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IntroductionHousing is an important determinant of health. Little research has explored hospital and community agency staff perspectives on how to support the housing needs of low-income older adults. Therefore, this paper examines the challenges associated with supporting low-income seniors as they transition from hospital to home and explores what role, if any, patient navigation models of care could have in addressing housing needs.MethodsA thematic secondary analysis that triangulated data from two qualitative studies was used. In total, interviews and/or focus groups with 109 hospital and community care workers were re-analyzed, applying a new interpretive lens to the data to reveal new insights. Data were collected in Ontario, Canada.ResultsParticipants described how low-income older adults have increasing complex care needs that influence their housing, but housing supports are limited and difficult to navigate. Participants believed further support was needed and suggested that a housing-specific patient navigation model of care may be beneficial, but difficult to implement due to the limitations of existing services.DiscussionOur findings provide a unique perspective on the challenges hospital and community staff face in caring for older adults with housing needs. Patient navigation with a focus on housing may support these older adults. Further work needs to be undertaken to better understand how to best implement sustainable housing patient navigation models of care.

This study explored the experiences of patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and health service leaders of compassion in the care of people hospitalized with COVID-19.This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative data deriving from primary research data on recommendations for healthcare organizations providing care to people hospitalized with COVID-19. Participants comprised patients with COVID-19 (Four interacting themes were found: (1) COVID-19 - to care or not to care? The importance of feeling safe, (2) A lonely illness - suffering in isolation with COVID-19, (3) Compassionate care for people with COVID-19 across the hospital continuum, and (4) Sustaining compassionate care for people hospitalized with COVID-19 - healthcare provider compassion fatigue and burnout.Compassionate care is not a given for people hospitalized with COVID-19. Healthcare providers must feel safe to provide care before responding compassionately. People hospitalized with COVID-19 experience additional suffering through isolation. Compassionate care for people hospitalized with COVID-19 is more readily identifiable in the rehabilitation setting. However, compassion fatigue and burnout in this context threaten healthcare sustainability.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONHealthcare providers need to feel physically and psychologically safe to provide compassionate care for people hospitalized with COVID-19.People hospitalized with COVID-19 infection experience added suffering through the socially isolating effects of physical distancing.Compassion and virtuous behaviours displayed by healthcare providers are expected and valued by patients and caregivers, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.High levels of compassion fatigue and burnout threaten the sustainability of hospital-based care for people with COVID-19.

Older adults living in social housing are disproportionally impacted by poverty, social isolation, and chronic health conditions that negatively impact their housing stability. In response, service coordination models of care that provide proactive case management have seen widespread adoption across low-income seniors housing communities. We examined the design and implementation of a new "seniors services coordinator" (SSC) role that was introduced by a social housing provider in Toronto, Canada. We conducted qualitative focus groups with tenants (n = 16), housing and policy staff (n = 16), and government-funded care coordinators (n = 16) to understand how the new SSC position formed relationships with tenants, assessed tenant needs and coordinated services, and built partnerships with government-funded system navigators. Since staff were assigned to specific buildings and had smaller caseloads, stakeholders felt that the SSC would be well positioned to build relationships of trust with tenants. Histories of mistrust, boundaries and time management, role conflicts, and system-level barriers, however, made it difficult for SSCs to fully carry out their role. Our findings highlight several design and implementation considerations that may impact the success of tenant-facing support staff such as SSCs, which can serve as a roadmap for other housing providers looking to implement similar initiatives.

Community support services are an integral enabler of aging in place. In social housing, older adult tenants struggle to access these services because of the siloed nature of housing and health services. This study examined the provision of government-funded community support services to 83 seniors’ social housing buildings in Toronto, Ontario. Although there were 56 different agencies operating within the buildings, only about one third of older tenants were actually receiving services. There was a subset of services that were available in more than 80 per cent of the buildings, and the most widely accessed services were food supports, crisis intervention, transportation, caregiver support, and hearing/vision care. There were also many cases in which multiple agencies offered duplicative services within the same building, suggesting that there are opportunities for improving service coordination. Practice recommendations for increasing access to community support services among low-income older adults in social housing are provided.

Tenant experience surveys are a key tool for social housing landlords to gauge their success in providing high quality housing. This paper examines feedback from a tenant experience survey facilitated in a low-income housing seniors' housing community to: (1) examine their perceptions of their housing across key domains related to tenant satisfaction; and (2) identify opportunities they felt would improve their housing experience. A total of 1,114 households completed the survey. Results showed that tenants generally had high satisfaction with property management, safety and security, communication with staff, access to services, community support, and tenancy management. However, open-ended comments from tenants highlighted specific situations that negatively impacted their housing, including maintenance issues, safety concerns, and limited access to health and social programs. Findings point to several suggestions for social housing providers to enhance their services to foster inclusive, supportive, and safe housing environments for low-income older adults.

Including people with lived experience in knowledge co-creation and sharing processes is critical for enhancing the value and quality of health and social care research. In this brief report, we reflect on a collaboration between researchers and older people to judge a student poster competition at a virual seniors housing conference. We describe the steps taken to facilitate the judging process and present five recommendations to foster meaningful partnerships with older people at academic conferences and increase opportunities for emerging and established gerontological researchers to involve older people in their work.

Introduction:\ud Healthcare facilities adopted restrictive visitor policies as a result of the COVID-19 (COVID) pandemic. Though these measures were necessary to promote the safety of patients, families and healthcare providers, it led to isolation and loneliness amongst acute care inpatients that can undermine patient rehabilitation and recovery. The study objectives were to (1) explore how infection prevention and control (IP &C) measures impacted stakeholders' perceptions of care quality and interactions with others and (2) investigate how these experiences and perceptions varied across stakeholder groups and care settings.\ud \ud Methods:\ud A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. Patients and their families from an inpatient COVID rehabilitation hospital and healthcare providers from an acute or rehabilitation COVID hospital were interviewed between August 2020 and February 2021.\ud \ud Results:\ud A total of 10 patients, 5 family members and 12 healthcare providers were interviewed. Four major themes were identified: (1) IP&C measures challenged the psychosocial health of all stakeholders across care settings; (2): IP&C measures precipitated a need for greater relational care from HCPs; (3) infection prevention tenets perpetuated COVID-related stigma that stakeholders experienced across care settings; and (4) technology was used to facilitate human connection when IP &C limited physical presence.\ud \ud Conclusion:\ud IP &C measures challenged psychosocial health and maintenance of vital human connections. Loneliness and isolation were felt by all stakeholders due to physical distancing and COVID-related stigma. Some isolation was mitigated by the relational care provided by HCPs and technological innovations used. The findings of the study underscore the need to balance safety with psychosocial well-being across care settings and beyond the patient–provider dyad.\ud \ud Patient and Public Contribution:\ud This study was informed by the Patient-Oriented Research Agenda and developed through consultations with patients and family caregivers to identify priority areas for rehabilitation research. Priority areas identified that informed the current study were (1) the need to focus on the psychosocial aspects of recovery from illness and injury and (2) the importance of exploring patients' recovery experiences and needs across the continuum of care. The study protocol, ethics submission, analysis and manuscript preparation were all informed by healthcare providers with lived experience of working in COVID care settings.

Access to affordable housing is a rising concern, and social housing is one approach to support low-income, older renters. A scoping review was undertaken to understand the characteristics of older tenants and social housing services to identify strategies to promote aging in place. Seven peer review databases were searched to identify relevant articles. A total of 146 articles were included. Almost all examined socio-demographic and health characteristics of older tenants, while 72 per cent examined social housing services, including eligibility policies, staffing, and access to on-site services. This review points to a high vulnerability among older tenants and highlights the importance of co-locating services on-site with a tenant-facing support staff to identify vulnerable tenants and link them to services. More research on tenancy issues (e.g., unit condition, rental management) is needed to identify new opportunities for social housing landlords to help older tenants age in place.

Abstract Background Many older adults are aging-at-home in social housing. However, the lack of integration between housing and health services makes it difficult for older tenants to access needed supports. We examined barriers and facilitators health and social service providers face providing on-site services to older tenants. Methods We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews and focus groups with health and social service professionals (n = 58) in Toronto, Canada who provide community programs in support of older tenants who live in non-profit, rent-geared-to-income social housing. Interviews examined the barriers they faced in providing on-site services to older tenants. Findings Service providers strongly believed that collaboration with on-site housing staff led to better health and housing outcomes for older tenants. Despite the recognized benefits of partnering with housing staff, service providers felt that their ability to work effectively in the building was dependent on the staff (particularly the superintendent) assigned to that building. They also identified other barriers that made it difficult to work collaboratively with the housing provider, including staffing challenges such as high staff turnover and confusion about staff roles, a lack of understanding among housing staff about the link between housing and health, challenges sharing confidential information across sectors, and complex and inefficient partnership processes. Conclusion Older adult tenants are increasingly vulnerable and in need of supports but the housing provider has a long history of ineffective partnerships with service providers driven by complex and inefficient staffing models, and an organizational culture that questions the role of and need for partnerships. Findings highlight the need for more effective integration of housing and health services. Simplified processes for establishing partnerships with service agencies and more opportunities for communication and collaboration with housing staff would ensure that services are reaching the most vulnerable tenants.

The Canadian Association on Gerontology's Student Connection facilitates a national Student Representative program to promote the field of gerontology at local post-secondary institutions. Student Representatives are expected to host professional development and networking events on their campus to bring together students interested in the field of aging. Student-run groups help foster interest in aging-related careers and research, yet few studies explore how these groups are developed and sustained. As part of this quality improvement project, we examined (1) who participates as a Student Representative; (2) why students choose to participate in the program; and (3) how Student Representatives fulfil their role (including barriers and facilitators). We conclude with a discussion of the challenges that the Student Connection's executive committee has faced supporting this national network and identify opportunities to further enhance the program. Practical implications to support student engagement and promote sustainability of student-driven aginginterest groups are outlined.

Introduction: Patients recovering from a COVID-19 infection experience persistent and long-term impairments that negatively impact daily functioning and quality of life. Thus, many require in-patient rehabilitation to improve health outcomes and promote recovery. The provision of rehabilitative care during the pandemic was challenged due to COVID-19 infection control measures. Therefore, in-patient rehabilitation hospitals were required to implement innovative strategies to ensure patients recovering from COVID had access to safe and effective rehabilitative care. Objectives: We assessed the rapid implementation of a COVID-19 zone in an in-patient rehabilitation hospital at the onset of the pandemic using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Qualitative data were gathered via one-to-one interviews with health care providers (n=12) affiliated with the COVID-zone, as well as from patients (n=10) and family care partners (n=5) discharged from the COVID-zone between March and September 2020. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to elicit a rich description of the barriers and facilitators to implementing the in-patient rehabilitation COVID-zone in order to inform the development of policy and practice recommendations. Key Findings: While stakeholders understood the need for a COVID-zone within the in-patient rehabilitation hospital, there were several challenges identified with implementation that spanned all five domains of the CFIR. As no other rehabilitation hospitals were accepting COVID-19 patients, stakeholders described immense peer pressure to implement a COVID-zone quickly; however, frontline staff described a lack of opportunity to participate in implementation decision-making and had concerns about the location of the COVID-zone and staff capacity. While senior leadership hoped that aligning staff to work on the COVID-zone would enhance competency providing care, frontline staff varied in how comfortable they were working on the COVID-zone. Extreme ambiguity, complex personal circumstances, lack of access to rehabilitative equipment, and limited contact with patient families all strained implementation and required frontline staff to think creatively to ensure patients had access to safe and effective rehabilitative care. Conclusions: Our findings point to several recommendations to facilitate the implementation of rehabilitation for patients recovering from COVID, including eliminating the disconnect between operational decision-making and professional practice, identifying champions at the frontline, management, and senior leadership levels to ensure effective information sharing, and enhancing staff capacity to provide COVID care. Implications: The application of the CFIR point to several barriers and facilitators that are relevant for other facilities planning and implementing rehabilitation strategies for patients recovering from COVID.

Objective We tested whether film-induced sadness enhances food intake in restrained eaters. Method Female participants scoring either high or low on a measure of dietary restraint viewed two film segments in counterbalanced order on successive days: an emotionally neutral travelogue and a sad film depicting the death of the young female protagonist. Results Contrast analyses revealed that film-induced sadness significantly reduced food intake in low-restraint individuals, but only nonsignificantly increased it in high-restraint individuals. Discussion When sadness is induced without an apparent ego threat, high-restraint participants may not exhibit as much disinhibited eating as when they are exposed to mood inductions that threaten their self-esteem. © 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 28: 215–220, 2000.