Alberta Visser was a typical senior in assisted living when she fell and broke her arm. Health diminishing, she required the care of a nursing home, and she kept getting weaker.
“It was to the point where her quality of life was deteriorating – the less she was able to move, the weaker she became,” says her daughter Marcia.
Marcia Visser is no stranger to our health care system – she’s on the board of the Ontario Hospital Association. But, even she was having trouble figuring out how to help her mother stay active when she fortunately was introduced to Mobilization of Vulnerable Elders in Ontario (MOVE ON). The project increases the mobility rate of elderly patients and reduces their length of stay in hospitals and institutions. The program improves the quality of life for patients and their families, and creates savings for the health care system.
Health care workers use an algorithm to determine how a patient is doing in the program. A means they’re up and about three times a day; B means they can sit up in a chair; and C means they’re exercising in bed.
The program has been successfully implemented across 14 Ontario hospitals, and it’s one of six Adopting Research to Improve Care (ARTIC) Program projects. The Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario, which represents the 24 research hospitals throughout the province, delivers the program with funding support from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. It’s just one of many health innovation programs that the CAHO community is leading or supporting to improve the quality of care for Ontarians, and to make our health care system more sustainable. Investment in the health research sector is creating better ways to care for Ontarians.
Marcia Visser was inspired by what she saw, and went back to her mother’s nursing home with a plan to help her get moving again.
Within two months, her mother was up and walking around more, and she was able to move back to assisted living where she had a much higher quality of life until she passed away.
“My mother was living a much better life once we got her moving. She’d be happy to know that others are doing the same.”
Ontario’s 24 research hospitals create a healthier, wealthier, smarter Ontario by improving the quality care for patients, supporting thousands of good jobs, teaching the next generation and attracting the brightest and best researchers and health professionals.
They have helped strengthen the economy in many ways:
– $1.2 billion was invested in research in 2012 and for every $1 invested in health research, there’s a $3 return to the economy.
– This investment supports 36,000 total jobs across Ontario.
– Investment is attracted to the province. 16 per cent of investment comes from the private sector (2.5 times more than the relevant OECD average).
– In the last two years, investment in health research resulted in 139 health tech commercializations.
– The CAHO ARTIC Program has facilitated the implementation of six research evidence projects across 82 hospital units in Ontario, involving more than 166 “change champions” across all disciplines.
– ARTIC projects aim to accelerate the implementation of research evidence to change care practices, reducing the adoption time from 17 years to 2 years.
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