Concerned Friends: A Voice For Quality in Long-Term Care

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Concerned Friends: A Voice For Quality in Long-Term Care

Concerned Friends is dedicated to reform of the long-term care system and improvement of quality of life for residents.

Every year our volunteers assist hundreds of families looking for help in choosing a long-term care home, or in resolving a problem within a home. We answer calls from across Ontario on our toll-free line. Our website has lots of helpful information about how the system works. We bring problems to the attention of the Ontario Ministry of Long-term Care, and we partner with other organizations toward improving the lives of all long-term care residents. Since 1980 our work has been supported entirely by supporter donations. If you would like to learn more about us and support the work that we do, please visit our website at www.concernedfriends.ca

11/22/2025

November 22nd is Long Term Care Awareness Day in Ontario. Concerned Friends
honours the residents, families, and staff of Long-term Care Homes. Every day, these
homes see beautiful moments of care and respect. At the same time, we hope this day
highlights how we can work together to build an even-more accessible, caring and
inclusive system of care for our most vulnerable seniors.

On this special day, take a moment to learn more about long-term care in Ontario and
the advocacy efforts of Concerned Friends (www.concernedfriends.ca).

10/22/2025

We invite you to attend our Annual General Meeting being held

Thursday, November 6, 2026 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. via Zoom.

Share Your Ideas & Input: Help us continue Concerned Friends’ legacy and write our next chapter as an organization.

Join us for 3 discussion rounds as we gather input to guide and support our plans for 2026-2028.

Registration Details

Attendees must register in advance. After registering, you will receive an email with the Zoom log-in information. To register, go to: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/EqaE2oFsRWWfMSeBRomN6A

Note that only Members are able to vote during the meeting. If you are not already a member and would like to join, please visit: https://concernedfriends.ca/become-a-member/ to join as a member.

A full meeting package including the agenda, previous year’s AGM minutes, Financial Statement as of December 31, 2024, and the resolutions being put forward, will be provided at the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you at the AGM!

10/01/2025

Every year, on October 1, Canada celebrates National Seniors Day, an occasion to recognize and celebrate older adults.

Canadian seniors enrich and contribute to our families, workplaces and communities in countless ways, sharing their knowledge, experience and memories to ground and inspire us every day.

We celebrate the seniors at the helm of Concerned Friends and across our Concerned Friends community. We honour all older adults in our communities and especially those who are living in Long Term Care Homes across our province and country.

How are you celebrating National Seniors Day?

09/18/2025

Reframing Dementia: Challenging Stigma Through Film & Art is a double short film screening, art exhibit and catered reception on September 21, 2025 from 2-5pm at Betty Oliphant Theatre (404 Jarvis St, Toronto). Register for the event at
https://reframingdementia.eventbrite.ca/

This event is part of the Reimagining Dementia: A Creative Coalition for Justice’s “Taking It to the Streets” international grassroots campaign. Running from September 21-October 21, 2025, the campaign aims to shift the narrative about dementia from loss and decline, to hope and possibilities.

The Coalition is an international group that includes people living with dementia, carers/care partners, family , community members and allies who share a vision of care that promotes inclusion, relationships, creativity, joy and the possibility of growth for everyone. Founded in 2020, the Coalition has over 1,000+ members in 38 countries.

09/16/2025

Happy Residents Council Week!

We are excited to celebrate Ontario Association of Residents Councils and the wonderful week of events and activities. Residents Councils are key in ensuring the voices of those living in Long Term Care are amplified and heard. We are grateful for the work OARC does in supporting and connecting Residents Councils across the province.

Among this week's many events include: a Residents’ Council Success Panel on Wednesday, September 17 (2pm-3pm EST) and a Live Celebration and Concert with Musical Guest, Deidrey Francois
Friday, September 19 (2pm-3pm EST)

More details can be found at:https://www.ontarc.com/rcweek/2025OARCResidentsCouncilWeek_Schedule.pdf

06/16/2025

Concerned Friends has released their analysis of Ontario’s inspections of Long-Term Care Homes in 2024. Following a review of all Ministry Inspection Reports, the following critical issues emerged:

1. Proactive Compliance Inspections: There were 260 Proactive Compliance Inspections (PCIs) conducted out of approximately 600 Long Term Care Homes. This is an increase of 100 over 2023 but still falls short of the Ministry standard of one PCI per home per year. This is a serious shortcoming in Ontario’s commitment to accountability and quality and must be addressed. PCIs inspect homes for all of Ontario’s long term care standards, and are in addition to any focused inspection arising from a complaint or a critical incident.

2. District Variances: Comparing non-compliances with standards across districts, we found one outlier: the Central – East region had much higher than average numbers of non-compliances. This is a red flag that requires explanation. Was this a result of more thorough inspections or of worselong term care homes in that district? Does the Ministry
use Inspection data to identify priority areas for training or resources?

3. Critical Areas of Non-Compliance: Our review continued to identify three long-
standing and important areas of non-compliance: Abuse by staff, Neglect by
staff, and Inadequate Infection control measures. These areas are central to the
delivery of quality, safe care. How is the Ministry planning to improve these
issues for 2025 and beyond?

For over 40 years, volunteer-run registered charity Concerned Friends has been advocating for quality, safety, and dignity in Long-Term Care Homes. The full report on 2024 inspections of long term care homes can be found on our website:https://concernedfriends.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Summary-Report-LTC-Inspections-2024.pdf

02/06/2025

Surprise! February 27, 2025 is Election Day in Ontario. This provincial election is another important opportunity for us all to exercise our civic duty and use our voices to advocate for a better Long-Term Care system.

The Concerned Friends Policy and Advocacy Committee has updated our previous Election Toolkit to help embolden your conversations with local candidates and guide your choice.

Now is the time to stress that action on long-term care is a priority. Grab our new Candidate Questions resource or the expanded Election Toolkit on the Concerned Friends website at: https://concernedfriends.ca/2025/02/making-ltc-a-priority-in-this-2025-ontario-election/

And don’t forget to vote!

02/04/2025

Concerned Friends started off 2025 with a submission to Ontario’s Pre-Budget

Consultation. This annual event is an opportunity to have input into provincial spending priorities.

This year, our submission emphasized the need for improved investments in:

> a robust continuum of care

> evidence-based models of care like small community-based homes and service hubs

> improved accountability (since we are still not seeing annual proactive inspections of every Long-Term Care Home).

> strategies that improve quality and safety for residents and more competitive working conditions for staff.

Please check out our full submission at https://concernedfriends.ca/2025/02/ontario-pre-budget-submission-2025/

01/01/2025

To all supporters, advocates, members, community partners and especially residents and families of those in Long Term Care - we wish you a 2025 filled with optimism, health and joy. Happy New Year!

12/26/2024

Membership in Concerned Friends allows you:

- To be part of a dynamic community, committed to improving long-term care in Ontario.
- To be the first to hear about news stories, legislation and much more non-partisan information on all aspects of LTC
- To allow Concerned Friends to keep our 40 year history of advocacy and support going strong.
- To leverage the momentum and focus that was brought to our most vulnerable sector by the pandemic.
- To support the relationships that we have cultivated to be able to share insights and solutions with government.

Concerned Friends relies solely on membership fees and donations. Join us now: https://concernedfriends.ca/become-a-member/

Are you already a member? Renew today via the link above.

12/24/2024

The end of the year brings no greater joy than the opportunity to express how grateful Concerned Friends is for our supporters, volunteers, partners, and community. Happy holidays to all!

*Our offices will be closed for the duration of the holidays. See you in 2025!

12/23/2024

Wow what a banner year! The board of directors of Concerned Friends has been extraordinarily busy in 2024.

This year:
- We participated in the 2024 Ontario Budget Public Consultation - advising the government on priorities for further investment and ways to improve quality, safety and access in LTC. We shared our key messages with the public and our members, facilitating their participation in the process.
- We held meetings with the Ministry of LTC including with the Directors of the Inspections Branch, Operations Branch and Policy Branch. We shared our perspective on key policies and operational issues.
- We spoke with various media outlets and submitted Letters to the Editor about emerging issues including the lack of proactive inspections of LTC homes. We used social media to share individual stories that highlight how urgent action is needed to fix long-term care.
- We championed best practices by urging Ontario to expand access to not-for-profit and municipal LTCHs. We advocated for smaller, community-based homes that adopt best practices.
- We hosted our 44th Annual General Meeting and invited Alex Spanko from the Center for Innovation to present on “Small Homes, Big Ideas: Building a Full Continuum of Care for the Future”.
- We coordinated and hosted two well-attended public education webinars on the topics of "Models of Care in LTC” with Aria Willis and “Transforming Senior Care to Become Inclusive, Resilient & Connected” with Kim Samuel of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness.
- We bolstered our capacity as a working board and volunteer-run organization by participating in informative board development and education sessions to support our leadership and volunteers.
- We reached out to and engaged over 70 members and received 100 donations raising over $5,500. (Thank you all!)

The Board is excited to embark on a strategic planning process in 2025 and continue our important work to improve the quality of Long Term Care in Ontario.

Address

130 Merton Street
Toronto, ON
M4S1A1

Website

http://www.concernedfriends.ca/

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