Research Area(s)
- Disability, personhood, and social inclusion
- Relationships among long-term care residents, family caregivers, staff, and organizational leaders
- Family communication and care in long-term care settings
- Quality of life in long-term care
- Strengthening a palliative approach in long-term care
- Health and behavioural psychology, including applications in long-term care
Education
- B.A. (Honours) University of Regina
- M.A. University of Regina
- Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) University of Regina
Research Projects
Research & Knowledge Translation Projects:
Scoping Design Innovations in Long-Term Care
About one third of Canadians will spend a period of their lives in residential long-term care, and the quality of long-term care is of utmost significance to those who make this transition. Through this systematic review of international research on building design in residential long- term care, we set out to identify the range of long-term care building designs and the associated outcomes for residents, family caregivers, employees, and healthcare organizations. We discovered that small homelike long-term care homes – an innovative building design with strong roots in Saskatchewan – are associated with outcomes of central significance for long-term care, including improved quality of life, improved family satisfaction, and improved staff engagement in work!
Student Lead: Elizabeth Pywell
Funding partner: Paulette Hunter
Getting Results for Long-Term Care Residents: Perspectives from Saskatchewan’s Non-Profit Sector
Saskatchewan’s non-profit long-term care sector has faced a number of challenges in the last decade, including increased acuity of care, the reorganization of provincial healthcare, and a pandemic. Using 1:1 interviews as a primary method, this project explored the experiences and needs of non-profit healthcare organizations serving long-term care residents, seeking to articulate their vision for quality care, their strategies for remaining resilient, and the supports they rely on to help them achieve their vision.
Student leads: Jyllenna Landry, Yash Tendulkar
Funded by: Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan, Mont St. Joseph’s Foundation, St. Thomas More College
The Cup of Care Podcast
Join co-hosts Katie Ottley and Sibtain Ali for a series of conversations with Canadian family caregivers. As guests Marlene, Kayley, Krysta, Sheila, Suzanne, Rina, and Darrel share powerful life lessons on caring from near and far, Katie and Sibtain realise that no two families are alike and that there is much to be learned from hearing each other’s stories.
Find us on Spotify under SPA-LTC, or go to https://spaltc.ca/podcasts/
Student leads: Katherine Ottley & Sibtain Ali
Funding partners: Health Canada & SaskPolytechnic
Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-term Care
For more about our team’s research and knowledge translation on Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care, see www.spaltc.ca.
Project leads: Sharon Kaasalainen, Paulette Hunter, Lynn McCleary, Tamara Sussman, Genevieve Thompson, Lorraine Venturato, & Abigail Wickson-Griffiths
Funding partners: Health Canada, Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Canadian Frailty Network, Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation
A Relationship-Centred Practice Model for Long-Term Care
Public trust in the LTC system was eroded by the separation of residents and family caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. To strengthen relationships in LTC, this Health Systems Impact Fellowship emphasizes the co-design of a relationship-centered practice model by SHA LTC residents, family caregivers, staff, and leaders. The project sets out to identify the areas that, if changed, would contribute most to stronger relationships in LTC. The fellowship is jointly supported by Saskatchewan Health Authority and St. Thomas More College.
Student lead: Ivy Myge
Organizational partners: Saskatchewan Health Authority – Patient & Client Experience; Saskatchewan Health Authority – Continuing Care; St. Thomas More College
Funding partners: CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship (partnership funding from SHRF)
We Hear You: A Conversation-Starter Toolkit to Address Pandemic Burnout
Led by a team of researchers from Saskatchewan Polytechnic, University of Regina, and University of Saskatchewan, the We Hear You project synthesized healthcare employee wellbeing research from across Saskatchewan over the first 15 months of the pandemic. The resulting conversation-starter kit can be used to share results with healthcare leaders and employees and spark conversations across the healthcare system. The kit addresses four topics on healthcare employees’ minds – burnout, communication, teamwork, and leadership – and contains some of the keys to helping healthcare employees thrive under adverse conditions.
Access the toolkit: We Hear You Toolkit.pdf
Funding partners: Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and Emmanuel Health
Pandemic Experience in Saskatchewan’s Long-Term Care Sector
Since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, our research team has been partnering with long-term care residents, family caregivers, staff, and leaders to understand their perspectives. We’ve studied resident quality of life, videoconferencing visits, nutritional care, recreation, bereavement, family experience, rural experience, employee wellbeing, interpersonal trust, and inter-organizational trust. If you are curious about the results, please reach out to learn more from one of our student project leads.
Student leads: Kayley Lawrenz, Yash Tendulkar, Elizabeth Pywell, Heather Alford, Ivy Myge, Rebeca Pereira, Katherine Ottley, Kirstian Gibson, and Nina Gao
Funding partners: Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation
Selected Publications and Presentations
Hunter, P.V., Ward, H., & Puurveen, G. (2023). Trust as a key measure of quality and safety after the restriction of family contact in Canadian long-term care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, 128, 18-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.12.009
Hunter, P. V., McCleary, L., Qiao, T., Sussman, T., Venturato, L., Thompson, G., ... & Kaasalainen, S. (2022). Delivering person-centred palliative care in long-term care settings: is humanism a quality of health-care employees or their organisations? Ageing & Society, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X22000459
Pereira, R. F., Myge, I., Hunter, P. V., & Kaasalainen, S. (2022). Volunteers’ experiences building relationships with long-term care residents who have advanced dementia. Dementia, 21(7), 2172-2190. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14713012221113191
Sussman, T., Kaasalainen, S., Lawrence, J., Hunter, P. V., Bourgeois-Guerin, V., & Howard, M. (2021). Using a self-directed workbook to support advance care planning with long term care home residents. BMC Palliative Care, 20(1), 1-12. https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-021-00815-1
Hunter, P. V., Rissling, A., Pickard, L., Thorpe, L., & Hadjistavropoulos, T. (2021). Intervention Fidelity of a Volunteer-Led Montessori-Based Intervention in a Canadian Long-Term Care Home. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement. 40(2): 293-305. https://doi.org/10.1017/S071498082000029X
Hunter, P.V., Thorpe, L., Hadjistavropoulos, T. & Hounjet, C. (2020). Using Normalization Process Theory to evaluate the implementation of Montessori-based volunteer visits within a Canadian long-term care home. The Gerontologist. 60: 182-192. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny103
Kaasalainen, S., Sussman, T., Thompson, G., McCleary, L., Hunter, P.V., Venturato, L., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Ploeg, J., Parker, D., Sinclair, S. and Dal Bello-Haas, V. (2020). A pilot evaluation of the Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care (SPA-LTC) program. BMC palliative care. 19(1): 1-12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12904-020-00599-w
Sharon Kaasalainen, Paulette V. Hunter, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas, Lisa Dolovich, Katherine Froggatt, Thomas Hadjistavropoulos, Maureen Markle-Reid, Jenny Ploeg, Joyce Simard, Lehana Thabane, Jenny T. van der Steen & Ladislav Volicer. (2020). Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of the Namaste Care program in long-termcare settings in Canada. Pilot and Feasibility Studies. 6(1): 1-12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40814-020-00575-4
Hunter, P.V., McCleary, L., Akhtar-Danesh, N., Goodridge, D., Hadjistavropoulos, T., Kaasalainen, S., Sussman, T., Thompson, G., Venturato, L., & Wickson-Griffiths, A. (2020). Mind the gap: Is the Canadian long-term care workforce ready for a palliative care mandate? Ageing & Society. 40: 1223-1243. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X18001629
Kaasalainen, S., Sussman, T., McCleary, L., Thompson, G., Hunter, P.V., Wickson-Griffiths, A., Cook, R., Dal-Bello Haas, V., Hill, C., Venturato, L., Papaioannou, A., You, J., & Parker, D. (2019). Palliative Care Models in Long-Term Care: A Scoping Review. Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership. 32(3): 8-26.
Kaasalainen, S., Hunter, P. V., Hill, C., Moss, R., Kim, J., van der Steen, J. T., ... & Hadjistavropoulos, T. (2019). Launching Namaste care in Canada: Findings from training sessions and initial perceptions of an end-of-life program for people with advanced dementia. Journal of Research in Nursing. 24(6): 403-417. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744987119832932
Hunter, P.V, Kaasalainen, S, Froggatt, K.A., Ploeg, J., Dolovich, L., Simard, J., Salsali, M. (2017). Using the ecological framework to identify barriers and enablers to implementing Namaste Care in Canada’s long- term care system. Annals of Palliative Medicine. 6(4): 340-353. https://doi.org/10.21037/apm.2017.06.14
Teaching Responsibilities
- PSY 120.3 (Biological and Cognitive Bases of Psychology)
- PSY 121.3 (Social, Clinical, Cultural and Developmental Bases of Psychology)
- PSY 216.3 (Psychology of Aging)
- PSY 858.3 (Ethics in Clinical Psychology)
Administrative Responsibilities
- Member, Canadian Psychological Association Committee on Ethics (2014-)
- Founding Member, Saskatchewan LTC Network (2020-)
- Vice President, St. Thomas More College Faculty Union, University of Saskatchewan (2020-)
- Secretary, St. Thomas More College Faculty Union, University of Saskatchewan (2019-2020)
- Department Head, Psychology, St. Thomas More College (2018-2019)
- Research Committee, St. Thomas More College (2014-2017)
- Member, Clinical Executive Committee, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan (2011-2019)
- Corresponding Member, Clinical Executive Committee, Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan (2019-)