Vanessa Daigle, a student of the Master of Social Work program, joins the Chair as part of a research project on good treatment practices in private retirement residences in the context of COVID-19. (September 2020)

The project is led by Vanessa Daigle and is entitled Intervenir en milieu de vie et de soins pour personnes aînées en temps de COVID-19: quand l’action tombe sous le sens (Intervention in healthcare and residential settings during COVID-19: When actions make good common sense). It is funded by a MITACS research scholarship and a financial contribution from the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation.

With the participation of two non-profit retirement residences in the Eastern Townships region, the goal of this project is to understand the reasons why certain residential settings for older adults succeed in getting through the COVID-19 pandemic securely while maintaining a good quality of healthcare and lifestyle for both residents and employees. In other words, successfully navigating the pandemic does not simply mean the absence of cases but also maintaining the ideal of quality healthcare and services in such a situation.

In contrast to the media’s portrayal of community living settings that highlights numerous examples of failures in the healthcare system and countless situations of mistreatment, this project will seek the  « savoir-faire », the « savoir-être » and the « savoir-dire » (skills, attitudes, communication) which are fundamental to the establishment of an environment of quality healthcare and favour the well-being of older adults. These can be qualified as ‘good treatment’.

The outcome of this research will be to produce a practices guide to promote good treatment in the context of a socio-sanitary crisis.