Care-in-Place Competency Standard

COVID-19 has accelerated the need and demand for care services outside of traditional health care facilities, ‘care-in-place’ (e.g., home care, assisted living, supportive housing, nursing homes, personal care homes, long-term care homes). It has necessitated a re-evaluation and re-structuring of care programs, including services specifically related to COVID-19 care and the delivery of other care services to prevent unnecessary visits to health care facilities with limited capacity and higher risk of transmission. National and international evidence points to the effectiveness of care-in-place programs and their effectiveness on patient outcomes and in reducing the strain on the Canadian health care and public health systems. To progress and evolve an efficient and effective national care-in-place sector, an expanded, diverse, skilled, confident, safe, and healthy workforce that meets the needs of workers and employers is needed. National standards for care-in-place competency and curriculum will help support the need for a growing, skilled Canadian care-in-place workforce and to accelerate the skills development required to help workers and employers navigate the evolving labour market. As the sector evolves away from traditional home and community care service models, which have primarily focused on personal support work for the elderly and people with disabilities, these national standards will support a new model where there is a diversity of services, providers, recipients, and educators. While occupation specific national occupational standards and curriculum are critical (e.g., paramedic, personal care providers), there is a need to define common care-in-place competencies and related curriculum which would be valuable across various occupations and roles. The post-pandemic upwelling of innovative care-in-place service offerings will require workers with new and specific knowledge and skills. This non-occupation specific model enables workers to pick and choose skills development training that meets their personal professional development goals. Or, training may be employer-driven based on specific staffing skill-set gaps and needs. This approach lends itself to micro-credentialing, where competency can be demonstrated for a specific skill and learners customize their learning and create their own education profile. This approach also lends itself to occupations and roles where different jurisdictions have different needs and define their own scope of work, educational requirements, and entry-to-practice requirements. While recognizing the value for national consistency to help ensure equity for care and service recipients and care and service providers, and to support labour mobility and worker transitions to new occupations and roles.