Submission to Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission

Toronto, December 23, 2020 - As a part of our ongoing work to advocate for high-quality mental health care for residents of long-term care in Ontario, OASW made a submission to Ontario's Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission, which continues to strongly recommend: mandating the provision of social work services by an RSW in all LTC homes; ensuring every LTC home have at least one RSW for the home and that the RSW is on site for a minimum of 30 minutes per resident per month to provide direct social work services; and, developing a standard description of social work services (or best practices) that allows a Licensee to meet the unique needs of the LTC home and its residents. 

We continue to meet actively with the Ministry of Long-Term Care to discuss these issues and the key role social workers play in assisting residents and caregivers. 

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About OASW
 
OASW is the voice of social work in Ontario. It is a voluntary, bilingual, non-profit association representing approximately 6000 social workers. All members have a university degree in social work at the bachelor, master or doctoral level. OASW works to actively speak on behalf of social workers on issues of interest to the profession and advocates for the improvement of social policies and programs directly affecting social work practice and client groups served.