Newly funded RESPECT Connect guides conversation with caregivers
05/25/2026
Clear, compassionate conversations about care matters. Yet family caregivers and providers struggle to talk openly about life expectancy, expectations, and planning for future care needs, especially for palliative and end-of-life care.
Thanks to new funding from the Petro Canada CareMakers Foundation, the team behind RESPECT is launching the next phase of its work to help support quality conversations about life expectancy in long-term care.
RESPECT Connect, a communication tool that aims to give long-term care teams the skills and confidence to talk about life expectancy with residents and their caregivers. RESPECT Connect is being developed with the support of this new funding and in collaboration with Bethany Care Society, Bruyère Health Research Institute, Caregiver-Centered Care, and caregiver partners across multiple provinces.
RESPECT Connect will complement the use of RESPECT, an evidence based calculator that estimates life expectancy for long-term care home residents using data on their health and functional status. Since its launch in 2023, RESPECT has been adopted by long term care homes across Ontario and is currently expanding into Alberta.
“We often hear that while RESPECT can help initiate conversations about palliative care needs, both staff and caregivers need better support to talk about it well, and what the life expectancy estimates mean when it comes to creating a tailored care plan for their loved ones,” said Amy Hsu, PhD, Investigator at Bruyère Health Research Institute, and Chair in Primary Health Care in Dementia at the University of Ottawa. “RESPECT Connect is being developed based on caregiver preferences and expertise, so teams can feel more confident sharing life expectancy estimates generated from RESPECT.”
Despite wanting honest and timely information, caregivers often report gaps in communication, particularly around life expectancy. At the same time, long-term care home staff are often uncomfortable sharing life expectancy and having conversations about serious illness, palliative, and end-of-life care. Staff fears about causing distress, concerns about accuracy, and lack of training can all stand in the way.
“At Bethany Care Society, aging well means staying rooted in community and continuing to live a meaningful life surrounded by people who know you, even as your needs change. As people transition to needing more support, having thoughtful conversations about what matters most becomes essential,” said Steven Friesen, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Bethany Care Society. “Partnering on RESPECT Connect allows us to listen deeply to residents and families, and to shape the care and support we provide around their hopes and values. We're proud to be part of a movement across our sector toward more connected care."
This collaborative project will be exploring what types of information caregivers want to receive when making decisions on behalf of a resident, how they wanted to receive that information, and what barriers and concerns about sharing information exist from the perspective of long-term care teams.
With RESPECT Connect, long-term care staff will be equipped to deliver information in a way that is tailored to caregiver needs, hopefully improving understanding, reducing stress, and supporting more informed decision-making at a deeply emotional time for caregivers and residents.
To learn more about RESPECT, visit www.respectcalculators.ca