COVID-19 – Design of Long-Term Care Homes (LTC) – Learning for the Future
The appropriate design of long-term care (LTC) homes is crucial in balancing infection prevention and control (IPAC) with residents’ quality of life and care, particularly during pandemic conditions such as COVID-19. While hospital IPAC protocols are relatively well-established, LTC protocols are not well developed and may not “fit,” and may even clash, with the unique characteristics of LTC. To address this, and support the redevelopment of Canada’s aging LTC infrastructure, we will develop short-term and long-term design studies focused on IPAC in LTC to explore front-line cognitive aids that can be readily deployed to support healthcare workers, as well as concepts to support future new builds and redevelopments of LTC homes. Such studies will be instrumental in helping us break ground in understanding the impact of COVID-19 in LTC homes and will also help provide impetus to build a dedicated program at Carleton focused on design and engineering for LTC.
Congrats to the Multi-Discipline team from Carleton and Bruyère:
Chantal Trudel (PI)
Susan Braedley
Dennis Kao
Bruce Wallace
Amy Hsu (Bruyère)
Frank Knoefel (Bruyère)
Zsofia Orosz (Bruyère)
Heidi Sveistrup (Bruyère)