Advancing Quality, Dignity and Safety in Long-Term Care Across BC
Partnering across BC to improve care for residents living in long-term care homes by strengthening person-centred approaches that enhance quality of life and support safer, more appropriate use of medications for those living with dementia and other complex conditions.
Registration is now open for Cohort 2 of our It Starts with Asking Why: Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics in Long-Term Care Action Series. Open to all care homes in BC. Past participants can join again for new and improved supports. The series supports care homes across BC to strengthen safe, person-centred medication practices.
Quality in Long-Term Care Matters
Long-term care is home.
For over 33,000 people in British Columbia, these homes provide 24-hour support, comfort, and connection*. As our population ages and more people live with dementia and other complex conditions, the need for safe, compassionate, person-centred care continues to grow.
Quality care starts with understanding.
In 2025, over 85,000 British Columbians are living with dementia*. Supporting care teams with the knowledge, skills and confidence to respond with empathy helps reduce harm and strengthen quality of life for both residents and staff.
Better care benefits everyone.
When residents live with dignity, families feel peace of mind, and staff are supported to provide the kind of care they’re proud of, every day in every care home across BC.
Working Together for Lasting Improvement in Long-Term Care
We help create the conditions for quality care to thrive. By connecting people, evidence, and practice across the long-term care sector, we strengthen safety, collaboration, and person-centred care in every home.
Through quality improvement coaching, shared learning and practical tools, we work alongside care teams to build confidence and capacity to make meaningful, lasting change. Together, we test and sustain approaches that enhance residents’ well-being and daily experience.
By fostering a culture of continuous learning, we aim to ensure every resident experiences safe, compassionate and high-quality care, and every team member has the support they need to deliver it.
Our Work to Improve Quality in Long-Term Care
We partner with care homes and health system leaders to advance person-centred approaches that foster connection, compassion, and continuous improvement in every home across BC.
It Starts With Asking Why
Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics in Long-Term Care Action Series
This refreshed six-month Action Series helps long-term care homes strengthen resident quality of life through sustainable, evidence-based practices for the appropriate use of antipsychotics. Participants receive coaching, shared learning opportunities, and tools to support staff in using non-pharmacological approaches to care.
Open to all care homes in BC. Past participants are encouraged to join again to explore new content and enhanced supports.
Reimagining Long-Term Care: Enabling a Healthy Workforce to Provide Person-Centred Care
Running throughout 2023, this national collaboration with Healthcare Excellence Canada brought together homes from across the country to enhance person-centred care and a healthy workforce.
BC participants focused on AUA improvements. Seed funding, coaching and learning sessions helped participating teams share and implement evidence-informed practices. Resources and change approaches from this collaboration remain widely used to support ongoing quality improvement.
LTC Quality Improvement
Delivered between 2022 and 2023 in partnership with Healthcare Excellence Canada, this initiative supported long-term care homes in creating healthy, person-centred workplaces. It focused on strengthening leadership, communication, resident-led activities, and staff well-being as key foundations of quality care. The frameworks and practices introduced continue to help teams build safer, more supportive environments.
LTC+: Acting on Pandemic Learning Together
Introduced in August 2020 and active through December 2021, LTC+: Acting on Pandemic Learning Together was a national program sponsored by Healthcare Excellence Canada that supported long-term care and retirement homes in navigating challenges and opportunities related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through micro-grants, coaching and peer learning, more than 1,500 homes, including hundreds in BC, strengthened their resilience and pandemic preparedness. Many of the strategies developed continue to inform quality and safety practices today.
CLeAR: Call for Less Antipsychotics in Long-Term Care
Conducted in multiple waves from 2013 to 2019, CLeAR helped long-term care homes across BC reduce the use of antipsychotic medications among residents without a diagnosis of psychosis. Using team-based improvement, education, and data-driven tools, participants created lasting change in care culture. The collaborative’s methods continue to inform safe medication and person-centred practices province-wide.
