At CHATS, we want to be the best. Being the best means our clients benefit immensely, as well as our volunteers, staff, donors, and the community-at-large. To help us continue striving toward excellence, CHATS is embarking on a process called Accreditation. Accreditation helps CHATS evaluate its own services and performance against a set of nationally developed standards. The Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA), a non-profit organization incorporated in 1958, developed these standards. This will give CHATS an opportunity to receive input and have its performance validated in the following key areas: client care and delivery of service, information management practices, human resources development and management, the organization's governance, and the management of support services. Accreditation involves a self-assessment process and an on-site visit from a team of surveyors from CCHSA. The site visit takes place in June, and the CCHSA will submit the results of our survey in a report to CHATS by September 1. CHATS' last Accreditation process was in 2004, in which we received the highest Accreditation Decision (Full Accreditation). CCHSA stated in their report that "the organization is to be commended for this achievement which demonstrates its commitment to making the delivery of quality services a priority throughout the organization." CHATS Accreditation objectives for 2007 are: 1. To recieve specific feedback from surveyors on CHATS wellness framework as compared to other similar initiatives that the surveyors may have seen throughout the country. CHATS believes that this program is a new and innovative approach to support healthy aging for seniors and caregivers. 2. To receive specific feedback on CHATS integrated approach to service delivery and CHATS home and personal support worker staffing model as a possible best practice model. 3. To assess the process towards the CHATS goal for the self-assessment process in strengthening our relationships, communication and collaboration with our key customers: our clients, our staff and our volunteers. 4. To share leading best practices for the Patient Safety, AIM concept and ROPs to the Home and Community Care sector. 5. To receive feedback from surveyors on the progress the organization has made with the use of indicators to guide decision-making and to share any good practices seen by the surveyors on what types of indicators are becoming common in this sector.