The Ontario Collaborative for Aging Well (OCAW) is a grass-roots group of local, regional and provincial partners who work with older adults living with or at risk of frailty. Arising out of demand for support to manage the care of individuals living with frailty from emerging Ontario Health Teams (OHTs), the Collaborative brings together 25 organizations representing: age friendly communities; caregivers; dementia experts; francophone planners; mental health and addictions experts; older adults; rehabilitative experts; research and academic institutes; OHTs (inclusive of primary care); and specialized geriatric services.
This eclectic group is focused on using their combined expertise to answer practical questions for OHTs and primary care networks who have identified older adults living with physical, cognitive, social and mental health related frailty.
The group has set an ambitious work plan for 2022-23 and goals include:
- Developing a provincial approach to frailty prevention for all older adults
- Developing a provincial approach to early identification, screening, and assessment of individuals living with or at risk of frailty
- Developing a performance measurement and evaluation framework for integrated frailty-related care
- Developing a Communication Plan to disseminate and promote uptake of resources and approaches
- Identifying and activating a coordinated implementation plan
- Identifying and communicating roles and relationships
Participants acknowledge that there are activities already underway in many OHTs related to frailty and will work to connect the efforts of this group to others by
- Linking members of the collaborative to others including the RISE community of practice (RISE coaches are participating in the collaborative)
- Creating a repository for ideas and resources
- Collaborative members becoming embedded in emerging OHTs
- Expediting the development of common resources
More information about the Ontario Collaborative for Aging Well is available from the project management Team led by Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario and the Centre for Studies in Aging & Health.
Contacts:
Kelly Kay, Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario, kkay@rgpo.ca
Sarah Webster, Centre for Studies in Aging & Health, websters@providencecare.ca