Looking for help for a client/ patient?

If you are unsure which BSO program could best serve your client/ patient, or are not sure how to make the referral, please call BSO Connect at 1-800-810-0000 ext. 1500. The team members at BSO Connect are trained to identify needs and provide referrals or linkages to the appropriate services.

Want to learn more?

The BSO strategy aims to support clients with cognitive impairment and responsive behaviours, and their families, across the continuum of care - in community, hospital, and long-term care. Click here for a one-page summary of the BSO strategy.

Community:

BSO Connect: This 'one number to call' (1-800-810-0000 ext. 1500) is designed to provide a singular point of entry for clients, caregivers, health service providers and other agencies to access assistance for older adults with cognitive impairment and responsive behaviours. Beyond its centralized intake role, the Connect staff create a 'warm connection' for clients by actively linking them to services and supports. Click here to learn more.

BSO Community Team (Formerly BSO Community Outreach Team & BSO Community Clinicians/Case Managers): The BSO Community Team supports both urgent and non-urgent referrals in the community and their care partners. The BSO Community Team support clients with cognitive impairment who exhibit or are at risk of exhibiting responsive behaviours due to mental health, addictions, dementia or other neurological conditions and their care partners. Click here to learn more. To make a referral, complete the referral form available at https://rgpc.ca/centralintake/ and FAX to: 1-855-406-2163.

BSO Responsive Behaviour Specialist (Retirement Homes): The BSO Responsive Behaviour Specialist (Retirement Homes) supports clients staying in retirement homes in the Hamilton and Burlington areas who have cognitive impairment and responsive behaviours, as well as the people around them. Click here to learn more about this service. To make a referral, complete the referral form available at https://rgpc.ca/centralintake/ and FAX to: 1-855-406-2163.

BSO/SGS Central Clinical Intake: For more information on Central Clinical Intake, please click here. 

Hospital:

BSO Clinical Leaders: Clinical Leaders currently serve inpatients in 17 hospital sites across the HNHB region. The Clinical Leaders provide consultation and support for patients for whom responsive behaviours are a barrier to the provision of care and/or discharge planning. Click here to learn more about the program. Click here to access the Clinical Leader program referral form.

Long-Term Care:

The BSO Long-Term Care (LTC) Team is a part of a bundle of services available to LTC Homes to assist them in serving residents with responsive behaviours. Learn more about these services and access additional resources by clicking the links below:

• Click here to learn more about the supports that BSO provides to people moving into or living in LTC. For more detailed information on the roles of the BSO LTC Team, please click here. 
• Click here to access the BSO LTC Referral Form (PDF Fillable)
• Click here to learn more about the BSO Transitional Lead program, who support individuals who need additional planning and support when moving into Long-Term Care. 
• Click here to access the Checklist for the HNHB Responsive Behaviour Protocol. Teams in Long-Term Care may use this tool to define a resident's responsive behaviours, assess potential causes for these behaviours, determine strategies and create care plans.

Primary Care:

Primary Care Toolkit: The Primary Care Toolkit is a resource that can be used to assist primary care providers with the early identification and management of older adults with cognitive impairment and responsive behaviours. This early identification enables timely access to individual- and caregiver- directed healthcare services and supports, ultimately optimizing cognitive and functional health status, and overall quality of life. Click here to download the Toolkit.

The brainXchange has been a key partner in BSO since its inception, facilitating knowledge transfer and exchange activities within and between various groups. The brainXchange Resource Centre offers both information specific to the work of BSO as well as over 4,000 other useful resources within 80 searchable topic areas (including 150 archived webinars)! Discussion forums on the brainXchange provide the perfect place to access more than 6,000 network members across Canada as well as many others from the public who access the site to ask questions and share information and resources.

Come visit the brainXchange by clicking our blue hyperlinks (above) or at www.brainxchange.ca to learn more!

Additional Resources & Tools:

Behavioural Education and Training Supports Inventory (BETSI)
An education/training decision making tool and program inventory

Canadian Coalition for Seniors' Mental Health (CCSMH)
The mission of the CCSMH is to promote the mental health of seniors by connecting people, ideas and resources.

Critical Elements & Guiding Checklist Report
Compendium of critical elements for supporting successful and sustainable transitions for those within the BSO target population as they move from either community or hospital into LTC Homes. For the guiding checklist, click here. Created by the Behavioural Support Integrated Teams (BSIT) Collaborative.

Geriatrics, Interprofessional Practice and Interorganizational Collaboration (GiiC) toolkit
Modules on core topics regarding the care of the elderly, including topic overviews, quick facts, assessment tools and algorithms, patient handouts in both French and English together with teaching materials such as slide decks to support lunch and learn sessions.

Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP) - Education and Knowledge Translation
Workshops and training (in-person and online) designed for staff working in residential care environments such as long-term care homes, and train the trainer programs for educators; products and resources for a wide variety of audiences, such as persons living with dementia, family care partners, and professionals working in the dementia field.

Non-Pharmacological Ways to Manage Pain - BSO LTC Team 2021
Guiding document developed by the BSO LTC Team to support non-pharmacological ways to manage pain for clients within LTC Homes. 

Ontario Seniors’ Secretariat - A Guide to Programs and Services for Seniors in Ontario
A Guide to Programs and Services for Seniors in Ontario is your resource for information about programs and services available to Ontario's seniors. It is produced by the Ontario Seniors' Secretariat and distributed by ServiceOntario Publications.

Partnerships in Dementia Care Alliance
The Partnerships in Dementia Care (PiDC) Alliance is focused on enhancing dementia care by changing the culture within long-term and community care to better reflect a relationship-centered, partnership approach to care.

Registered Nursing Association of Ontario (RNAO) – Best Practice Guideline - Caregiving Strategies for Older Adults with Delirium, Dementia and Depression
This guideline has been developed to address the question of how best to care for older adults (65 years or older) with delirium, dementia and/or depression.

Registered Nursing Association of Ontario (RNAO) – Best Practice Guideline - Screening for Delirium, Dementia and Depression in the Older Adult
This guideline has been developed to improve the screening assessment of older adult clients for delirium, dementia and depression. This guideline does not include recommendations for the management of these conditions in day-to-day nursing practice.

Shifting focus: a guide to understanding dementia behaviour
Shifting focus is a tool to help the families and friends of people with dementia understand behaviour caused by the disease.

This is Not My Mom
Information and resources about delirium

Vancouver Island Health Authority - Delirium Resources
Information about delirium for families and health care professionals, including tools, flow sheets, learning tools, and professional practice information.

Educational Opportunities:

Dementia & Sexuality e-Learning Module
Learn about how dementia can impact the ways in which people living with dementia communicate their unmet needs, including those pertaining to sexuality. Myths and stereotypes about sexuality and dementia and the way these perceptions shape our interactions will be explored alongside practical strategies to support people living with dementia.

Person-Centred Language e-Learning Modules
Learn what person-centred language is and why it is important when supporting residents. Explore the four Commitment Statements designed to promote its use in long-term care environments.

Advanced Gerontological Education – Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA)
The Advanced Gerontological Education is a not-for-profit social enterprise that provides a variety of educational products to complete our mission of "enhancing the care of older adults by learning together."

Dementiability & Montessori Methods
Our Vision is to create an environment where people living with dementia can achieve success and have the opportunity to live each day with meaning and purpose. DementiAbility strives to remove the focus that is too often placed on disability by replacing it with a focus on ability.

Geriatric Certificate Program
The Geriatric Certificate Program aims to improve our aging population’s quality of care through a unique combination of well-developed educational programs.

Putting the P.I.E.C.E.S. Together
The foundation for a common vision, a common language, and common approach to the care of older people in the long-term care sector in the Province of Ontario, Canada has been achieved through the development of a comprehensive, system-wide approach to education.

U-First & Me & U-First
U-First! is a leading dementia education and training program in Ontario for healthcare professionals. The Me & U-First! Modules are an introduction to understanding responsive behaviours.