Long-term care was recently thrust into the spotlight during the pandemic, which Micheline St-Hilaire, CEO of ActionMarguerite, sees as an opportunity. “A group of health care standards organisations are currently seeking input from Canadians,” she explains. “We have an opportunity to shape a new standard for what long-term care looks like in Manitoba but we need to do this together.”
According to the Health Services Organisation (HSO), “The Standards Council of Canada (SCC), Health Standards Organization (HSO) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA Group) are working collaboratively on developing two new national standards for LTC that will be shaped by the needs of residents, families and Canada’s LTC workforce.”
What’s that mean? “With new and improved standards, it pulls those of us working in long-term care to be the best we can be, and be able to best serve our people,” continues St-Hilaire. “The pandemic has put this type of care at the forefront and has changed everything. We need your voice on behalf of your parents, your loved ones or even yourself.”
While HSO is focused on all aspects of care; physical, emotional and spiritual; they can’t create a robust set of standards to reflect the needs of Canadians if everyone isn’t involved. “True person-centred care includes families, patients and staff. For it to be more than a notion or an idea, we need real input from everyone,” affirms St-Hilaire.
HSO has led the way on important health standards in the past. They’ve worked to determine the need to infuse compassion into care across all spectrums of health care, and also focused on bilingual health care in Canada.
To have your say in what long-term care should look like in Manitoba, please click here.
