On Thursday, October 9, 2025, representatives from educational institutions and long-term care (LTC) homes across the province of Ontario gathered at The Chelsea Hotel in Toronto for the “Living Classroom Journey—What We’ve Learned and Where We’re Going” program partners’ Think Tank. The event, hosted by the combined Living Classroom program team from the RIA, CLRI, and CESBA, was a collaborative forum dedicated to sharing successes, exploring ways to navigate challenges, and connecting with others involved in the innovative Living Classroom (LC) program across the province.
The day’s presentations highlighted the program’s demonstrable success in building cohorts of confident and more fully integrated Personal Support Workers (PSWs) and provided partners with practical strategies for program innovation, sustainability, and engagement.
Measuring Success and Building Confidence
The morning kicked off with D’Arcy Kirkwood, Evaluation Manager, presenting “Measuring What Matters: Evaluating the Living Classroom Experience.” The data points presented were encouraging for both educational and LTC partners:
- Student Confidence is High: Research shows that students feel confident in their skills, directly attributing this to the integrated learning model and the strong sense of community gained from being embedded in the home.
- Recruitment and Retention Impact: The program has proven its effectiveness as a recruitment tool, with the desire to work in LTCs increasing significantly from the beginning of a cohort to graduation. Graduation rates also reflect the positive impact of students feeling integrated and supported by LTC staff and residents.
Deepening Student Integration and Empathy
Following the evaluation discussion, Tammy Cantin, LC Coordinator, led the “Let’s Talk Integration!” session, emphasizing the critical role of early and continuous integration of students and their learning into the LTC setting.
Key takeaways focused on the profound impact of this robust integration:
- It significantly enhances the development of communication and empathy skills.
- It fosters increased self-confidence and supports the development of a clear professional identity among future PSWs.
- The interactive portion encouraged partners to share their most successful integration activities, stressing that the sustainability of the Living Classroom depends on active partner participation and the continuous evaluation of benefits and impacts.
Embracing Innovation Across the Network
Carolyn Triemstra, LC Project Lead, then presented “Innovative Approaches to Living Classroom Delivery,” showcasing partnerships with unique and tailored formats of the LC model, presented by representatives from three thought-provoking collaborations:
- A speaker from Niagara Ina Grafton Gage Village discussed their enhanced Preceptor training through their Mentorship Program, ensuring high-quality education delivered by current LTC staff. This mentorship provides a path for staff to be actively involved in educating the next generation of top performers.
- A speaker from Collège Boréal discussed their support of PSW education in Francophone and rural regions, successfully connecting LTC homes and students within their communities. These efforts ensure culturally and geographically relevant care training and local workforce development.
- A speaker from a Tri-Partner Indigenous LC illustrated their three-pronged collaborative model, which serves rural Indigenous communities, with a focus on delivering culturally sensitive care. This example further demonstrates the dynamic adaptability of LC models to serve diverse and specific populations of older adults.
The audience was encouraged to learn from each other’s unique practices and keep this adaptability in mind for future operations and sustainability.
Sharing the Story and Planning for the Future
The afternoon sessions focused on leveraging the program’s success and securing its future:
“Voices of the Living Classroom”: A powerful session led by Anita Plunkett, CESBA PSW Program Lead, featured a pre-recorded testimonial from Alice, a LTC home resident, followed by a lively panel discussion with representatives from education, LTC, an instructor, and a program graduate. The panel provided a crucial, multi-perspective view of the LC’s day-to-day impact on partners, staff, students, and LTC residents.
“Share Your Story: A Media Relations Guide”: Patty Attwell, Communications Manager, provided practical guidance on attracting favourable media coverage. Partners learned how to identify newsworthy stories and establish themselves as thought leaders, as well as how to craft a persuasive media pitch to raise public awareness of this Ontario government-funded program and boost recruitment of students, staff, and LTC clients. A complete Media Guide was made available to partners after the event.
“Making a Difference: Sustainability Resources”: a presentation by Hilda Smith, Knowledge Mobilization Manager, and Angela Butt, Outreach Coordinator, emphasized that sustainability of a successful LC is a continuous process of quality improvement, not an afterthought. They encouraged partners to create a “Tiny Plan” to focus on the four core elements of a sustainable LC: Program Goals, Curriculum, Partnerships, and Financials. Additional resources were made available after the event for partners to use in developing their specific sustainability plans.
The Final Takeaways
Ultimately, the Think Tank reinforced the Living Classroom program as a highly effective model and celebrated the amazing partnerships that fuel diverse, innovative LCs across the province. The event day brought together education partners, LTC partners, and the teams that support them. It provided this pioneering group of people involved in creating Living Classrooms with an opportunity to recognize their collective impact on improving the future of a skilled PSW workforce and, therefore, the experience of older adults in long-term care.
The Living Classroom program is funded by the Government of Ontario and led by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) through the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (Ontario CLRI), in partnership with the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA).
Below are some photos from the event…
The event was hosted by the combined Living Classroom program team from the RIA, CLRI, and CESBA.