New project provides financial support to long-term care for optimal clinical placements
02/11/2022
We are excited to share the Ministry of Long-Term Care’s announcement, supporting education and training in long-term care homes across Ontario with significant funding. As a long-term care provider, we have seen the value of hands-on training for students entering the sector, gaining experience from personal support workers and nurses in the field.
Ontario long-term care homes will receive education and financial support to provide optimal clinical placements for personal support worker and nursing students through the Preceptor Resource and Education Program for Long-Term Care (PREP LTC) project. This $73M project, funded by the Ministry of Long-Term Care, is being led by the Ontario CLRI at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) in collaboration with the Ontario CLRI teams at Baycrest Health Sciences and Bruyère.
Over the next three years, backfill funds will be sent to eligible Ontario long-term care homes to support more than 15,000 student placements and train more than 17,000 preceptors in homes across the province. PREP LTC will help build a highly-skilled workforce to address the staffing needs of the long-term care sector.
"We are thrilled to lead this project and support successful student clinical placements in long-term care,” said Tina Mah, PhD, Executive Director of the RIA. “This project not only supports students in gaining much-needed skills and experience in working with older adults but encourages them to pursue meaningful careers in the long-term care sector.”
PREP LTC will provide long-term care homes with financial support to host student placements for personal support workers, registered and registered practical nurses, and build capacity to accommodate future placements. In addition, the project will develop eLearning and mentoring tools to equip long-term care preceptors or mentors with the necessary skills to support positive and successful student placements.
The PREP LTC team will build on the success of the Ministry-funded Preceptor Education Program (PEP) in collaboration with the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College, developing eLearning courses specific to long-term care. PREP LTC will also strengthen and establish new partnerships between homes and educators to increase opportunities for placements.
Ontario long-term care homes that had active student clinical placements in the 2021-22 fiscal year are eligible for funding.