Visiting our homes

To provide meaningful, equitable and safe access to visits for all residents during non-outbreak situations, during an outbreak of a communicable disease or an outbreak of a disease of public health significance, an epidemic or a pandemic, or another emergency, subject to any applicable laws.

Emergency: An urgent or pressing situation or condition presenting an imminent threat to the health or well-being of residents and others attending the home that requires immediate action to ensure the safety of persons in the home.

Essential visitor: An essential visitor includes:

• A caregiver
• A support worker who visits a home to provide support to the critical operations of the home or to provide essential services to residents (e.g., Physician, nurse practitioner, maintenance, physiotherapist / occupational therapist, dietician)
• A person visiting a very ill or palliative resident for compassionate reasons including, but not limited to, hospice services or end-of-life care
• A government inspector with a statutory right to enter a long-term care home to carry out their duties (e.g., Ministry of Long-Term Care Inspector, Ministry of Labour Inspector, Public Health Inspector)

Caregiver: For the purposes of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, a "caregiver" means an individual who:

• Is a family member or friend of a resident or a person of importance to a resident
• Is able to comply with all applicable laws including any applicable directives, orders, guidance, advice or recommendations issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health or a medical officer of health appointed under the Health Protection and Promotion Act
• Provides one or more forms of support or assistance to meet the needs of the resident, including providing direct physical support such as activities of daily living or providing social, spiritual, or emotional support, whether on a paid or unpaid basis
• Is designated by the resident or the resident's substitute decision-maker with authority to give that designation, if any
• In the case of an individual under 16 years of age, has approval from a parent or legal guardian to be a designated caregiver

• On admission, the long-term care home will provide the resident and their family / substitute decision-maker information about home visiting hours through the Resident Handbook.
• There are no restrictions to visiting hours.
• There are no age restrictions for general visitors.
• Visitors are required to come into the home through the main entrance.
• If visiting in the evening, visitors are encouraged to be mindful of other residents in the area that may be sleeping.
• Visitors must sign in when arriving to the long-term care home and upon leaving the home, visitors must sign out.

The long-term care home will notify the resident’s family and other visitors of the status of the outbreak and whether visiting will be limited to only essential visitors.

Homes may limit visitors to only essential visitors as:

• Directed by the local public health unit; or as
• Caregivers directed by the Ministry of Long-Term Care or Ministry of Health

• The resident or substitute decision-maker will complete the Caregiver Process and Guidelines Intake Form
  • The caregiver will complete the Caregiver Program Sign-Off
  • The long-term care home must keep written record of the caregiver designation.
• If a caregiver is under the age of 16, approval from a parent or legal guardian is required to permit them to be designated as a caregiver, if applicable.
• The caregiver may provide caregiving support to more than one resident in non-outbreak settings, provided the resident and / or substitute decision-maker provides consent.
• The caregiver will discuss any training needs (i.e., feeding assistance training) prior to accepting the essential caregiver role.
• Prior to beginning their role as a caregiver, they will be provided with a visitor handout and sent three videos to review:
  • Recommended Steps: Putting on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
  • Putting on Full Personal Protective Equipment
  • Taking off Full Personal Protective Equipment
  • How to Hand Wash

Every long-term care home will maintain visitor logs for a minimum of 30 days which include, at minimum:

• The name and contact information of the visitor
• The time and date of the visit
• The purpose of the visit
• The name of the resident visited

All visitors (general and essential) will follow these infection prevention and control measures:

• Must pass passive screening at the beginning of their visit.
• Must ensure proper handwashing protocols are followed, including performing hand hygiene before and after their visit.
• Are strongly encouraged to wear a mask during their visit, if this is their preference, but are not required to during non-outbreak situations, unless otherwise directed.

Are strongly encouraged to follow directions for personal protective equipment requirements when visiting during an outbreak or visiting a resident on additional precautions.

The infection prevention and control measures program manager or designate may implement additional measures in collaboration with public health and/or after completing an Ethical Framework (refer to IC01-007) in collaboration with Resident Council that would enforce additional measures for the duration of the outbreak.

The policy will be shared with Resident’s Council and Family Council (if any) any time the policy is revised.

A copy of the visitor policy will be:

• Included in resident information packages
• Posted on the long-term care family information board
• Posted on Niagara Region's website