Editorial
The need to network
Friday, January 20, 2006
Long term care homes are in a position to make a natural and important contribution to the Ontario government’s new Local Health Integration Networks. Across the province, long term care homes are increasingly serving as a landing ground for community members with a wide range of care requirements. The social and health systems will become more integrated as time passes. Opportunities for such integration are already cropping up through care needs coming to the attention of long term care homes. Mental health, addiction, brain injury, the early onset of diseases like diabetes, and homelessness are bringing to light new questions.

Some long term care operators will surely choose to adapt their approaches to provide services to this growing group of people who could otherwise fall through the cracks found between the health. Others will choose to stick to their knitting and continue to serve a predominantly elderly population.

Accepting a role as a natural landing ground for people with new needs is a responsibility each long-term care home will have
to take seriously.

As a sector, long term care has a great deal to contribute by virtue of core competences, many of which are adaptable to a variety of care needs.

It doesn’t yet seem to make sense for long-term care homes to become a one-stop shop, and hopefully it never will.

Every care provider in the province will be needed in the coming years to bring their unique strengths to the table. Health care costs continue to rise to levels that threaten our ability to deliver other important social programs. As a result organizational diversity in health care will be a critical asset. A diversity of community agencies working in dynamic, changing partnerships able to suit individual care needs is by far a preference.

It does make sense though, that because long term care homes are seeing an increasing diversity of needs that they work hard to become active members in their local networks of care. Relationships beyond our own walls will be increasingly valuable to understanding what we can contribute, especially in partnerships with others.

It is important to create networks and relationships beyond our walls long before we need them. That probably means we need to start now. It will take time to identify the community assets available to us as we look to integrate our strengths with those of other organizations.