Home Care and Community Support Services Summary
In late 2019, the All Nations Health Partners (ANHP) created sector specific working groups to advance community driven processes and expand local partnership involvement in moving the OHT forward. In December, a Home Care and Community Support Services Working Group was formed and by January they took on a fairly substantial project to survey all of the home and community support service agencies in the ANHP identified geographic area about the current level of service being provided. As part of this project there were also community engagement sessions held with the partner First Nation communities to provide meaningful input on gaps in service and their wishes for more equitable care.
The vision for this project was to inform the design and delivery of providing Home and Community Care supports for all members of the ANHP. The overall approach focused on learning from the experiences of surrounding First Nations, Metis and local service providers as well as system experts to understand the patient journey as a critical step to inform a future framework for moving forward in a good way.
The overall approach was guided by the Working Group who contracted a Project Team to develop and implement an engagement plan including the use of multiple tools and methods customized to maximize meaningful dialogue from system experts, partners, front-line workers, and community members. A Kenora Chiefs Advisory team with established rapport and pre-existing relationships and trust with the First Nation Communities worked collaboratively with the Project Lead in planning and oversight of the engagement.
The following engagement activities were completed before COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a pause of data collection:
- Focus Groups with elders, youth, family caregivers, front-line workers (i.e. PSWs and home makers) and Health Directors (45 participants in attendance throughout 7 sessions held in Kenora area First Nation communities);
- Questionnaires for Caregivers and Front-Line staff (26 completed);
- Inventory of Services Survey (administration focused survey to understand supply, demand and resources – 16 completed); and a
- Multi-Partner Workshop held March 12, 2020 (22 participants from 14 organizations in attendance).
The following is a diagram outlining the key themes from engagement shared with the Steering Committee, ANHP and KCA Board of Directors.
An additional component to the project arose with Ontario Health Modernizing the Legislative Framework for Home and Community Care. Utilizing the engagement results the Working Group and Project Team were able to provide insight and recommendations to the Ministry. The ANHP welcomed this opportunity to view the proposed legislative changes with a local lens to minimize any unintended barriers and enhance opportunities or create pathways for better integration and equitable access relevant to both 2019 Connecting Care Act and the pending 2020 Connecting People Act.