DECEMBER 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
A Year of Resilience
The last year has not been easy for nursing homes with so much public discussion about our collective future, coupled with the legal proceedings and the labour unrest. Through all the stress of the situation, each home has continued to provide excellent care to residents and met the many challenges of modern home operations.
 
This situation has served to build a far more sophisticated understanding and appreciation for our community origins as it has served to create a a legal framework for our constitutional protection. There are still many conversations ahead of us, but we will find our place in the continuum of care that is respectful of us as private corporations, and keeps the resident, and the not the system in the center.
 
The labour situation with CUPE will unfold over the next few weeks with the amended Essential Services Legislation as we await to see if it will pass in the house. With the potential of a strike weeks away, it is imperative that homes reach out to their local MLA to make sure that the impact on the resident is understood if a strike occurs. NBANH is actively engaging politicians and thank the homes for doing the same.
 
There is hope that 2020 will be a turnaround year on all fronts that allow for calmness in our homes and new opportunities to advance. 
 
I wish everyone a restful Christmas season filled with family, friends and fun.

Thanks for reading

 
Jodi Hall
Executive Director
NBANH
YOUR SUCCESS STORIES

The Working Mind 
Train the Trainer

From November 18 to November 22, a group of 7 sector participants attended the Train the Trainer session as part of The Working Mind program. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada website, The Working Mind is an educational and science-based program designed to promote mental health and reduce the stigma of mental illness in a workplace setting. The program also aims to provide managers with the confidence, tools and resources to manage and support nursing home employees who may be experiencing mental health problems or illness.
 
Having completed the Train the Trainer course, the seven participants are now able to teach both the employee training (4 hours) and manager-specific training (8 hours) components of the program.
   
During the training, all participants (employees and employers) will learn about:
- Stigma and barriers to care;
- Health coping strategies;
- Mental toughness;
- The Mental Health Continuum Model;  etc.

In addition to the topic above, employers will receive training on: 
- Workplace accommodations and return to work;
- The role of leadership in promoting positive mental health in employees;
- Early recognition;  etc.
 
Participants had the opportunity to complete the training with Dr. Julie Devlin, Psychologist and Director of the Fredericton Operational Stress Injury Clinic. Dr. Devlin is involved in several projects with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Armed Forces and other police forces across the country. Her expertise and work experiences were beneficial to all participants.
 
In the coming weeks, the NBANH will work on developing a plan to deploy the program across the sector. The goal is to train managers and department heads first (8-hour training) and then train nursing home employees (4-hour training).
 
For questions about the program, please contact Mélanie Martin at the NBANH office.


Left to right - Jane Logan (retired Nursing Home DOC), Vicki Caissie (Forest Dale Home Administrator), Andrea Thistle (Department of Social Development), Samantha Hachey (Claim coordinator NBANH), Mélanie Martin (Assistant Director, Wellness & Membership Services NBANH), Michelle Virtue (Department of Social Development), Dr. Julie Devlin (The Working Mind Facilitator), Julie Weir (Assistant Director, Clinical and Care Innovation NBANH).
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Identifying barriers to adult influenza vaccination in Canada
International Federation on Ageing

Vaccination against influenza is critical to the health and functional ability of Canadian seniors as well as people with chronic disease, who are at higher risk of morbidity, mortality and prolonged recovery due to underlying frailty and changes in immune function.

For these reasons, the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) is ramping up efforts to end immunization inequality in Canada and around the world. The IFA has launched a report identifying five major barriers to adult influenza vaccination in Canada:
1. Lack of a national vaccination schedule
2. Absence of consistent messaging
3. Inadequate access and availability to more effective vaccines
4. Lack of comprehensive influenza surveillance and vaccination data
5. Inequity





alongside leaders of ageing and at-risk patient organizations to identify opportunities to help build capacity and influence vaccine-related policy across Canada.
ANNOUNCEMENTS


Antibiotics Wisely
Choosing Wisely New Brunswick

Up to 50% of older adults in long-term care have bacteria in their urine but do not have a urinary tract infection (UTI). Unnecessary antibiotic use in older adults with asymptomatic bacteriuria can be harmful and lead to serious complications.

To help reduce unnecessary antibiotic use for asymptomatic bacteria, the Using Antibiotics Wisely campaign from Choosing Wisely Canada has developed practice change recommendations and resources for interprofessional teams working in LTC. A poster and patient handout will also be mailed directly to your facility.

Please contact Julie Atkinson at jatkinson@nbms.nb.ca from Choosing Wisely New Brunswick for questions or comments.

***

In Our Stories Lies Our Strength: Aging, Spirituality, and Narrative
by William L. Randall

This book is aimed at older adults who are committed to aging as  creatively, as wisely, and as resiliently as they can. It is aimed as well, though, at  those who offer spiritual care to adults of all ages in a variety of settings, from  hospitals to nursing homes, from hospice to rehabilitation, and from congregations  to community centers. These include: chaplains, pastors, parish nurses, social  workers, therapists, and spiritual directors - anyone who listens deeply and  respectfully to people's stories and, in the process, help them to re-story in healing,  life-affirming ways. The book draws on thinking in such fields as narrative  psychology and narrative gerontology to suggest a range of concepts - such as  narrative identity, narrative development, narrative environment, and narrative  foreclosure - that can help us to make sense of the storied complexity of human life.

Please click here to more information about Bill Randall and this book.
EVENTS

NBANH - AGM 2019
Tourism Award
 
The NB Association of Nursing Homes' AGM and Conference 2019  received a Tourism Award from Hospitality Saint John (HSJ)! 

HSJ is a local advocacy & networking group promoting tourism and tourism related priorities to our members and the public at large. These awards recognize some of those who have made significant contributions to our success in the tourism / hospitality sector in our region.

Thank you to all that made this event a success!
PROJECTS & INITIATIVES

CARING AHEAD
Preparing for the End-of-Life of a Family Member with Dementia
McMaster University Research Study

Caring Ahead is a study being led by family caregivers and Pam Durepos, RN, PhD (student) at McMaster University. The goal is to learn about the information, support and planning that family caregivers have (and need) to feel more prepared for the end-of-life of someone with dementia in long-term care. In order to improve policies, guide and evaluate care, we need family caregivers of persons with dementia living in long-term care to complete one 15-minute paper questionnaire by postal mail.

Please click on the below for more information:
- Flyer

Please help by participating and contact: Pam Durepos at 1-833-998-1280 caringahead@gmail.com  or visit www.caringahead.com  This study has been approved by the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board #4503.
UPCOMING EDUCATION

Demention: Understanding the Journey
Accelerate your Person Centred Culture
Person Centred Universe 

This multi-week certificate program is for health care organizations who are looking to advance their person centred culture, while reducing long-term costs. Tested and proven by health care professionals, this course will help facilitate leadership among care teams, and ultimately improve the quality of care provided to residents. 

Begins March 2020. PETL funding can be obtained. Please contact Ashley King at  aking@personcentreduniverse.com for all inquiries.

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Room 217 launches Virtual Learning Studio for access to music care education

Room 217 has launched its  Virtual Learning Studio, an online classroom that will offer a suite of music care courses. The first course,  Recruiting Musicians for Health and Social Care, is now available. This course is ideal for healthcare administrators, program leaders and volunteer coordinators who are already or want to incorporate live music into their programming. The course will take about 1.5 hours to complete, and costs $85. The second course, available Jan. 15, 2020, is on Music and the Aging Brain. Students will learn the impacts and effects of music in dementia, pain, stroke, rehabilitation, and Parkinson's disease, and will receive extensive references.

Please contact Deb Bartlett at  dbartlett@room217.ca for all inquiries. 
FROM OUR PARTNERS

WorkSafe NB
2020 provisional average assessment rate

WorkSafeNB has announced a 9.4% reduction in the 2020 provisional average assessment rate. The rate is set at $2.40 per $100 of payroll, down from $2.65 in 2019.  The 2020 assessment rate is based on the 2018 year-end audited financial statement with the improvement due to a reduced number of injury claims in 2019 and the declining cost of new claims as of Q3 2019. 

IN THE NEWS

*Jodi Hall's Op-Ed posted on December 12 - PDF or as shared on Telegraph Journal: Our nursing homes are community assets.



































*Article d'opinion par Jodi Hall du 12 décembre - PDF ou par l'Acadie Nouvelle: Les foyers de soins sont des atouts communautaires.










If you have any stories you would like to share with the sector, please communicate with Melanie Eva by email


If you have any questions, comments, or submission ideas, please forward them to Melanie Eva by  e-mail or by phone (460-6262).
 
Sincerely, 
 
Jodi and the NBANH Team


New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes Inc.
(506) 460-6262 | meva@nbanh.com  |  1133 Regent Street, Suite 206 |  Fredericton, E3B 3Z2