Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Supervisor

Zecevic, Aleksandra

Abstract

The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine how ethno-specific not-for-profit long-term care (LTC) homes in Ontario perform in comparison to mainstream not-for-profit LTC homes using nine RAI-MDS 2.0 quality indicators. Publicly available data from three sources: the Canadian Institute for Health Information "Your Health System: In Depth" database from the Continuing Care Reporting System, data on Ontario ethno-specific not-for-profit LTC homes from the Home and Community Care Support Services, and data on home and ownership records from the Ministry of Long-Term Care “Public Reporting” website, between 2017-2022, were retrieved and analyzed. Descriptive analysis suggests that for all quality indicators, except for improved physical functioning, ethno-specific not-for-profit LTC homes performed better, with fewer residents experiencing adverse health outcomes. Significance testing suggests that four quality indicators were statistically different between not-for-profit ethno-specific and mainstream LTC homes. Specifically, ethno-specific LTC homes had a smaller percentage of residents experiencing pain, falls in the last 30 days, and worsening depressive moods, while mainstream LTC homes had a higher percentage of residents experiencing improved physical functioning. The study findings aim to inform future research on interventions and policy adaptations to enhance the overall quality of care for culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse older adults living in Ontario’s LTC homes.

Summary for Lay Audience

The number of older adults, defined as people over the age of 65, is increasing around the world. This phenomenon is called population aging. Canada’s population is increasingly diverse, with people immigrating from all parts of the world. This is important for long-term care homes, which are tasked with providing services to older adults who need daily support, supervision, and assistance. Old age is associated with more health problems; therefore, it is expected that more older immigrants will need long-term care in the future. Ethno-specific long-term care homes provide services to a specific ethnic, religious, or cultural group. The purpose of this study was to explore how not-for-profit ethno-specific homes in Ontario perform in comparison to mainstream not-for-profit homes using nine quality indicators routinely collected in every long-term care home in the province. Results show that residents in the not-for-profit ethno-specific homes experienced less pain, fewer falls, and less worsening depressive moods. However, more residents in the mainstream not-for-profit homes improved their physical functioning. These findings suggest potential benefits in homes that tailor care to specific cultural backgrounds. The findings aim to inform future research and policy adaptations to enhance long-term care experiences for culturally, religiously, and ethnically different older adults.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

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