Halifax university offers online course on how to navigate continuing care

Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax is offering a course on navigating the complex field of how to access continuing care.

The course is designed to give those who need either home care or long-term care — for themselves or a loved-one — a crash course on how the public system works. The course was designed and will be delivered by Susan Stevens who's worked in continuing care in Nova Scotia for 27 years in a variety of roles and has offered support to thousands of families.

"When you need care and support, that can be some of the most difficult times in your life and it can be overwhelming to sort out where to go and how to get the help that you need," said Stevens, who is also an adjunct professor at MSVU in the department of family studies and gerontology.

The online course will consist of three main components. The first part is a survey of continuing care options the province provides, whether that's home care or long-term care.

Part two gets more practical and will help answer questions like: How do I get into the system? How do I get a referral for myself or someone else? How do I prepare for an interview with a care coordinator.

The third part of the program is about advocacy and how to find a solution in cases where home care or long-term care isn't meeting the client's needs.  

"I would encourage people to think about taking the course because it will give them really good information that will save them some time and effort," Stevens says.

Stevens says she designed the $125 course with home-care clients in mind but she says it might also be useful for health care workers.

"It may be of interest to professionals that are working in continuing care — or in and around continuing care. And we have a lot of new health-care workers who have come from other countries into our province and it may be of interest to them."

Steven says throughout her career in continuing care she was always amazed at how little those who need the service actually know about it. Things as basic as the number to call to get a referral.

"So there's a lot of misinformation out there and I think sometimes what happens is you don't ... necessarily look for the information until you need it."

But why is Mount St. Vincent providing paid education and orientation about a publicly operated service?

"Well, I would say we're working on finding some funds so that we can reduce the cost for more people in the future because I think it's a program that many, many people will benefit from and we don't want to have a financial barrier."

Susan Trenholm, dean of professional and graduate studies at Mount St. Vincent University, says her school was uniquely positioned to offer the course.

"We have the Nova Scotia Centre for Aging here, we have a body of very respected researchers in the field and teachers in the field, so it was a very natural fit for the university to step in and fill that gap."

The 10-hour course is a mix of live online instruction as well as pre-recorded sessions. Stevens says there is no limit on capacity. The deadline to sign up is Oct. 16 and the course begins Oct. 17.

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