Humber Polytechnic nursing and personal support worker students will soon gain hands-on experience working with seniors while long-term care and retirement living residents will benefit from added engagement and support through a new partnership.
The Living Classroom at The Village of Humber Heights is a partnership between Humber’s Faculty of Health & Life Sciences and Schlegel Villages that will welcome its first cohort of students on January 26.
Located inside The Village of Humber Heights long-term-care and retirement living residence in Etobicoke, the Living Classroom – the first in Humber’s history – is embedded in a real care environment where learning will happen alongside residents and care teams every day.
“The Living Classroom is designed to give students hands-on experience from the start of their programs”, said Sandra Filice, dean, Humber’s School of Nursing. Personal Support Worker (PSW) and Practical Nursing (PN) students will split their time between classroom instruction, simulation and real-life care scenarios — all within the same building.
“It allows for the seamless application of learning,” said Filice of the new space. “Students can learn the theory in the classroom we have here and then put it into practice in our simulation labs.”
Later on in their studies, she added, the students will take what they’ve learned and go onto the Humber Heights floor to interact with residents.
The new space includes a 46-seat classroom, a six-bed simulation lab, a simulation suite and an apartment-style learning area that mirrors the kind of settings graduates will encounter in their careers. The goal is to replicate real-world scenarios to help students feel confident and prepared when they enter the workforce.
The Living Classroom also includes task trainers for students looking to improve their technical skills as well as a boardroom, kitchen area, faculty observation spaces and more.
The benefits of the Living Classroom extend beyond just the students. Residents at The Village of Humber Heights will see more activity, interaction and connection as learners become part of daily life in the facility.
Jamie Schlegel, president and CEO of Schlegel Villages, has seen the power of the Living Classroom firsthand as well as the benefits it brings to both learners and residents. Schlegel said it helps students as they learn in an environment there’s a good chance they will work upon graduating.
Schlegel Villages has six Living Classrooms across the province through partnerships with post-secondary institutions.
“We’ve seen learners come into this environment with no particular interest in senior care and then have a passion ignited that they didn’t know existed,” said Schlegel. “There’s also a huge amount of wisdom and institutional knowledge among our residents and team members and Humber students will benefit from that.”
The residents will also experience positives from the new partnership, noted Filice, with the learners planned to initially host blood pressure clinics and coffee chats to meet with the residents.
Resident Edward Chow liked the idea of having students coming to Humber Heights each day to learn and develop their skills.
“What I’ve seen of the (Living Classroom) facility is amazing,” said Chow. “The students need a place to learn, and Humber Heights is a place where people are treated with respect.”
Students will be able to complete their work-integrated learning opportunities at Humber Heights, and Filice noted it also gives Humber Heights a chance to recruit each year from a fresh class of graduating students.
Care team members also benefit from working closely with students and faculty, creating more opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and shared learning.
As Ontario’s population ages, the demand for skilled health-care workers in long-term care continues to grow. The Living Classroom at The Village of Humber Heights is designed to help meet that need, and, over the next decade, the site is expected to train more than 2,000 healthcare professionals.