Leveraging Community Support Services to Support Integrated Health and Social System Response to COVID-19

Social distancing due to COVID-19 has meant that older adults have not been as able to see their doctors. Older adults have chronic conditions, such as diabetes, that can flare up and cause emergencies. So, finding older adults who are unwell is very important. Community support services, such as those providing meals-on-wheels, are available to find older adults who need help. Researchers designed a self-report tool to use over the phone to see if a person needs to see a health-care worker or go to the hospital. This project will teach a community support service how to use this tool and note the steps to use the tool well. The information about how the community support service clients are doing during the pandemic will be described to help health-care and government planners understand how older adults are feeling and what help they need during the pandemic.

Faculty Supervisor:

George Heckman

Student:

Melissa Northwood

Partner:

Community Care Concepts of Woolwich Wellesley and Wilmot Townships

Discipline:

Epidemiology / Public health and policy

Sector:

Health care and social assistance

University:

University of Waterloo