Canada's Taking It Slow On Reopening Its Border To Travelers From The U.S. Here's Why

By: Emma Jacobs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated last week that vaccinated travelers will be admitted before those who are not vaccinated, but the government has said a full reopening could require 75% of Canadians — or more than 85% of the eligible population — to be fully vaccinated.

"The goal that has been set is extremely high," says Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow and Geriatrician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. "We hope we get there, but we may never actually get there."

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Advocates pen letter to Mayor Tory, urging him to find 'a better way' to deal with unhoused people

By: Muriel Draaisma

Homeless advocates are calling on Mayor John Tory to end the use of force against encampments in city parks and to adopt a more compassionate approach when dealing with unhoused people in Toronto.

Those who have signed the letter include more than 60 organizations. Physicians, including Dr. Andrew Boozary, Dr. Adriana Di Stefano, Dr. Naheed Dosani and Dr. Nathan Stall (NIA Associate Fellow), have also signed the letter.

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National Institute on Ageing Launches Free Online Calculator to Assess People’s COVID-19 Risk When Gathering with Others

As Canada takes steps to safely reopen, a new online tool developed by Ryerson University’s National Institute on Ageing (NIA) at the Ted Rogers School of Management can help individuals and families to quickly assess their risk of getting COVID-19 when meeting or gathering with others.

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Family demands changes to nursing home regulations after senior served 'eviction notice'

By: Harry Forestell

Pauline Breen, 83, was given 15 days to find new accommodation after her family questioned treatment.

"I've never heard that in all my years of practice in Ontario or anywhere else in Canada," said Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research. "The fear that if you are the squeaky wheel, for example, that you are going to suffer the consequences by getting worse care or be asked to leave.​​​​​​" says Sinha.

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Hurdles to pulling seniors out of long-term care during pandemic

Many Canadians have pulled their loved ones out of long-term care homes due to the pandemic’s devastating impact on those facilities. But what if those seniors need to return to nursing homes? As Mike Drolet explains, there can be complications.

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Our senior citizens deserve better care

By: Mary Teresa Bitti

Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Policy Research and leader in geriatric care, recommends better staffing, upgraded facilities and a comprehensive inspections and compliance process to improve long-term care in Canada.

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"We could still go a bit further": Ontario long-term care homes see loosened restrictions starting today

"Not a lot of people understood how poorly funded and supported our LTC system was, and I think a lot of Canadians have now had to face that. Now that people are well aware, it's hard for people to look away" said Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research on The Morning Show with Greg Brady.

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Choosing care at home instead of a care home: B.C. senior opts to move in with family

"A lot of people have lost faith in our LTC system and its ability to keep people safe, especially during a pandemic. I have heard stories from many families who pulled their loved ones out of care," NIA Director of Health Policy Research, Dr. Samir Sinha.

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Three LTC residents on Ontario have died in recent weeks connected to COVID-19

"We know that in homes where we don't have robust staff vaccination rates, that is always going to put residents at increased risk of experiencing outbreak. But the good news is, with the delta variant, the existing vaccines are incredibly effective," NIA Director of Health Policy Research, Dr. Samir Sinha.

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Resident dies from COVID-19 at Burlington's Tansley Woods LTC home

The death of a person living at a Burlington long-term care home facing an outbreak of COVID-19's Delta variant is leading to questions about the facility's staff vaccination rate.

Dr. Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Toronto's Sinai Health, says the fact that most residents have mild symptoms shows the efficacy of the vaccines, even against Delta. "COVID-19 vaccines do not guarantee someone will not get infected," but they greatly reduce the likelihood of serious illness or death, he told CBC Toronto on Tuesday.

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Air conditioning in long-term care

In May, the Minister of Long-term Care said at least 83% of long-term care homes will have full air conditioning by the summer. But according to a spokesperson within the long-term care Ministry, the target deadline is now the end of summer. Geriatrician and NIA Associate Fellow Nathan Stall says that's problematic. "The lack of clarity around the timeline is not particularly helpful" says Stall.

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By the numbers: A look at COVID-19 in First Nations communities in western Canada

By: Dayne Patterson

Many First Nations across the country used checkpoints and lockdowns to keep the novel coronavirus out of their communities as cases spiked elsewhere. “In other Canadians, COVID has affected older populations and we have much younger populations with fewer older people—and also our infections have tended to be in younger people who experience mild illness, compared to other Canadians,” Adams said.

In Manitoba, deaths in long-term care homes make up more than 40 per cent of Manitoba’s COVID-19 fatalities, according to government data and long-term care data from the National Institute on Ageing which has been tracking COVID-19 in care homes.

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Vaccinating homebound individuals to address remaining vaccine gap

Nearly 80% of adults in Toronto have received at least one dose. But that is leaving a fairly large chunk of people without any protection against COVID-19. Dr. Nathan Stall, NIA Associate Fellow is going door to door vaccinating homebound people and others who are not getting vaccinated. "The last 25% are going to be the most difficult to reach. It's going to require I think, more efforts like this" says Stall.

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Vaccines effective despite COVID outbreak of 16 cases at Burlington LTC home, epidemiologist says

By Jacob Lorinc

A COVID-19 outbreak at a Burlington long-term care home is far less concerning now than it would have been a few months ago, before most residents were fully vaccinated, experts say.

While still being investigated by Halton Public Health, the variant would likely have been spread by people without full vaccinations, whether they be staff, residents or outside visitors, said Nathan Stall, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.

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Health Matters: Calculating your gathering risk & staying hydrated in the heat

When it comes to visiting, individual risk will vary and a new online calculator by the National Institute on Ageing can help you make informed decisions.

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Establishing 'elder abuse' criteria will help the government to design programs and policies to protect seniors

Earlier this week the Minister of Seniors, Deb Schulte, announced that they would launch consultations on the term 'elder abuse.'

Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA's Director of Health Policy Research talks to CBC Radio's Julianne Hazlewood about how establishing criteria will help the government to design programs and policies to protect seniors.

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New tool for assessment COVID-19 gathering risks

"I think right now everyone just wants a black or white response. But as we all know now, when we're thinking about getting together with others, all these different factors begin coming into play. We developed a decision aid last December, and now we've developed a shorter risk calculator available for anyone interested in calculating their risk. Most importantly, it gives you education. It gives you all the latest knowledge so that you can make that visit more safe with others."

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Risk assessment for the pandemic’s late stages

A three-minute online risk assessment exercise is now available to help users gauge their risk of exposure to COVID-19 at private or public gatherings. The Toronto-based National Institute on Ageing developed the freely available tool in consultation with health and epidemiological specialists and with the financial support of the Canadian government.

“Throughout the pandemic, people across Canada have been trying their best to understand how to safely visit and gather with others when allowed to do so,” observes Michael Nicin, executive director of the National Institute of Ageing, which operates from Ryerson University.

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Canada’s COVID-19 death toll could be thousands higher than official count: report

By: Leslie Young

In a new report published Tuesday by the Royal Society of Canada, researchers estimate that between Feb. 1 and Nov. 28, 2020, around 6,000 deaths of people aged 45 and older caused directly by COVID-19 have gone uncounted in the official statistics. In total, around two-thirds of COVID-19’s real death toll may have been missed, the report suggests.

Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research says “We’re talking about thousands and thousands of Canadians who silently died,” he said. “And their loved ones probably think they died because they might have had a heart attack or they might have had a stroke or they might have had a fall, for example. But unbeknown to them is, their loved one did die of COVID-19.”

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Canada's real death toll from COVID-19 may far exceed official tally: report

By: Avis Favaro, Elizabeth St. Philip and Alexandra Mae Jones

Dr. Samir Sinha, NIA Director of Health Policy Research, published a case report early on in the pandemic detailing a woman who presented atypically, and then was diagnosed with COVID-19 two days later.

“We probably lost a lot of deaths being reported from COVID-19 because there just wasn't any thought to actually investigate those deaths, even in a post-mortem way, just to actually do a test and say, ‘Was COVID a factor?’” he told CTV News.

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