based within three different patient cases set in representative Canadian households. It’s primarily aimed at personal support workers, nurses and rehabilitation professionals but is also relevant to all healthcare disciplines.

The CACE Homecare Curriculum features realistic situations which address many of the nuances that are important when visiting a client’s home, such as assessing risks in the client’s environment, and respecting the client’s wishes.

Some of the features include:

  • Assessments and teaching tools designed to improve learning
  • Learning objectives relevant to members of different professions
  • Individual or team-based learning modes, allowing team members to work together or individually
  • Learners who finish all three modules in the curriculum are given a certificate of completion

The curriculum, which has been reviewed by a team of experienced homecare workers and healthcare professionals including personal support workers, places an emphasis on interdisciplinary care for a client, and highlights the roles and responsibilities of allied healthcare professionals.

This project was created by CACE at WCH and the University of Toronto, in collaboration with multiple partner agencies, including St. Michael’s Hospital, VHA Home Healthcare, Ryerson University, Fanshawe and George Brown Colleges, and through the support of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and SIM-one.

For more information visit cacehome.ca or contact Nicole Woods, CACE director, at nicole.woods@wchospital.ca or cace@wchospital.com

Magdalena Stec is a Marketing & Communications Specialist at Women’s College Hospital.