Preparing the Long-Term Care Sector for Future Health Crises: A Set of Practical Pandemic Management Staffing Strategies

Utilizing an integrated knowledge translation framework (iKT), the purpose of this study was to identify best practices for long-term care (LTC) staffing in British Columbia, Canada, based on learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. Through multiple data sources, including an electronic survey provided to LTC operators and knowledge-generation forums held with LTC community members, four staffing recommendations were created. Our major findings emphasize how the pandemic exposed and further exacerbated LTC workforce shortcomings and provide rich, contextual information to help create efficacious and practical outcomes and enhance public health. Our recommendations include conducting contingency planning for potential crises, increasing the use of volunteers, implementing recruitment and retention strategies for the LTC workforce, and standardizing evaluations of staffing adequacy and resident outcomes. These investments can serve to strengthen LTC currently and to protect against potential future health crises. This project highlights how lived experience can be utilized to address health inequities and bolster public health outcomes.