TORONTO, May 8, 2018 /CNW/ - With the Ontario election less than four weeks away, and all eyes looking to the parties' plans to improve the province's most pressing issues, the Ontario Long Term Care Association released its annual report, This is Long-Term Care 2018, which highlights the increasing care needs of residents and the compassionate care that long-term care home staff provide to seniors across Ontario.

"The demographic of seniors that come into long-term care today has changed over the last five years," says Candace Chartier, CEO of the Ontario Long Term Care Association. "Our report shows that the majority of seniors coming into long-term care require extensive or complete support with their daily activities as a result of their cognitive or physical condition."

The report outlines that 90% of long-term care residents have some form of cognitive impairment, with one in three severely affected. In addition, since 2011, the proportion of residents that have Alzheimer's or other forms of dementias has grown, with 64% of residents affected today. These conditions, coupled with increasing health challenges and frailty of residents, require a specialized care approach.

"When seniors can no longer live at home, our long-term care homes provide the care and services they need," says Chartier. "Our staff have the expertise in dementia and end-of-life care to help seniors live comfortably and with a meaningful quality of life. But staff are often providing care with limited resources and under difficult circumstances."

The report also provides context on challenges impacting the long-term care sector, such as availability of staff, out-of-date infrastructure, inspections, in-home altercations and incidents, and antipsychotics.

"To date, the Ontario government has made a number of commitments to improving seniors' care across the province," adds Chartier. "These are a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done, and collaboration between government and the sector must continue in order to create a system that meets the needs of seniors today and tomorrow."

To help prepare the province for the number of seniors that will require access to long-term care, the Ontario Long Term Care Association is calling for:

• 10,000 new long-term care beds over the next five years;
• funding for additional registered nursing staff and personal support workers;
• expanding in-home Behavioural Supports Ontario teams to every long-term care home in Ontario; and
• taking steps to modernize the 40% of long-term care homes that require renovations or to be rebuilt.

This is Long-Term Care 2018 is available at oltca.com.

About the Ontario Long Term Care Association
The Ontario Long Term Care Association is the largest association of long-term care providers in Canada and the only association that represents the full mix of long-term care operators – private, not-for-profit, charitable, and municipal. We represent nearly 70% of Ontario's 630 long-term care homes, located in communities across the province. Our members provide care and accommodation services to more than 70,000 residents annually.