Life is about to change for the better, for residents of Toronto’s 10 long term care homes.

A just-released plan calls for in-depth training for staff, allowing them to connect with vulnerable people in their care by learning empathy, creating friendships and connecting older people with activities that give their lives purpose.

In traditional long term care home settings, residents spend most of their days alone while staff focus on tasks.

The proposal calls for extra staff members, beginning with six new front line workers in a 2020 pilot project at Lakeshore Lodge in Etobicoke.

Then starting in 2021, roughly 55 additional workers would be hired each year until 2025, when a total of 281 new staff members would be in place through the city’s 10 facilities.

The plan was approved in a unanimous council vote in April, after the city’s seniors advocate Councillor Josh Matlow asked city staff to find ways to offer residents a happier, less isolated lifestyle.