b"HEALTH HUMAN RESOURCESEngaging students to buildthe future long-term care workforce By Shilpi Majumder, PhD T here is a critical need to recruit new staff in long- Post-secondary students trained in specific fields can assist term care. Staffing shortages have been exacerbatedin the area of their expertise. Secondary school students by the COVID-19 crisis as more team members leavewho have little exposure to the health care setting may the sector. The Ontario Centres for Learning, Researchassist with various tasks such as housekeeping duties, and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) at the Schlegel- administrative duties, fitness activities, food service, UW Research Institute for Aging has been reaching outrecreational activities and special events. Team members to secondary and post-secondary students to increaseappreciate the assistance, as it ensures that care isnt as awareness of the long-term care sector and providerushed, tasks are completed in a timely manner and quality experiential learning opportunities in an effort to sow thecare is provided. seeds of long-term care recruitment. You can hear directly from students who have had Students want meaningful experiential learningexperiential learning opportunities in a video availableopportunities to develop their career choices. Long-termon CLRI's YouTube page. (Once on the page, do acare homes benefit from engaging students to supportsearch for Experiential Learning in Long-Term Care.) resident care and provide enriching experiences forBy employing students, you will increase awareness of students while building the future long-term the long-term care sector while engaging residents in care workforce. meaningful ways. How can students help mitigate staffing shortages and theHow to get startedresulting lack of time to provide excellent care? They can provide one-on-one time with residents: getting to knowBegin by defining your purpose and goals. Do you have residents and their history, and sharing common interests.specific needs? Is there an area or department that needs Residents greatly benefit from these intergenerationalsome support? Think about the outcomes you want and interactions and students value the opportunity to develophow you might measure these to evaluate your success.relationships, even through virtual placements. We offer a guidebook and resources for educators and The residents loved it, the kids got a great knowledge oflong-term care homes to support developing partnerships. how a home really works, and it was incredibly successful!To access the guidebook, click on the Resources tab The highlight for me was when one of the students cameon the CLRI website and scroll down to the Experiential to me and said I never thought about working withLearning in Long-Term Care Guidebook. The guidebook seniors before, but now I want to work with seniors, saidprovides steps to develop a student placement and tools to one long-term care home resident. help you get started.48 LONG TERM CARE TODAY Fall/Winter 2021"