BABEL ACP: Person-centered advance care planning in long-term care homes
We all age differently. Many older adults remain independent while others begin to live with frailty, experiencing more and more health issues, progressive disability, complications of care and premature death. Evidence suggests that multifaceted interventions can improve outcomes for older adults living with frailty. However, implementation of effective system wide interventions has been limited by inefficient targeting of “at-risk” patients, healthcare system fragmentation and a lack of information on patient needs and preferences.
The BABEL ACP intervention improves the comprehensive of Advance Care Planning conversations for LTC residents and reduced antibiotic use at the end of life.
George Heckman, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) is the Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine and Associate Professor in the Department of Health Studies and Gerontology at the University of Waterloo, and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering Physics from Laval University and his Masters of Mathematics (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo before beginning his medical training. He obtained his MD and completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Toronto before completing a Geriatric Medicine residence and MSc in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. Dr. Heckman’s primary research interests include management of heart failure in long term care and other frail seniors, primary care management of dementia, home care safety and vascular aging. He is also the lead Geriatrician for the Waterloo Wellington LHIN. His work with the LHIN involves collecting an inventory of services and identifying barriers to seniors’ care. He is an acknowledged expert in the field of frailty assessment and the InterRAI.