but polytechnics can’t do it alone. solutions must include new investments from governments in hands-on learning for the long-term care sector.
it is critical to get learners back to the classroom, safely, during covid-19. this may well require that institutions rethink class sizes, scheduling, space utilization and cleaning processes. there’s also the need for improved training equipment and spaces that often go too long between upgrades.
realistically, none of this comes without a cost.
equally, long-term care homes must be supported in their efforts to provide supervised, professional clinical placements. elder care – a field dominated by women – tends to rely on unpaid work terms. in
budget 2019
, the federal government invested $798.2 million over five years in work-integrated learning, but little of it will flow to placements in the “caring economy.”
the pandemic serves to draw new attention to this oversight.
finally, initial training and ongoing professional development should be required across the sector for workers in both private and public long-term care facilities. given the very real stresses of the job, quality care for seniors relies on our capacity to support frontline workers. this will undoubtedly require a new approach to funding high-quality long-term care.