Join Our Study

This study is led by Dr. Amy Hsu from Bruyère Research Institute and Professor Marc-André Langlois at the University of Ottawa, and involves many researchers from universities across Canada. The goal of this study is to build a better understanding about how widespread COVID-19 is in Canada among our most vulnerable and high-risk populations.

Long-term care residents and workers who have AND have not received a COVID-19 vaccine.

We will collect dried blood samples from you to look for the presence of antibodies against COVID-19.

An on-site study facilitator will help you with the antibody test. The antibody test will require them to prick your finger, allow a blood drop to form, and then apply the drop of blood to a device (also known as a dried blood spot card) that has a special paper. Once the blood sample has been collected and allowed to dry, your sample will be sent back to the research team for analysis. We except that the dried blood spot sample collection will take about 10 minutes to complete.

Over the next 12 months, the researchers will collect 1 to 4 additional samples, depending on whether you have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

For long-term care residents and workers who have NOT received a COVID-19 vaccine: Your first data collection will include one blood sample and a completed baseline questionnaire. After this, you will be tested once more at 12 months after the first data collection.

For long-term care residents and workers who have received a COVID-19 vaccine: Your first data collection will include one blood sample and a completed questionnaire. After this, you will be test 3 to 4 more times. At 1, 3, 6 and 12 months following your final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

All participants will have a unique study ID that will allow the researchers to link their responses to the questionnaire to their antibody test results. Only the lead investigators will have access to this information. Your personal information will NOT be attached to the blood samples. The unused samples will be stored in a biobank at the Elisabeth Bruyère Hospital, which is only accessible to authorized research personnel and has security 24 hours a day.

The research team is also asking for your permission to collect your health card number so we can link the antibody testing results to healthcare data collected by the province. This will help us better understand how a person’s immunity may be associated with the severity of COVID-19 that they experience, why some people have asymptomatic presentations, and their healthcare use from either an infection or from vaccination.

If you are interested in participating, you can reach the research team at C19ImmunityStudy@Bruyere.org

We are interested in understanding both formal and informal educational interventions that were delivered to staff in Ontario long-term care homes who were vaccine hesitant or seeking support related to the COVID-19 vaccines.

• Any Nurse Practitioners or Registered Nurses who work with the Nurse Led Outreach Teams
• Attending Nurse Practitioners
• Directors of Care
• Other Management Staff in Long-Term Care

Participants will be asked to share their perspectives and experience in supporting staff who are vaccine hesitant in long-term care homes. You can choose to participate in a short 20-minute virtual interview OR by completing an online questionnaire.

Following the interviews, we will work with the Nurse Led Outreach Teams and long-term care homes to share lessons learned and highlight best practices to enhance future interventions and educational strategies related to COVID-19 and vaccination policies.

Thank you for your interest, our recruitment for this project is now closed.