Health Canada clears Appili Therapeutics’ phase 2 clinical trial evaluating Favipiravir as prophylactic agent against COVID-19 outbreaks
The National Institute on Ageing has estimated that as of May 6, 2020, 82 percent of deaths related to COVID-19 in Canada were associated with long-term care facilities.
Ontario long-term care homes faced 3 times more respiratory infection outbreaks than retirement homes from 2014-19
By Victoria Gibson
“There are these consistent, underlying systemic vulnerabilities,” Samir Sinha — who has been tracking COVID-19 outbreaks for Ryerson’s National Institute of Ageing — told iPolitics. He pointed to issues around multi-bed rooms, especially in older homes, and the practice of staff moving between facilities that was halted in mid-April.
Is it depression? Does dad need reminders to eat? Family seeks answers to father’s 22 pound weight loss in retirement home
By Moira Welsh
Dr. Samir Sinha, said homes’ interpretation of government directives, or their additional rules, can have an adverse impact on fragile seniors. “There is a saying we have that is called ‘good policy, bad practice,’ ” Sinha said. “The challenge I am seeing here with my patients living in retirement homes is that there is no policy that says in a home without an outbreak communal dining is not allowed. I’ve seen homes isolating seniors in their rooms when there is no reason to.”
Canada’s nursing home crisis: 81 percent of coronavirus deaths are in long-term care facilities
By Amanda Coletta
“We’ve actually created a system that’s designed to fail,” said Samir Sinha
Dear Grandma, read this before you visit the little ones
By Scottie Andrew
“We talked to Dr. Samir Sinha. And this is what he says: Until there's a vaccine, the most vulnerable people should continue to stay home if they can. That includes grandparents over 60 like you and people with chronic illnesses. You see, people in those categories are more likely to become severely ill if they contract coronavirus. We don't want that to be you.”
Nationalizing care homes won’t necessarily improve the situation
By John Ibbitson
Michael Nicin, executive director of the National Institute on Ageing, says proof that one ownership model is better than another at keeping residents safe just isn’t there. “At the moment, we’re seeing ideological fervour more than we are reasonable discussion on available data,” he said.
People who care for the elderly are essential workers. It’s long past time to start treating them right
By Heather Scoffield
“COVID has revealed where the problems are and where the changes need to be,” says Michael Nicin, executive director of the National Institute on Aging. Increased unionization will likely help improving wages and conditions, he said, and the unions are indeed already pushing hard. But there’s also a need to look at why people with similar jobs in hospitals are paid so much more, and work with better protective gear. There’s demand for change on the client side of the equation as well.
Coronavirus: Facts vs. Fears
Dr. Samir Sinha joined B.C Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie on CTV News to talk about financial supports recently announced by government for seniors- the government announced that Canadian seniors living on a fixed income will be able to get a one-time payment from the government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Problems in long-term care homes during pandemic ‘not a surprise’ to those working with seniors, says advocate
By Tessie Sanci
Of the 5,374 Canadian deaths attributed to COVID-19, 80 per cent of those individuals either lived or worked in LTC homes or other types of care homes for seniors, according to information gathered by the National Institute of Ageing (NIA) and shared with Hill Times Research. That data was compiled for May 13.
COVID-19 has exposed ugly failings of our politics. Here’s how Ottawa can build on the lessons of the pandemic
By Tonda MacCharles, Bruce Campion-Smith and Alex Boutilier
The National Institute on Aging, based at Ryerson University, urges governments to consider a radical shift, one that would see more money spent to support an aging population with home- or community-based care, as opposed to care delivered in buildings housing large numbers of seniors. It points to countries like Denmark as success stories
Federal government giving seniors one-time payment up to $500 to help with COVID-19 costs
By Charlie Pinkerton
The National Institute on Ageing (NIA) told the Toronto Star last week that 3,436 residents and six staff members had died from the illness as of last Wednesday, when there were 4,167 deaths from the disease in the country – meaning that 82 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada at that time had come in nursing homes.
The Arlene Bynon Show
Dr. Samir Sinha joined the Arlene Bynon show to discuss Canada having the highest proportion of deaths in long-term care settings among 14 countries being tracked in a study by the International Long-Term Care Policy Network: https://ltccovid.org/country-reports-on-covid-19-and-long-term-care/
Canada’s pandemic record is good, but we failed when it came to protecting senior homes
By the Editorial Board
This disparity was made plain last week when the National Institute on Ageing (NIA), a Toronto-based think tank, said that 82 per cent of the COVID-19-related deaths in Canada involved residents of nursing homes and seniors residences.
Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, effectively confirmed that number when she said federal data put the figure at 81 per cent.
Strobel: S.O.S – Save Our Seniors
By Mike Strobel
“We’re seeing that the real epicentre of this epidemic has been long-term care homes across the country,” Dr. Samir Sinha told CTV.
No easy fix for long-term care home problems highlighted by COVID-19
By Laura Osman
Dr. Samir Sinha, director of health policy research at the National Institute on Ageing at Ryerson University, said it's not yet clear if there are major differences between for-profit or private homes this early into the pandemic. All models of long-term care have been struggling with the same problems for a long time, he said.
The House with Chris Hall – Work in a COVID-19 world
“We should’ve started 30 years ago, it’s hard to catch up to demographics, but we now have an imperative to fix LTC we can no longer ignore,” said Michael Nicin, Executive Director at the National Institute on Ageing on moving long-term care into the Canada Health Act?
Canadian Labour Congress calls for end to privately owned long-term care facilities after COVID-19 deaths
By Robert Fife
According to the National Institute of Ageing at Ryerson University in Toronto, 82 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in Canada were connected to long-term care homes. On Thursday, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam also said that about 81 per cent of deaths are linked to long-term care facilities.
Dr. Samir Sinha on how we can improve our geriatric care – Kelly Cutrara
Dr. Samir Sinha joined Kelly Cutrara on Global News Radio 640 Toronto to discuss the current crisis in long-term care with COVID-19 and says that over 3,300 deaths in our country have occurred in these homes - this accounts for 82% of COVID-19 deaths.
After the flood: How the next wave (or waves) of COVID-19 will look in Canada
By Richard Warnica
In the first wave, the main victims, 82 per cent of them, according to a Ryerson University (National Institute on Ageing) count, have been vulnerable people, most of them seniors, living in long-term care. Those deaths will go down as one of the worst humanitarian tragedies in Canadian history. But the way they were clustered could have a dangerous effect on the broader public too, especially among older adults living at home, believes Dr. Samir Sinha.
“You might actually see an odd situation where people start to really underestimate the risk to older people living in the community,” he said.
82% of Canada’s COVID-19 deaths have been in long-term care, new data reveals
By Tonda MacCharles
The National Institute on Aging says that as of May 6, 3,436 residents and six staff members of long term care settings had died of COVID-19, representing 82 per cent of the 4,167 deaths reported as of Wednesday. Dr. Samir Sinha, research director at the institute, says it is a staggering figure, given the roughly 400,000 residents living in care homes represent just one per cent of Canada’s population.
