July 23, 2021 - CETFA

New report shows that reforming long-term care could be hampered by lack of data on vulnerable residents and workers

A new report from the NIA and Wellesley Institute — Leaving No One Behind in Long-term Care: Enhancing Socio-demographic Data Collection in Long-term Care Settings — shows that, due to a lack of data, we still do not have a full picture of the impacts of the pandemic in Canada’s long-term care homes.

While COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on Canada’s most vulnerable populations, a long-standing failure to collect socio-demographic data in LTC settings, means that inequitable effects of the pandemic on residents and workers may remain unaccounted for and, as a result, inadequately addressed. 

Without effective solutions, vulnerable populations within long-term care systems could continue to be at risk of inequitable health outcomes and access to care issues.

“This has implications beyond the pandemic as well,” says Dr. Ashley Flanagan, a Research Fellow at the NIA. “In Canada, health outcomes differ based on factors such as sexual orientation, gender identity, language, race, immigration status, and ethnicity, as well as access to affordable housing, adequate income and social inclusion. Policies, programs and resources cannot effectively close gaps in care or improve health outcomes without a better understanding of the diverse needs of residents and workers in long-term care.”