The Provincial Geriatric Leadership Office (PGLO) is an entity that has arisen out of the prior work of the Regional Geriatric Programs of Ontario (RGPO). In February 2018, the RGPO submitted a business case to the Ministry of Health to create a funded office to support the field of specialized geriatrics.
The PGLO has a broader focus than its founder, the RGPO, and is intended to coordinate perspectives across clinical geriatric services (Care of the Elderly, Geriatric Medicine, Geriatric Psychiatry and Interprofessional Geriatric Teams). The interim leadership team includes two co-medical directors, one each nominated from the fields of Geriatric Psychiatry and Geriatric Medicine. There are also two interim co-executive directors, one from the north and one from southern Ontario, nominated from regional specialized geriatric services.
The emerging mandate of the PGLO, and the collective it represents, is to
- Serve in an advisory role to the ministry policy and priorities pertinent to specialized geriatric services and complex, frail senior care;
- Develop and advance capacity building, education, knowledge exchange, and innovative best practices relating to clinical and service delivery aspects concerning specialized geriatric services across geriatric specialties and primary care; and
- Develop, implement and begin monitoring a standardized outcome-based performance measurement and evaluation framework.
In November 2019, the PGLO created an interim infrastructure, including provincial leaders in geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry, care of the elderly primary care and interprofessional practice, to move forward with planning for an inclusive governance structure that would support the achievement of common deliverables pertinent across the broad spectrum of older adult specialized care.
2018/19 Deliverables of the PGLO included:
- Supporting the development of the Caregiving Strategies resources
- Initiation of the SGS Asset Mapping project
- Advancement of the sfCare Learning Series
- Supporting the development of an Older Adult Experience survey
- Promoting the ongoing implementation of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Toolkit
Broad consultation is planned for February 2019. To get engaged and help to shape the PGLO and the future of geriatric services in Ontario, contact Kelly Kay, Interim Co-Executive Director at kkay@nhh.ca.