For healthy aging, there’s no place like home

Health And Wellness Society and Culture

For healthy aging, there’s no place like home

Nursing researcher investigates which home care supports older people need most to delay their entry into long-term care.

Gillian Rutherford - 4 March 2025

Canadians say they will do almost anything to avoid going into long-term care. And it’s no wonder we’re fearful: Our country saw the highest death rate from COVID-19 in nursing homes of any country in the world during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of older adults in Canada is expected to increase by 68 per cent over the next 20 years. One in five ��ϲ��ns will be 65 or older by 2046.

wants to be sure those people are supported to safely stay in their homes for as long as possible. The ��ϲ�� assistant professor of nursing recently won three awards from the (CIHR) to study how home care services can help seniors live independently and delay their entry into continuing care facilities.

“My work focuses on investigating how we can support people to stay at home longer because that is the expressed desire of most individuals,” Tate says. “I also think there’s a big need for changing residential care so it’s not a place people fear going, because some people will need that level of care.”

Staying safely at home

Tate received $569,926 over three years to investigate which home care tasks make the difference in keeping older people at home. She will analyze health records and interview older people and their caregivers. The study will build on Tate’s , which showed weekly home care visits help delay the need for a move to an institution.

“Having one day a week of home health-care aide services reduces your risk of transition over time, but we don’t know what service activities are actually being done during that period,” Tate explains.

Previous work suggests that providing early physical therapy and socialization are areas to investigate further, Tate says, but home health care aide tasks such as supporting ambulation, medication assistance, diabetes management or bathing need to be explored as well.

Tate is working with several other experts on aging from the Faculty of Nursing, including , and as co-principal investigators.

Providing culturally appropriate care

Tate received $527,850 over three years for a second project that will explore the perspectives of Métis people in ��ϲ�� on care needs as they age.

Tate is teaming up with the (MNA) to ensure the research is done “by community, for community.” Her co-principal investigators include U of A assistant professor , as well as clinical associate professor , who is health director for MNA.

“All the co-principal applicants are Métis settler women,” explains Tate. “We’re going to host gatherings and ask Métis ��ϲ��ns what they need to stay at home longer.”

When Tate’s grandmother developed symptoms of dementia and moved from her own home into a continuing care facility, she reacted with fear, Tate recalls.

Tate said some of the care her grandmother received was limited by staff shortages.

“They have 15 minutes to get people ready for the day. It takes me more time to get myself ready in the morning, and I don’t struggle brushing my teeth or dressing because I have dementia,” Tate states. “That’s just the reality of long-term care in our province.”

Tate hopes that by working collaboratively with the Métis community, she can fill a huge knowledge gap. Among the more than 200 studies published on the transition from home to continuing care, just one was done with Indigenous Peoples, and that was from the United States in the 1990s.

“I think that’s alarming given the history we have with institutionalization of Indigenous Peoples,” says Tate. “There is an identified need for Métis seniors to receive culturally responsive care and to have support for their caregivers.”

Aging with dignity

Tate grew up on a beef cattle farm south of Edmonton and began her university career in engineering, but she switched to nursing after one year. Even as an honors undergraduate, she found she loved the opportunity to do research.

After working as a registered nurse in rural emergency, psychiatry, long-term and home care, she returned to the U of A to do first her master's and then her doctorate. While doing her PhD she won a from CIHR which allowed her to provide policy advice to . She joined the U of A faculty as an assistant professor in 2022.

Tate received an extra $25,000 from CIHR in recognition of the importance of her work. She currently supervises 14 student trainees, including PhD candidates, master’s students and honors undergrads, but she expects that number will grow over the next three years, thanks to the new CIHR funding.

She intends to keep her research program focused on making sure ��ϲ��ns have access to responsive care as they age.

“This is really important work. I care a lot about my family members who might need to go to long-term care or need more care in the community at home, and I also selfishly care about myself,” she says. “I feel like there’s an injustice going on for older adults not being able to age with the dignity we all hope for.”

Tate’s projects are two of 28 ��ϲ�� projects from eight faculties that received nearly $20 million in the latest round of funding from CIHR.

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