Advisory Committee

Gail has had a long and varied career in nursing and health care. She is the recipient of multiple awards including the Order of Ontario, the YWCA Woman of Distinction, the Canadian Nurses Association Jeanne Mance Award and an honorary Doctor of Science from Ryerson University. In 2012 Gail chaired the Long-Term Care Task Force on Resident Care and Safety that developed an action plan to prevent abuse and neglect in long-term care homes in Ontario and in 2014 she was appointed by the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care to chair the Expert Group on Home and Community Care. The Group submitted its report, Bringing Care Home in 2015 and from 2015 to 2018 Gail was External Advisor on Home and Community Care to the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Gail is currently on the Board of the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto, the Board of Associated Medical Services and chairs the QUILT Advisory Committee.

Katherine S. McGilton is a Senior Scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute-University Health Network and a Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. She has research funding as the principal investigator from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Alzheimer Society of Canada, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. She is currently the co-lead of the Quality of Life Theme for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegenerative Diseases in Aging (CCNA).

The focus of her work is on enhancing the care of the older adults, especially those with dementia, through the development and application of interventions, outcome measures and models of care in practice. She also developed a model of care for rehabilitating complex patients post-hip fracture surgery, targeting patients with cognitive impairment that was subsequently evaluated in an investigator-initiated, multi-site clinical trial.

Committee Representative: Lisa Levin, Chief Executive Officer, AdvantAge Ontario
Contact Information: llevin@advantageontario.ca

Mandate/Mission: AdvantAge Ontario represents and supports its members in providing a continuum of quality not-for-profit long-term care, seniors’ community services, and housing.
Population Served/Represented: Over 36, 000 long term care residents and 8, 000 seniors housing units, annually.

Membership: Non-profit municipal and charitable long-term care homes, nursing homes, seniors’ housing, community service agencies, commercial suppliers, associate and personal members; over 580 independent organizations and individual members
Communication to Members: webinars, yearly AGM and convention, weekly bulletins, monthly newsletters

Research/KT Partnerships: CLRI (Schlegel, Bruyère, Baycrest); AGE-WELL NCE; University of Toronto (Campuses of Care research); NIA – Ryerson University

Website: https://www.advantageontario.ca/
Link to Reports/Publications: http://www.advantageontario.ca/AAO/Resources/AAO/Resources_Content/Resources.aspx?hkey=f14b96bc-fad9-46b7-8869-652472257d6e

Committee Representative: Margaret Keatings, RN, MHSc, Caregiver
Contact Information: margaretkeatings@gmail.com

Biography: Margaret has had an extensive Clinical and Leadership career in nursing, assuming senior positions at The Hospital for Sick Children, Hamilton Health Sciences, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and UHN. She has had academic appointments at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. In 2012 Margaret retired from the position of Chief, Inter-professional Practice and Chief Nurse Executive at SickKids. She continues to be an as needed Senior Advisor at SickKids International where she has engaged in international outreach in the Middle East, Ghana, Zambia, the Dominican Republic and China.

Margaret has led many innovative strategies included those related to Patient and Family Centred Care, Inter-professional Practice, and healthy work environments. She co-chaired the RNAO panel which created the Best Practice Guideline “Prevention and Management of Violence in the Workplace”. At SickKids, she secured funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to establish the “New Immigrant Support Network”.

Her current volunteer contributions include membership on the Canadian Frailty Priority Setting Partnership Group and the Nipissing University Scholar Practitioner Program Advisory Committee. Margaret is also a Board Member at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre where she is Chair of the Quality of Care Committee.

She participates, as a family member on a number of funded peer-reviewed research projects at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at UHN. These projects focus on the care of the elderly. She was engaged as a result of her first-hand experience with the care of her 99-year-old father. He had encounters with the health care system as a result of two fractured hips and for the past 6 years has been in a long-term care facility. Margaret’s health care background and personal experience gives her unique insights and informed perspectives of the positive and challenging aspects of this system.

Margaret has engaged in extensive research and has many publications. She co-authored three editions of the book “Ethical and Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing” and is presently working on the 4th.

Committee Representative: Lorraine Purdon, Executive Director, Family Councils Ontario
Contact Information: LPurdon@FCO.ngo

Mandate/Mission: Leading and supporting families in improving quality of life in Long-Term Care. Goals include cultivating effective family councils, advancing public policy and system planning to improve the quality of life in long-term care, creating tools and resources that empower families, and mobilizing and engaging in research and knowledge exchange. Population Served/Represented: Residents of Ontario long-term care homes and their families

Membership: Over 500 family councils and over 2500 family council members across Ontario.
Communication to Members: webinar workshops and presentations, print and online resources for distribution, newsletter, blog, networking meetings, Family Councils Week (annually) events, yearly conference

Research/KT Partnerships: MOHLTC, HQO, Long-Term Care Stakeholder Liaison Committee, Behavioural Supports Ontario, CLRI, Enhanced Long-Term Care Home Renewal Strategy Committees, GERAS/Osteoporosis Canada (Osteoporosis Knowledge Exchange Project), Kobo/ETAG (Digital Reading Project)

Website: https://www.fco.ngo/
Link to Reports/Publications: FCO Reports and Updates

Committee Representative: Carolyn Gosse, President, St. Joseph’s Home Care
Contact Information: cgosse@stjoes.ca

Mandate/Mission: To promote the growth and development of the home care sector through advocacy, knowledge transfer, and member service.
Population Served/Represented: 350,000 Ontarians receiving home care services in Ontario

Membership: 47 public and private home care service provider organizations responsible for providing nursing care, home support services, personal care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social work, dietetics, speech language therapy and/or medical equipment and supplies in the home to individuals of all ages across Ontario. Home Care Ontario represents over 28,000 home care staff.
Communication to Members: Infographics, news releases, annual symposium, webinars

Research/KT Partnerships: N/A

Website: https://www.homecareontario.ca/
Link to Reports/Publications: https://www.homecareontario.ca/home-care-reports/overview

Committee Representative: Margaret Saari, Registered Nurse and Post-Doctoral Fellow, SE Health
Contact Information: margaretsaari@sehc.com

Mandate/Mission: To strengthen and promote home and community support as the foundation of a sustainable health care system.
Population Served/Represented: Individuals residing in community and receiving community support services of any kind.

Membership: Over 230 not-for-profit community-based organizations that provide home and community support services (home care services, nutrition programs, transportation services, respite and adult day programs, caregiver support, hospice palliative care, Alzheimer dementia services) to Ontarians. Full members are contracted and funded via one of 14 LHINs.
Communication to Members: Monthly bulletin, annual conference and AGM, members-only website, news releases, community support month events

Research/KT Partnerships: HQO, Capacity Builders, LeaderShift

Website:
Link to Reports/Publications: http://www.ocsa.on.ca/policy–research.html

Committee Representative: Vinita Haroun, Director of Research and Knowledge Translation, Ontario Long Term Care Association Contact Information: VHaroun@oltca.com

Mandate/Mission: The OLTCA is the trusted voice of a caring and compassionate sector. Our mandate is to promote safe, quality long-term care to Ontario’s seniors; to lead the sector in innovation, quality care and services, building excellence in long-term care through leadership, analysis, advocacy and member services.
Population Served/Represented: 70,000 long-term care home residents across Ontario annually

Membership: 437 private, not-for-profit, charitable, and municipal long-term care homes across Ontario representing 70% of all homes in the province. OLTCA also has 300+ Commercial (vendors that provide innovative products and services for the seniors sector) and Affiliate (education, research, or not for profit organizations working to serve the residents, homes, and the broader health sector) members. We have three Corporate Alliance Partners, and one Strategic Alliance Partner.
Communication to Members: LTC Today Magazine published bi-annually, reports/news releases, good news stories, Together We Care annual convention and trade show, This is Long Term Care annual research and innovation conference, 3 members meeting annually, weekly stakeholder newsletter, member bulletins, executive updates, members-only website

Research/KT Partnerships: Flagship partners include: Global Ageing Network – partnering to deliver the biennial conference in 2019; Strategic Alliance Partnership – Centre for Aging & Brain Health Innovation (CABHI); Knowledge Mobilization Partnership – Centres for Learning, Research, and Innovations (CLRIs); Executive members of Canadian Association for Long term Care (CALTC).

In addition to our formal relationships with Affiliate members, we participate in over 50+ research, innovation and KT projects annually and have a wide network of academic partnerships.

Website: https://www.oltca.com/OLTCA/
Link to Reports/Publications: https://www.oltca.com/oltca/OLTCA/ReportsPublications/OLTCA/Public/ReportsPublications/Main.aspx?hkey=f2046eed-497e-4506-b544-34139beefbe6

Committee Representative: Barbara Liu, Executive Director, Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto
Contact Information: Barbara.Liu@sunnybrook.ca

Mandate/Mission: The Regional Geriatric Program (RGP) of Toronto is focused on achieving better health outcomes for frail older adults across the healthcare system. We support healthcare providers in their delivery of specialized geriatric services across our network.

We support a comprehensive network of specialized geriatric services which assess and treat functional, medical, and psychosocial issues in older adults who have multiple and complex needs. We work in collaboration with primary care physicians, community health professionals, and others to meet the needs of the most frail and vulnerable seniors.
Population Served/Represented: Frail older adults who have multiple and complex needs.

Membership: Our network comprises 23 hospitals in the greater Toronto area. We are in turn part of the Regional Geriatric Programs of Ontario, which comprises 11 RGPs and LHIN-based networks across Ontario. Together we support specialized geriatric service delivery, capacity building, evaluation, and advocacy toward meeting the health needs of Ontario’s aging population.
Communication to Members: conferences, annual education day, newsletters, website, forum, community of practice

Research/KT Partnerships: MOHLTC, The Caregiver Education & Training Project, Senior Friendly Care/Senior Friendly Hospitals, Geriatric Emergency Management Network, Geriatrics Inter-professional Interorganizational Collaboration, Psychogeriatric Resource Consultation Program, Behavioural Supports Ontario

Website: https://www.rgps.on.ca/ and https://www.rgptoronto.ca/
Link to Reports/Publications: https://www.rgps.on.ca/reports-and-publications/ and https://www.rgptoronto.ca/initiatives/

Committee Representative: Shirin Vellani, Nurse Practitioner, SPLC
Contact Information: shirin.vellani@mail.utoronto.ca

Mandate/Mission: To provide programs and services that meet the diverse needs of older adults and their caregivers from diverse backgrounds; provide affordable housing and support independence.
Population Served/Represented: Older adults living in the community, especially at-risk older adults, including those residing in assisted living facilities, those requiring intense case management, individuals with addiction issues, and/or with housing instability.

Membership: N/A
Communication to Members: Infographics, news releases, yearly fund raising events, volunteer appreciation events

Research/KT Partnerships: N/A

Website: http://www.splc.ca/
Link to Reports/Publications: http://www.splc.ca/publications