Virtual Learning Sessions

Virtual learning sessions are held over Zoom.

In-Person Workshops

In-person workshops where participants can practice hands-on skills, and learn from one another.

Online Learning Modules

Created with the community healthcare sector in mind.

Did you know...

All of the workshops below are available at no/low cost to eligible organizations. You can request to book any of the sessions below by clicking the "book a workshop button."

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)

Two 7 hours Sessions

This course explores how to recognize when someone may be thinking about suicide.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Parkinson’s Disease at an introductory level.                                                                                                                       Topics will include:

• How to provide a skilled intervention
• The key elements of an effective suicide safety plan
• The actions required to implement a safety plan
• How to increase your willingness, confidence, and capacity to provide suicide first aid

Chronic Disease: Diabetes

3 hours

This course explores diabetes management at an introductory level.

Topics will include:

• The impact of diabetes on the individual, their family and workplace
• The physiological changes that occur with diabetes and complications
• The mental, physical, and social impact of living with diabetes
• How the community worker can support client’s self-management efforts (e.g. nutrition, blood sugar monitoring and use of medications)
• Health complications

Chronic Disease: Heart Failure and Stroke 

3 hours

This course explores stroke and heart failure at an introductory level.

Topics will include:

• The difference between acute and chronic disease
• The physiological changes that occur with each chronic disease
• How to identify and respond to changes in client's condition
• How the community worker can support client's self-management efforts

Chronic Disease:

COPD & Parkinson’s

2 hours

This course explores Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Parkinson’s Disease at an introductory level.                                                                                                                                                                            Topics will include:

• The mental, physical, and social impacts of chronic disease
• The physiological changes that occur with COPD and PD
• Strategies to assist clients with daily living
• How the community worker can support client’s self-management efforts, maximize their health and promote independence

Chronic Disease: Diabetes

3 hours

This course explores diabetes management at an introductory level.

Topics will include:

• The impact of diabetes on the individual, their family and workplace
• The physiological changes that occur with diabetes and complications
• The mental, physical, and social impact of living with diabetes
• How the community worker can support client’s self-management efforts (e.g. nutrition, blood sugar monitoring and use of medications)
• Health complications

Chronic Disease: Heart Failure and Stroke 

3 hours

This course explores stroke and heart failure at an introductory level.

Topics will include:

• The difference between acute and chronic disease
• The physiological changes that occur with each chronic disease
• How to identify and respond to changes in client's condition
• How the community worker can support client's self-management efforts

Client Centered Care



3 Hours

This course explores the principles of person centered care.

Topics will include:

• The benefits of practicing person-centered care
• The community support worker’s role in a person centred environment
• How to develop care practices that support person centred work
• Communication strategies to support person centered care

Compassion Fatigue



Five 1 Hour Sessions

Compassion fatigue has been described as “the cost of caring” for others in emotional pain, which results in deep emotional and physical exhaustion. The work of helping requires health care professionals to open their hearts and minds to their clients, but it is this process which makes helpers vulnerable to being very affected by their work.

This course has been broken down into a 5-part series, with each being 1-hour in length.

Each week, we will explore facets of compassion fatigue, including strategies to cope.

Conflict Management for Staff

3 Hours

Conflict is inevitable. However, you can learn the skills to manage conflict to build better relationships. This course aims to provide community staff with tools and strategies to manage conflict in the community, the workplace or even at home.

Topics will include:

• Negative and positive outcomes of conflict
• Factors that contribute to conflict in the workplace
• Strategies and tips to prevent and manage conflict

Note: This course is not intended for participants wanting to learn how to deal with behavior in clients with mental illness or cognitive impairment.

Conflict Management for Supervisors

3 Hours

This course aims to provide community staff with tools and strategies to manage conflict in the community, the workplace or even at home.



Topics will include:

• Negative and positive outcomes of conflict
• Factors that contribute to conflict in the workplace
• Strategies and tips to prevent and manage conflict

Crisis Prevention Institute Verbal Intervention

4 Hours

Verbal Intervention trains staff to respond to crisis situations with a focus on de-escalation techniques to maximize safety and minimize harm. This training focuses on maintaining a hands-off approach to equip staff and supervisors with skills, confidence, and an effective framework to safely prevent and manage difficult behaviours. This course will build skills to promote care, welfare, safety, and security during interventions.

This training benefits all staff and supervisors by assisting them to enhance communication skills, build relationships, and minimize the risk of injury.

Topics will include:

• Use of the CPI Crisis Development Model SM to identify behaviours
• Strategies to de-escalate defensive behaviours
• Safety interventions to maximize safety and minimize harm

*This course is facilitated by Crisis Prevention Institute® certified instructors.

Cultural Mindfulness

Two 1.5 Hour Sessions ( 3 Hours)

This session is provided in partnership with Maximize Your Health.

Topics will include:

• Creating a shared understanding of cultural and culturally mindful care
• Understanding the pre, during and post new comer experience and settlement journey
• Exploring concepts of power & privilege that impact everyday interactions
• Promoting critical self-reflection to increase empathy and roll with resistance
• Exploring strategies for fostering inclusive organizational practice.

Documentation and Reporting

3 Hours

This course explores best practices for documentation and reporting.

Topic will include:

• Tips for clear, concise and client centred documentation
• Concepts of privacy and confidentiality as per the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)
• Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation (SBAR) process for reporting

Falls Prevention



1 Hour

This education module is an introduction to fall prevention, and is for staff providing personal care and other health professionals who want to begin to learn falls prevention and review the basics!

Topics will include:

• Why falls are important and why you should care
• Falls and health (BEEEACH model)
• Why people fall (risk factors)
• What YOU can do to reduce the risk of falls
• Resources for further information on falls prevention

Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) Basic

7 Hours

GPA Basics is an innovative dementia care education curriculum based on a person-centred care approach. Designed for interdisciplinary point of care staff across healthcare sectors, this session is evidence-based, interactive and practical. GPA Certified Coaches guide participants to fully understand responsive behaviours in order to be able to respond effectively and appropriately. GPA Basics includes respectful self-protective and gentle redirection techniques for use in situations of risk.



This session is delivered by two GPA Certified Coaches.

Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA-R) Recharged

2 Hours

This refresher course will be delivered in a two hour virtual session. Designed as a refresher for participants who have completed GPA Basics (or the former Student Edition) within the prior two years. Delivered by a GPA Certified Coach, GPA-R enhances the skill set learned in GPA Basics, allowing participants to continue to provide compassionate, person-centred, and self-protective care in a workplace setting. What does a GPA-R session involve?

Topics will include:

• Review of key GPA Basics principles from all four modules
• Review of the SPEED model and the 8 A’s of dementia
• Review of personal space, triggers, and verbal redirection strategies
• Review of self-protective and gentle redirection physical techniques

Pre-Requisites and Notes:

• Completion of Full (7 hour) GPA Basics course within the last two years.
• Participants are recommended to take a GPA-Recharged refresher annually, up to three years.
• Three years after participating in GPA Basics, it is recommended that a participant repeat GPA Basics.

Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) 



3 Hours

During this virtual workshop participants will be introduced to/ increase familiarity with the concepts of health equity and the relationship between health equity, social determinants of health, and their impact on health.

Participants will also be able to understand the steps involved in conducting a HEIA and how to plan for successful implementation at an introductory level. Participants will begin to develop ideas on how to apply and modify the tool in their work.

Topics will include:

• The difference between equality and equity
• The uses of the HEIA
• The 5 steps of the HEIA process
• Resources to assist you with planning your HEIA

InterRAI CHA Caps, Care Planning & Updates



5 Half-Day Sessions

This comprehensive course will be split into 5 sessions as detailed below. Participants MUST attend all 5 sessions of the course in which they registered to receive a Certificate of Participation. All sessions will be held via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent to participants before the start of Session 1. Participants MUST have the use of a computer with a camera and audio to be able to fully participate in the sessions.

*Please note manuals will NOT be provided for this course. You must have both the CAPS manual and the CHA manual to attend

Introduction to Palliative Care

5 Week Series

This course explores the principles and philosophy of palliative care.

Topics will include:

• Self-assessment of values and beliefs of death and dying
• Communicating with clients and families who are living with a life-limiting illness
• The physical, psychological and spiritual changes associated with dying
• The support worker’s role in maximizing their clients’ comfort and quality of life

Medication Management

3.5 Hours

Mental Health First Aid - Older Adults

10 Hours

Mental Health First Aid Supporting Older Adults (Virtual) Learn how to recognize the signs that an older adult may be in crisis.

Topics will include:

• The Mental Health First Aid Action Plan
• Things that a first aider needs to know to help an older adult:

• The relationship between mental health problems and aging
• Signs of declining mental well-being and of crisis situations
• Helpful resources for older adults living with a mental health and/or substance use problem and the people who care for these individuals
• How to communicate effectively with older adults, including those from marginalized populations
• Roles and responsibilities of people who assist an older adult

PLEASE NOTE: There is a fee for the course.  

PPE Donning and Doffing

1 Hour

Practicing proper infection control procedures is an essential part of protecting yourself and your clients, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Join the Regional Learning Centre for this one hour refresher on how to don and doff PPE appropriately.

This course provides a refresher of the correct techniques for donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Topics will include:

• Infection control and the chain of infection
• Hand hygiene
• The functions and components of PPE
• How to correctly put on (don) and take off (doff) PPE
  

Preventing Elder Abuse

3 Hours

Elder abuse happens across our society, and all older individuals are at risk. This course will assist community staff to identify, respond, report and prevent elder abuse to protect clients

Topics will include:

• Identifying, responding, reporting and preventing elder abuse
• How to document identified elder abuse
• The importance of professionalism as it relates to community practice and elder abuse 

Professionalism

3 Hours

This course explores the concept of professionalism as it relates to the community support worker’s practice.

Topics will include:

• Legal and moral rights of the community care client and the principles that guide community support workers’ practice
• The Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) and the unregulated care provider’s (UCP) Scope of Practice
• The therapeutic relationship and client centered care including Communication, Professional Boundaries, Privacy & Confidentiality and Ethics

Safer Lifts and Transfers

3 hours

Topics will include:

• Principles of safer body mechanics
• The difference between lifts and transfers
• How injuries can occur to care providers
• Recognition of high-risk client care activities
• Using a Hoyer lift, sit-stand lift, and ceiling track lift
• Assisting a client with a variety of manual transfers
• Identification of factors that contribute to client falls
• Falls prevention in the community

The 3 D’s: Delirium, Dementia and Depression

3 Hours

Delirium and dementia are the most common causes of cognitive impairment in older adults, but depression can also affect thinking and reasoning. These conditions are not a normal part of aging. Delirium, dementia and depression are different from one another, but it can be hard to distinguish between them because their signs and symptoms are so similar. Further, people can have more than one of these conditions at the same time. Learning

Topics will include:

•  Key features and similarities and, differences among delirium, dementia and depression.
• Strategies that the community worker can use to support clients with one or more of the 3D’s.
  

Wound Prevention



3 Hours

Wound prevention in the community setting can be challenging, especially when there are multiple risk factors impacting wound healing. These risk factors also increase the risk of new wounds. This 3-hour course on Wound Prevention will cover the role of the community support worker in preventing pressure ulcers, skin tears and other wounds, and maintaining the skin health of clients.

Topics will include:

• Risk factors for skin tears and pressure ulcers
• Signs, symptoms and causes of pressure ulcers
• Wound prevention methods
• Identification of potential areas where pressure ulcers can develop
• Identification of clients who are at a higher risk for skin breakdown