In the news: local media feature new Living Classroom program for PSWs at Extendicare Timmins and Kirkland Lake

Northern Ontario media outlets, including Timmins Today and the North Bay Nugget, highlighted the recently announced expansion of the Living Classroom program at Extendicare Timmins and Kirkland Lake, which will provide education to students who are interested in becoming Personal Support Workers (PSW).

“Extendicare has partnered with Medix College to provide on-site classes, simulations, and hands-on training in long-term care homes in Timmins and Kirkland Lake. The new program will see students studying and learning hands-on in long-term care homes,” writes Timmins Today.

Johanna Horne, Extendicare’s Regional Director in Northern Ontario, tells the local news site, “This program will give PSWs a clearer look at what their future can look like.”

Brenda McAdam, has been a PSW at Extendicare Timmins for the past 18 years, and tells Timmins Today, “those first days on the job, you’re just so nervous. I think this is a really good idea and that they’ll know what to expect, and they’ll know they can ask for help.”

The North Bay Nugget also shared the news, writing, “The Living Classroom is an innovative approach to training personal support workers that offers students the unique opportunity to combine traditional classroom education with practical, hands-on experience in long-term care homes.

The Living Classroom program is funded by the Government of Ontario and led by the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA) through the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (Ontario CLRI), in partnership with the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA). The program will begin in September.