TREC - Translating Research in Elder Care

07/24/2026

New TREC research!

Association of compassion fatigue and work context with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among care aides in nursing homes

This study examined the associations of compassion fatigue and unit-level work environment with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among nursing home care aides, a workforce providing essential care yet understudied for mental health risks, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

What we found:
None of the seven elements of the unit-level working environment showed a statistically significant association with PTSD symptoms. Compassion fatigue was significantly associated with PTSD symptoms among nursing home care aides, while unit‑level work environment did not show statistically significant associations, though these null findings should be interpreted with caution.

During systemic crises such as the pandemic, interventions targeting compassion fatigue at the individual level may offer more immediate benefit than broader environmental modifications for this vulnerable frontline workforce.

Read more:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/410136206_Association_of_compassion_fatigue_and_work_context_with_post-traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_among_care_aides_in_nursing_homes

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07/24/2026

New TREC Research!

Clinical, social, and home-level factors associated with the quality of life of residents living with in : a cross-sectional, multi-province study

Quality of life (QoL) is a central priority in dementia care, yet most nursing homes (NHs) in Canada rely on clinical indicators that do not capture the emotional and social dimensions of residents’ well-being. Little is known about how clinical, social, and NH factors jointly shape QoL for residents living with dementia. This study examined the associations of resident social characteristics, clinical conditions, and NH factors with resident QoL.

What we found:
QoL in Canadian NHs appears to be shaped primarily by resident clinical conditions and facility environments rather than individual social characteristics.

Interventions that address mental health, behavioural symptoms, and environmental stressors may yield the greatest improvements in resident well-being.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12955-026-02539-3

Background Quality of life (QoL) is a central priority in dementia care, yet most nursing homes (NHs) in Canada rely on clinical indicators that do not capture the emotional and social dimensions of residents’ well-being. Little is known about how clinical, social, and NH factors jointly shape QoL...

07/22/2026

Meet more of the TREC team:

Oswin Fernandes joined TREC in June 2026. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology (Honours) from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is a Research Assistant with TREC, contributing to the trauma-informed care projects that support health care aides.

Welcome, Oswin!

07/22/2026

More TREC Research!

Association of long-term care organizational context, facilitation, and their interactions with resident pain: a cross-sectional study

Highlights

•Pain is common in long-term care (LTC) home residents.

•Higher proportion of care aides suggesting improvements linked to low resident pain.

•LTC Context and facilitation interact dynamically to influence resident pain.

•In low social capital units, higher manager citizenship behaviour linked to less pain.

•In low informal interaction units, higher care hours linked to less pain.

We examined whether organizational context (work environment), facilitation (support for evidence-based practices), and their interaction are associated with pain among long-term care (LTC) home residents.

We found that encouraging care aides to suggest improvements may help reduce resident pain. Tailored interventions, such as boosting manager organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in units with low social capital and increasing care hours where informal interaction is low, may help address resident pain in LTC homes.

Read more:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197457226003034

07/22/2026

🚨 Nouveau rapport : « Expériences des femmes aînées au Canada : résultats de l’enquête 2025 de l’INV sur le vieillissement au Canada »

Au Canada, les femmes vivent plus longtemps que les hommes, mais beaucoup d’entre elles vieillissent dans un contexte de plus grande précarité financière, de solitude et d’âgisme.

Aujourd’hui, l’INV en partenariat avec International Longevity Centre Canada et avec le soutien de Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada, publie le rapport intitulé « Expériences des femmes aînées au Canada : résultats de l’enquête 2025 de l’INV sur le vieillissement au Canada ». C’est le premier volet d’une série de trois rapports de recherche examinant comment le genre façonne l’expérience du vieillissement au Canada.

Les résultats révèlent que les femmes aînées, en particulier celles qui disposent de revenus insuffisants et celles qui sont racisées, se heurtent à des obstacles en matière de sécurité financière, de participation sociale et d’accès aux soins de santé.

Le Canada étant désormais une société « super-vieillissante », des politiques ciblées sont nécessaires pour garantir que toutes les personnes âgées puissent vieillir en toute sérénité.

L'enquête 2025 de l’INV « Perspectives sur le vieillissement au Canada » est une étude représentative à l'échelle nationale qui rend compte des expériences et des points de vue des Canadiennes et Canadiens âgés de 50 ans et plus. Elle a été menée avec le soutien de Manuvie et du Waltons Trust.

📊 Lire le rapport : https://niageing.ca/reports/experiences-des-femmes-ainees-au-canada-resultats-de-lenquete-2025-de-linv-sur-le-vieillissement-au-canada/

07/22/2026

🤝 Social Network Strength

Loneliness is a growing public health concern—and older women are disproportionately affected.

In a new report, Experiences of Older Women in Canada: Findings from the NIA's 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey, 61% of older women reported experiencing loneliness, compared to 54% of men.

Compared to older women with adequate income, older women with inadequate incomes were even more likely to experience:
• Social isolation (37% vs 53%)
• Loneliness (55% vs 76%)

Strong social connections are essential for healthy ageing.

📊 Read the report: https://niageing.ca/reports/experiences-of-older-women-in-canada-findings-from-the-nias-2025-ageing-in-canada-survey/

This report was released in partnership with International Longevity Centre Canada with funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). Funding for the 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey was provided by Manulife and Waltons Trust.

07/22/2026

🤝 Force du réseau social

La solitude constitue un problème de santé publique de plus en plus préoccupant, et les femmes aînées sont touchées de manière disproportionnée.

Dans un nouveau rapport intitulé « Expériences des femmes aînées au Canada : résultats de l'enquête 2025 de l’INV sur le vieillissement au Canada », 61 % des femmes aînées ont déclaré souffrir de solitude, contre 54 % des hommes.

Les femmes disposant de revenus insuffisants étaient encore plus susceptibles de souffrir :
• d’isolement social (53 % contre 37 %)
• de solitude (76 % contre 55 %)

Des liens sociaux solides sont essentiels pour vieillir en bonne santé.

📊 Lire le rapport : https://niageing.ca/reports/experiences-des-femmes-ainees-au-canada-resultats-de-lenquete-2025-de-linv-sur-le-vieillissement-au-canada/

Le présent rapport a été publié en partenariat avec le Centre international sur la longévité du Canada International Longevity Centre Canada, grâce à un financement de Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada. L’enquête « Perspective sur le vieillissement au Canada en 2025 » a été financée par Manuvie et Waltons Trust.

07/22/2026

🚨 New Report: Experiences of Older Women in Canada: Findings from the NIA's 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey

Women in Canada are living longer than men—but many are ageing with greater financial insecurity, loneliness and exposure to ageism.

Today, the NIA, in partnership with International Longevity Centre Canada and with support from Women and Gender Equality Canada, released Experiences of Older Women in Canada: Findings from the NIA's 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey. This is the first report in a three-part research series examining how gender shapes the experience of ageing in Canada.

The findings reveal that older women, particularly those with inadequate incomes and those who are racialized, face barriers to financial security, social participation and health care access.

As Canada is now a super-aged society, targeted policies are needed to ensure all older adults can age with confidence.

The 2025 Ageing in Canada Survey is a nationally representative study capturing the experiences and perspectives of Canadians aged 50+, conducted with support from Manulife and Waltons Trust.

📊 Read the report: https://niageing.ca/reports/experiences-of-older-women-in-canada-findings-from-the-nias-2025-ageing-in-canada-survey/

07/17/2026

New TREC Research!

“We feel like we don’t matter”: the work experience of caring for long-term care residents with suspected trauma-related responsive behaviors

There is increasing awareness that many long-term care (LTC) residents may have experienced trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetimes, conditions that can be comorbid with dementia and/or complex mental health conditions.

In Canada, health care aides provide the vast majority of direct care to such residents. This qualitative study explored their experiences working with residents whose responsive behaviors may indicate past trauma or PTSD.

In Fall 2024, we conducted open-ended interviews with 24 care aides from 6 urban LTC homes in Alberta, Canada. Initial interview topics built on insights from 13 separate interviews conducted in 2023.

We identified 3 overarching themes in their experiences: (1) care aides regularly suspected some responsive behaviors to be trauma-related but seldom named these as such; (2) their strategies for managing these behaviors and providing personalized care involved adapting existing skills and innovating new ones; and (3) resident care connected to possible past trauma was complex and compounded current workplace challenges and struggles.

Conclusions:
Two improvements could help care aides working with residents with suspected trauma backgrounds: greater understanding of trauma and knowledge of trauma terminology, and use of a trauma-informed care framework. Such changes would likely improve resident quality of life by helping care aides better differentiate responsive behaviors, deliver targeted and individualized care, and avoid resident retraumatization.

Implementation of trauma-informed care, however, needs to build on existing care aide expertise to facilitate uptake and ensure sustainability.

Read more:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12913-026-14785-8

Background There is increasing awareness that many long-term care (LTC) residents may have experienced trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetimes, conditions that can be comorbid with dementia and/or complex mental health conditions. In Canada, health care aides provide the v...

07/17/2026

Meet more of TREC's team!

Simranjeet Kaur Thind joined TREC as the Project Coordinator for the Manager Project. Simranjeet brings over five years of dedicated continuing care leadership experience across long-term care, supportive living, assisted living, and adult day programs.

She hold an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Master of Health Administration focusing on community care from Toronto Metropolitan University.

With a strong background in project leadership and quality improvement, she have managed operations for large-scale senior care programs and successfully spearheaded full digital electronic health record (EHR/EMR) system implementations.

Driven by innovation, Simranjeet is highly enthusiastic about utilizing research and innovative strategies to enhance aging-in-place and elevate the quality of life for older adults.