Clayton Heights Care Community Receives Kickstarter Award for Innovative Approach to Person-Centred Care
September 11, 2025 | By Park Place Seniors Living |
At Park Place Seniors Living, we believe innovation in care is about meaningful change that directly enhances the lives of residents. This year, our own Clayton Heights Care Community in Surrey, BC, has demonstrated just that. Clayton Heights has been recognized with the Kickstarter Award through the Sparking Change Awards Program, receiving $2,000 to support and continue their work in reducing inappropriate antipsychotic use.
This recognition highlights the dedication of the Clayton Heights interdisciplinary team and underscores Park Place’s broader commitment to person-centred care across all of our communities.
Understanding the Challenge: Overuse of Antipsychotic Drugs in Seniors Care
Across Canada, the overuse of antipsychotic medications in long-term care has been a longstanding concern. While these medications can be essential for residents living with conditions such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, studies show they are often prescribed more broadly—to manage behaviours associated with dementia, for instance—without a proper clinical diagnosis.
The risks of inappropriate use are significant. Antipsychotics can increase the likelihood of falls, strokes, and hospitalizations, and may negatively affect residents’ overall quality of life. In fact, the Office of the Seniors Advocate BC recently highlighted this issue in its latest report, calling for renewed focus on safer, more effective, and more compassionate approaches to care.
For Park Place Seniors Living, addressing this challenge is a matter of ensuring residents receive care that honours their dignity, autonomy, and well-being.
About the Sparking Change Program
The Sparking Change Awards Program is led by Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) as part of their ongoing Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics initiative. The program recognizes and supports care homes that are making measurable progress in deprescribing unnecessary antipsychotic medications and strengthening person-centred care practices.
Awards are given at different levels to acknowledge achievements and provide resources to help sustain them. The Kickstarter Award, received by Clayton Heights Care Community, comes with $2,000 in funding to further fuel innovative projects and maintain positive momentum.
By investing in teams like ours, HEC encourages a culture of learning, collaboration, and continuous improvement across Canada’s long-term care sector.
Clayton Heights’ Journey to Change
In February 2025, Clayton Heights Care Community embarked on a project series with HEC that will continue through September 2025. With the guidance of an experienced coach, the team has been actively engaging in:
- Monthly check-ins to track progress and identify areas of improvement.
- Peer learning sessions to share insights and strategies with other participating care communities.
- Educational webinars focused on deprescribing practices and resident-centred care.
- Rigorous data collection to measure and validate the impact of changes.
Central to this initiative has been the creation of a dedicated interdisciplinary working group. The team includes nurses, a pharmacist, care manager, medical director, and site leader/DOC, each bringing unique expertise and perspective. Together, they’ve worked closely to review practices, build knowledge, and develop strategies that reduce reliance on medication while enhancing quality of life.
Measuring Success
One of Clayton Heights’ key projects focused on improving the accuracy of RAI-MDS coding related to the indicator: “Taken antipsychotics without a diagnosis of psychosis.”
The results speak volumes:
- Q1 (2024–2025): 33.2%
- Q2: 29.7%
- Q3: 27.3%
- Q4: 19.2%
In just one year, Clayton Heights reduced the rate of residents receiving antipsychotics without a psychosis diagnosis by more than 14 percentage points. This progress reflects not only stronger documentation practices but also a deeper shift toward individualized care planning, alternative interventions, and team-based problem-solving.
Why This Matters
Behind every statistic is a resident whose day-to-day life has improved. For some, deprescribing antipsychotics has meant greater alertness and participation in activities. For others, it has reduced risks of falls or hospitalizations. And for families, it provides peace of mind knowing their loved one’s care is being guided by best practices, compassion, and respect.
At a broader level, the success at Clayton Heights contributes to the growing body of evidence showing that person-centred approaches can and do reduce unnecessary reliance on medications. It is an example of what is possible when care communities commit to innovation and collaboration.
Looking Ahead
The Kickstarter Award marks an important milestone, but it is only the beginning. With continued participation in HEC’s program, Clayton Heights will keep building on this momentum by refining strategies, sharing lessons with peers, and embedding sustainable practices that will benefit residents long into the future.
For Park Place Seniors Living, the achievements at Clayton Heights are a source of pride and inspiration. They demonstrate how our teams across Canada can spark change, one thoughtful step at a time.
Learn More
To read more about the Sparking Change Program and its impact across Canada, visit Healthcare Excellence Canada’s website.
