Ontario's hospitals deeply appreciate the invaluable role that essential care partners play in supporting family members and friends who are patients in hospitals. Early on in the pandemic, restrictions on visitor and essential care partner presence were put in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission for patients, health care providers and other vulnerable people within the community. Since then, hospitals have adopted various approaches to enabling essential care partner presence during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to differentiate between visitors and essential care partners that play a critical role in patient health and well-being. Hospital policies that have allowed essential care partners during the COVID-19 pandemic have been shown to be beneficial for the patient and in sustaining high-quality care.

To support hospitals in ensuring flexible policies are in place to enable essential care partner presence for hospital patients during the pandemic, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), in partnership with the Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO), has recently revised the Essential Care Partner Presence Policies During COVID-19 Considerations for Hospitals. This guidance document, which was also informed by Ontario patients and caregivers, has been updated to reflect the changing pandemic landscape.

Hospitals should consider this guidance within the context of their local and regional circumstances to best determine the extent of the presence of essential care partners within their organization.

View the updated guidance document here.

Download Here

Below are additional resources for consideration to support the safe integration of essential care partners into hospitals.

GUIDANCE

• Access to Hospitals for Visitors (Essential Care Partners): Guidance for Toronto Region Hospitals (Acute, Rehab, CCC) During the COVID-19 Pandemic - COVID-19 Hospital Operations Table (September 2021)
  
• Essential Together - Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
• Policy Guidance for the Reintegration of Caregivers as Essential Care Partners - November 2020 - Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
  
• Re-Integration of Family Caregivers as Essential Partners in Care in a Time of COVID-19 - Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
• Much More than just a Visitor: An Executive Summary of Policies in Canadian Acute Care Hospitals - Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
• Person-Centered Guidelines for Preserving Family Presence in Challenging Times - Planetree International
  
• Recommendations for an Ontario Approach to Engage and Support Caregivers for Persons with Stroke During COVID-19 - CorHealth Ontario
  

RESEARCH

• Impact of Hospital Visitor Restrictions during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Science Table COVID-19 Advisory for Ontario
• The influence of COVID-19 visitation restrictions on patient experience and safety outcomes: A critical role for subjective advocates – Patient Experience Journal
• The case for relaxing no-visitor policies in hospitals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – CMAJ

IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS

• Partners in Care Toolkit - Ontario Caregiver Organization
• Algoma OHT Caregiver ID Toolkit
• What Caregivers Want Health Care Providers and Hospital Staff to Know - Ontario Caregiver Organization
  

• Family Care Partner/Caregiver Labels
• Access Card for Care Partners - Montfort Hospital
  

• Social Media Hospital Screening Videos: Twitter (English and French) and Facebook (English and French) - The Ottawa Hospital
  
• PPE Donning and Doffing Videos - Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
  

• Visiting Baycrest during the COVID-19 pandemic
  

• A Guide to Creating A Virtual Connection Program for Patientsand Family Caregivers 
  

• Using FaceTime - St. Joseph's Healthcare London 

For questions, feedback or suggested resources for this page, please email communications@oha.com