ILTCCABC is pleased to share key insights from the recent webinar, “Climate Readiness in BC’s Long-Term Care Home Sector,” as a year-long collaborative project comes to a close.
This initiative brought together leaders, researchers, and care home representatives to better understand how long-term care homes across British Columbia are preparing for climate-related challenges. ILTCCABC was proud to participate in this work, with Byron and Lisa contributing to the collaboration:
Thank you again for joining us,
From Jennifer Baumbusch, Climate Initiative Lead
Professor & Associate Director, Graduate Programs | UBC School of Nursing
Hello,
Thank you to all who attended our webinar “Climate Readiness in BC’s Long-term Care Home Sector.” The link to the webinar recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akK6pK7tnFA
To follow up on some of the discussion during the webinar, we have attached two reports from the EquipCare BC program, outlining how money from the program was spent. We’ve included the report from the regular program, but the Climate Action report is the more applicable of the two.
The Climate Action program provided $300 per funded long-term care bed or assisted living suite, for a total of $6 million over 18 months. Temperature control products were the most common purchase (e.g., air conditioners, blinds, heat pumps), followed by energy reduction measures, emergency management preparation and air/water quality measures.
The program is no longer being funded.
We have also included various resources that were provided by attendees:
Two projects led by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care:
- Preparing Canada’s Health Care Buildings for Net-Zero https://greenhealthcare.ca/project/net-zero-ready/ This project includes a specific focus on LTC homes within a broader focus. We can benefit from learnings from this research as we are still working on the deliverables that related specifically to LTC.
- Indoor Heat-Health Impacts https://greenhealthcare.ca/project/indoor-heat-health-impacts/
Health Canada has extreme heat guidance for care facility managers: Health Facilities Preparation for Extreme Heat: Recommendations for Retirement and Care Facility Managers – Canada.ca
If you are a BC LTCH site leader and would like to know more about our upcoming project where teams will be guided through the process of developing a site-specific Climate Readiness Plan, please email: gero@nursing.ubc.ca
As always, if you would like to receive regular updates on this study and other projects related to climate change and older adults, please sign up on the research program website (link to sign-up is below Jennifer’s contact info): https://climateresilience.nursing.ubc.ca/
