The concentrations of bacterial and fungal bioaerosols were measured in a retirement home and a school dormitory from May 2012 to May 2013. In the present work, two active and passive methods were ...used for bioaerosol sampling. The results from the present work indicated that Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., and Staphylococcus spp. were the dominant bacterial genera, while the major fungal genera were Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Aspergillus spp. The results also indicated that the indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) ratios for total bacteria were 1.77 and 1.44 in the retirement home and the school dormitory, respectively; the corresponding values for total fungal spores were 1.23 and 1.08. The results suggested that in addition to outdoor sources, indoor sources also played a significant role in emitting bacterial and fungal bioaerosols in the retirement home and the school dormitory indoor.
In this study, we (1) identify the terms used to describe the assisted living sector and the legislation governing operation in all Canadian provinces and territories; (2) identify the cost estimates ...associated with residency in these homes; and (3) quantify the growth of the sector.
Environmental scan.
Internet searches of Canadian provincial and territorial government websites and professional associations were conducted in 2021 to retrieve publicly accessible sources related to the assisted living sector.
We synthesized data that identified the terms used to describe the sector in all provinces and territories, the legislation governing operation, financing, median fees per month for care, and growth of the sector from 2012 to 2020. Counts and proportions were calculated for some extracted variables. All data were narratively synthesized.
The terms used to describe the assisted living sector varied across Canada. The terms "assisted living," "retirement homes," and "supportive living" were prevalent. Ontario was the only province to regulate the sector through an independent, not-for-profit organization. Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta had some of the highest median fees for room, board, and care per month (range: $1873 to $6726). The licensed assisted living sector in Ontario doubled in size (768 in 2020 vs 383 in 2012), and there was a threefold increase in the number of corporate-owned chain assisted living facilities (465 in 2020 vs 142 in 2012).
The rapid growth of the assisted living sector that is primarily financed through out-of-pocket payments may indicate a rise in a two-tier system of housing and health care for older adults. Policymakers need better mechanisms, such as standardized reporting systems and assessments, to understand the needs of older adults who reside in assisted living facilities and inform the need for sector regulation and oversight.
Background:
Retirement home residents represent a growing proportion of older Ontarians who cannot be identified within existing administrative databases.
Objective:
This article aims to develop an ...approach for determining, from an individual's postal code, their likelihood of residing in a retirement home.
Methods:
We identified 748 licensed retirement homes in Ontario as of June 1, 2018, from a public registry. We developed a two-step evaluation and verification process to determine the probability (certain, likely or unlikely) of identifying a retirement home, as opposed to other dwellings, within a postal code.
Results:
We identified 274 (36.7%) retirement homes within a postal code certain to indicate that a person was residing in a retirement home, 200 (26.7%) for which it was likely and 274 (36.7%) for which it was unlikely. Postal codes that were certain and likely identified retirement homes with a capacity for 59,920 residents (79.9% of total provincial retirement home capacity).
Conclusion:
It is feasible to identify a substantive cohort of retirement home residents using postal code data in settings where street address is unavailable for linkage to administrative databases.
Aims
The aim of this study was to identify features of well‐performing residential aged care services (RACS) as experienced by family carers.
Background
Family carers can have an integral role in ...residential aged care providing social support and are well‐placed to engage with staff and monitor care.
Design
A qualitative descriptive design was used. Semi‐structured face‐to‐face and telephone interviews were conducted with family carers of current or past residents of Australian RACS between November 2018 and January 2019. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically.
Results
Rather than reporting features of well‐performing RACS, participants shared stories of sub‐standard care, dysfunctional management and poor resident–staff–family interactions. An overarching theme emerged of ‘having to be an advocate’ for residents’ needs, which covered four major categories: organisational accountability (including transparency and individualised care), good communication, connection and trust. Combined, these constitute what carers perceive are the necessary conditions for determining the features of a well‐performing RACS.
Conclusion
Family carers need to feel confident and trust RACS staff when they hand over the role of carer for their relative with dementia.
Relevance to clinical practice
This study provides insight into the needs and challenges of family carers when they relinquish the care of an older relative with dementia. Strategies to build confidence and trust between RACS and family carers are essential. Aged care nurses can play a pivotal role to support this through the development of open communication and relational connections with residents and their families.
The epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection in retirement homes (also known as assisted living facilities) is largely unknown. We examined the association between home-and community-level ...characteristics and the risk of outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in retirement homes since the beginning of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We conducted a population-based, retrospective cohort study of licensed retirement homes in Ontario, Canada, from Mar. 1 to Dec. 18, 2020. Our primary outcome was an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection (≥ 1 resident or staff case confirmed by validated nucleic acid amplification assay). We used time-dependent proportional hazards methods to model the associations between retirement home- and community-level characteristics and outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Our cohort included all 770 licensed retirement homes in Ontario, which housed 56 491 residents. There were 273 (35.5%) retirement homes with 1 or more outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 infection, involving 1944 (3.5%) residents and 1101 staff (3.0%). Cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection were distributed unevenly across retirement homes, with 2487 (81.7%) resident and staff cases occurring in 77 (10%) homes. The adjusted hazard of an outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a retirement home was positively associated with homes that had a large resident capacity, were co-located with a long-term care facility, were part of larger chains, offered many services onsite, saw increases in regional incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and were located in a region with a higher community-level ethnic concentration.
Readily identifiable characteristics of retirement homes are independently associated with outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 infection and can support risk identification and priority for vaccination.
Central to the recommendations is the overhaul of the 1997 Aged Care Act that allowed the system to transform into a free-market model which fuelled private investment and saved the government ...billions of dollars. Other recommendations include a minimum quality and safety standard for staff time in residential aged care, “including an appropriate skills mix and daily minimum staff time for registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers for each resident, and at least one registered nurse on site at all times”; putting the power to prescribe anti-psychotic drugs in the hands of a psychiatrist or a geriatrician to restrict their use in residential aged care; and funding to “meet the actual cost of high quality care and an independent Pricing Authority to determine the costs of delivering it”. To address the lack of transparency about how different aged care providers perform, a publicly available star rating system that grades providers on staffing levels, feedback from those who have received care from providers, and other quality indicators should be introduced by July, 2022.
The financialisation of seniors housing has reshaped Canadian long‐term care homes (LTCs) and retirement communities since the 1990s. Investors have flocked to profit from the demographic “grey wave” ...driving demand. Financialised firms (private equity, institutions, publicly listed companies, and real estate investment trusts) have consolidated ownership of 33% of seniors housing (22% and 42% of LTCs and retirement homes). Facilitated by neoliberal healthcare reforms, welfare state restructuring, and the privatisation of social reproduction, the business strategies of financial firms rely on the dual nature of seniors housing as both (1) real estate, and (2) an operating business (delivering hospitality and healthcare services). As real estate, firms profit from repositioning properties and by raising rents. As an operating business, firms raise revenues by adding on escalating private‐pay healthcare and hospitality fees over time; and cut expenses by extracting more value from the socially reproductive labour of care workers, who are largely precariously employed, racialised women.
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