Sweetman leading several studies related to staffing and care for seniors in Ontario

Arthur Sweetman has received funding for several studies related to long-term care in Ontario amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sweetman, who holds the Ontario Research Chair in Health Human Resources, led a 10-person expert panel studying staffing in Ontario Long-Term Care Homes that submitted its report to the Ontario government on July 30, 2020, calling for increased funding and the creation of more permanent, full-time positions.

He leads a group that received a $44,898 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council – Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines Insight Development Grant for “Home-care preferences among South Asian seniors in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA): A discrete-choice experiment.” Co-applicants were Katholiki Georgiades, Emmanuel Guindon and PhD candidate Sophiya Garasia.

Dr. Sweetman also received funding from McMaster University for two studies related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is working with Katherine Cuff to conduct research on “Long-term Care Home Staffing and Funding amid COVID-19″. This project addresses the need to create appropriately funded evidence-based policies and practices to support health workers and health systems in coping with the significant burden posed by COVID-19.

Sweetman is conducting research along with economics professor Stephen Jones on the “Labour Market Dynamics in the Covid-19 Crisis and Recovery”. This will track live market developments on an ongoing basis and seek to understand the degree to which pre-COVID-19 norms and trends experience short- versus long-term (or permanent) disruption.