Case Study: Conestoga College trains 5,000+ PSWs and improves resident care with D2L Brightspace

Helping Personal Support Workers Deliver Excellent Care

Conestoga College, facing an aging population and rising care complexity in long-term care, needed a fast, scalable way to upskill personal support workers (PSWs) and build peer trainers. The challenge was to develop interactive, accessible online modules that supported a train‑the‑trainer model and could train 5,000 PSWs within six months while improving person‑centered care and leadership among PSWs.

Working with D2L, Conestoga delivered a 16‑hour online curriculum plus an eight‑hour in‑class consolidation via the Brightspace LMS, using multimedia, “choose‑your‑own‑adventure” scenarios and trainer tools to ensure ease of use and engagement. In six months, 490 PSWs were certified and went on to train over 5,000 colleagues across 25% of Ontario’s long‑term care homes; 96% reported greater confidence facilitating care and 64% reported improved resident outcomes, with additional gains in morale, collaboration and plans to expand the program.

Conestoga College

Carly Szabo

Training Specialist, School of Health & Life Sciences