How LTC homes can adapt care models for mental health, addictions, developmental disabilities, and younger residents
June 10, 17, 18, 2026 – 3-part webinar series
Members: $170 or sign up for all three for only $480 (save $30)
Non-Members: $250 or sign up for all three for only $720 (save $30)
A growing number of residents are entering long-term care with serious mental health conditions, addictions or developmental disabilities, and at younger ages. Their needs often fall outside of traditional care models, including dementia-care, and many homes find they lack capacity to appropriately care for these residents. AdvantAge Ontario is offering this first-ever series to help long-term care leaders and clinical teams navigate the gaps.
Our rich cross-section of speakers bring clinical expertise, system insight and member-led innovation to unpack this resident group’s unique needs and care challenges as well as share practical strategies and external services homes can access to support residents. Together, we’ll build awareness, confidence, capacity and lay the groundwork for system-level solutions to better care for residents with complex needs.
Webinar 1 – Services and Solutions for LTC Residents with Mental Health and Addictions
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST
> Gain a deeper clinical understanding of how severe mental health and addictions can present in long-term care residents.
> Receive an overview of supportive services available from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for long-term care homes and their residents.
> Learn from the example of a member home that used local funds to train staff to support mental health conditions, leading to the development of an embedded mental health team in their home.
Chief, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, CAMH
Dr. Dallas Seitz is the Chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) where he also holds the Peter and Shelagh Godsoe Chair in Late-Life Mental Health Research. He is also a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry.He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health and past president of Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry.He completed his undergraduate medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan (2003) and his postgraduate residency training in Psychiatry at the Queen’s University in 2008. He completed a research and clinical fellowship at the University of Toronto at Baycrest Centre and Women’s College Hospital. Dr. Seitz completed his PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto in 2014.
Project Advisor, Behavioural Supports Ontario
Debbie Hewitt Colborne is an Advanced Practice Nurse with experience and expertise working with older adults within long-term care, the community and hospital settings. Her current work at the Behavioural Supports Ontario Provincial Coordinating Office focuses on leading and enabling activities that strengthen the implementation of person-centred care for older adults living with responsive behaviours associated with dementia, mental health, substance use and/or other neurological conditions.
Executive Director, Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care
Tanya Pol is the Executive Director at Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care, a 375-bed long term care home, owned and operated by St. Joseph’s Health Care London. Tanya has devoted her professional career to working in long-term care and brings over 36 years of experience working in a variety of roles, including as an Administrator/ Executive Director for the last 19 years.Tanya is passionate about promoting resident-centred care in a warm and caring home like environment, that improves the experiences for those entrusted into our care. As an Executive Director. she provides strategic leadership to continually advance the quality, access and experience of residents. The Executive Director fosters partnerships and influences relationships within the organization and with external stakeholders to advance resident care and access.Tanya is an active member of many local and regional committees within the health system. She is a strong advocate for the quality of care, and equity for services provided to residents living in long-term care across the province of Ontario and advocates for support, funding and policy alignment to support the evolving long term care environment.Tanya serves on the Board of Directors for Advantage Ontario as the Region 1 representative.Tanya received a Bachelor of Applied Science, Gerontology Major from the University of Guelph and her Administrator Certification through the Canadian Healthcare Association in 2003.
Webinar 2 – Supporting Younger Residents with Mental Illness and Complex Needs
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
10:30 am – 12:00 pm EST
> Get an overview of common clinical presentations of younger long-term care residents living with serious and persistent mental illness and complex needs such as traumatic brain injury and how this differs from older residents.
> Understand the care delivery challenges that have been identified among this population in LTC and how to recognize when specialized expertise is required.
> Hear about the value of collaborative, team-based and cross-sector approaches that can help homes better support these residents and make more informed clinical decisions.
Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University; Co-Founder and Co-Executive director, GeriMedRisk
Dr. Sophiya Benjamin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University and holds the Schlegel Chair for Mental Health in Aging. She is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of GeriMedRisk, a publicly funded, not-for-profit organization that optimizes medication use in older adults through clinical consultations across Ontario and the education of clinicians both nationally and internationally. She is a recipient of the PSI Foundation Mid-Career Knowledge Translation Fellowship. She completed her adult and geriatric psychiatry training at Duke University. Her clinical and research work addresses system-level challenges in the mental health care of older adults, with specific projects in long-term care focused on polypharmacy, psychotropic optimization, sleep and insomnia care, and supporting residents with complex mental health needs. She practices clinically in the Waterloo region and mentors resident physicians in clinical training and research.
Webinar 3 – Service Collaboration to Support Residents with Developmental Disabilities
Thursday, June 18, 2026
10:00 am – 12:00 pm EST
> Understand potential consequences when a person with a developmental disability such as Down syndrome or autism is either inappropriately placed or admitted into long-term care without suitable supports for the transition.
> Learn how to successfully support people with developmental disabilities in long-term care, including through practical solutions, assistance and resources offered by the Developmental Services of Ontario system.
> Examine system issues raised by people with developmental disabilities entering LTC, cross-sector guidelines to assess the appropriateness of an admission referral, and potential remedies for inappropriate admissions.
CEO, AdvantAge Ontario
Lisa Levin (BA, MSc Pl) is the CEO of AdvantAge Ontario. Before joining AdvantAge Ontario, Lisa was the Director of Nursing and Health Policy with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). From 2011 to 2016, Lisa was the Chair of the Ontario Caregiver Coalition (OCC) that advocates for family caregivers across the province. In 2012, Lisa received a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for her work leading the OCC. From 2005 to 2015, Lisa was a senior executive with Circle of Care, a home and community care agency. Before that, Lisa was a policy advisor for 16 years in different ministries of the Ontario government including Housing; Community and Social Services; Health; and Children’s Services. Lisa has her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Systems/Geography from McGill University, and her Master of Science in Urban Planning from the University of Toronto.
COO, Reena
Reena’s Chief Operations Officer, Sandy Stemp, was a student at McMaster University in 1987 when she had her first encounter with Reena. “I was taking a nursing program and looking for an exciting summer job. I was immediately impressed with Reena’s summer program and its philosophy of support…to assist individuals to achieve their maximum potential.” Sandy loved Camp Reena so much she returned for four summers. “The hardest part was on the last day when the institutional vans would pull up and we knew they had to go back.”Camp Reena was Sandy’s first introduction to the institutional era of people with developmental disabilities. Visits to the institutions left her heartbroken, but helping to bring them into the community was empowering. “One of the key fights was to bring people out of institutions. We spent days and weeks in institutions doing assessments and advocating for people. It was grassroots work but truly a labour of advocacy and love as we tried to bring people out into the community.”
Important Notice: Your registration fee entitles you to ONE telephone line/VOIP connection. Any additional connections from the same home or organization will incur an additional charge for the full registration fee.
To have multiple staff members participate, each staff member must either complete a separate registration form and pay the full fee or listen in from the same room (e.g., a conference room).
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Cancellations: Cancellations will be accepted up to five working days prior to the date of the program less a 15% administration fee that will apply regardless of the status of payment. Registrants who fail to attend the program or cancel after the deadline date shall be liable for the full fee. There is no charge for delegate substitutions. The AdvantAge Ontario Education Department reserves the right to cancel or reschedule this program.
