Oktoberfest comes to Pleasant Meadow

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Life enrichment team organizes an in-home version of the famous Bavarian festival for residents

When Pleasant Meadow Manor residents came to the activity room on Sept. 28 they discovered it had been turned into a German beer hall.

With the arrival of autumn, the life enrichment team at the Norwood, Ont. long-term care home seized the opportunity to bring some additional fun and laughter to residents by organizing an Oktoberfest party.

Oktoberfest is an annual celebration of beer and Bavarian culture that dates back to the early 1800s in Munich. Oktoberfest celebrations are held every autumn across the globe and feature music, food and, of course, beer.

Team members donned lederhosen and served sausage rolls along with freshly baked pretzels a local supermarket bakery made especially for residents, says life enrichment co-ordinator Kim Williams.

Residents were also served non-alcoholic beer, root beer and other varieties of pop as well as some sweet treats and various kinds of brownies.

It was also a time to reminisce and share stories, Kim notes.

“With Oktoberfest music playing in the background, we learned all about Oktoberfest, and the residents shared their stories of Oktoberfest,” she says.

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Family member reflects on the importance of having ‘hard conversations’ early

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It’s never too early for us to start having conversations with loved ones and medical professionals about our health and well-being in order to live better and help us prepare for the future, says Julia Gamble.

This is something Julia, whose father is a resident of Garden Terrace, says she has learned first-hand.

“If I could go back in time, I think I would (talk with my father) about the importance of eating well, being healthy and exercising,” Julia recently told The OMNIway.

“I think having the hard conversations before they are needed is important.”

Julia describes her father as a “strong, proud man” who was athletic and had played football in his younger years. He also had an illustrious career in public service.

However, by the time Julia’s dad reached middle age, a busy career, coupled with the other constraints in life most of us experience, left less time for physical activity and eating well, she says.

As years went by, this would have an impact on his health and would later lead to circumstances requiring Julia’s dad to move into long-term care.

Julia says what she has learned from her experience with her dad’s journey into long-term care is that what we do in our 40s, 50s and 60s – or even younger – has a large impact on how we age, and that the time to have discussions about our health is in our younger years.

With this in mind, Julia believes that being proactive today will help address tomorrow’s health-care challenges.

Julia notes that we have an aging population. According to the Government of Canada, in 2012 one in seven Canadians was a senior citizen. By 2030, that number is expected to jump to one in four.

Given the impact an aging population will have on the greater health-care sector, Julia says people who are middle-aged today need to start thinking about what they can do now to improve their health outcomes later on.

“(We need) to have the hard conversations about aging early and with our doctor,” Julia says. “Ask yourself how you want your final 10 to 25 years to be.”

– This is Part 1 of a two-part story

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PHOTO CAPTION: This photo, submitted by Julia Gamble, shows her father as a young football player.

In-house entertainment returns to Riverview Manor with safety precautions in effect

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‘Residents enjoy musical entertainment so much and are very excited that it has arrived back at Riverview’

Riverview Manor residents have been enjoying in-house entertainment at the Peterborough long-term care since September, and fan-favourite musicians have been playing to “many smiling faces,” says life enrichment aide Adam Wicklum.

On Sept. 7, singer Kathy Wiles was at Riverview to provide the first in-house entertainment residents have had since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Performer Art Lajambe played for residents on Sept. 26.

Strict safety precautions are in full effect at all performances. Entertainers perform at a safe distance from residents and there is a Plexiglas divider in front of them.

While entertainers may sing without a mask, they must wear one before and after performances. Performers must also go through screening and have a negative swab test before entering the home.

Given the success of the September shows, both Kathy and Art will continue regular performances at Riverview Manor, Adam says.

Kathy is booked for the first Tuesday of every month, while Art is performing on the fourth Tuesday of every month in the evenings.

The performers will rotate their shows for residents living on both sides of the home, Adam notes.

During her first performance, Kathy sang for the residents living on the north side of the home, with residents joyfully singing and clapping along.

Many residents personally thanked Kathy after her performance, Adam says.

“She was so excited to sing again for the residents and said she really missed seeing them,” Adam tells The OMNIway.

“She felt honoured to be the first entertainer of the home.”

Adam says Art drew a similar response from residents during his performance on the south side.

“Art also said he was so excited to be back singing and playing his guitar for the residents, as he missed them too,” Adam says.

“Residents enjoy musical entertainment so much and are very excited that it has arrived back at Riverview.”

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Pleasant Meadow residents enjoy their own fall fair for second straight year

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‘The residents really enjoyed the day and had a lot of laughs’

Pleasant Meadow Manor residents enjoyed the Norwood long-term care home’s second annual fall fair Oct. 12, and there were even more activities for everyone to enjoy this year.

Team members worked hard to create a fall-fair atmosphere for residents to enjoy. The activity room was decorated for the day, and there was a midway filled with games and stuffed animals – such as a pony, pig, “the world’s smallest rooster,” a turkey and a buffalo.

Residents could take a “pony ride” through one area set up to resemble a barn. After their tour looking at the animals, they could join in on the games being offered.

Life enrichment co-ordinator Kim Williams notes more games were offered this year. These included two new games – Leap Frog and Ping Bong. Bobbing for doughnuts, a favourite game from last year’s fall fair, once again proved to be a hit with residents.

After the games were finished, residents enjoyed refreshments and then took a stroll to the “entertainment building”.

In the entertainment building, performer Ted Smith sang some of the residents’ favourite tunes while they were served fall fair favourites that included pink lemonade and candy floss. The Norwood Sparks and Brownies donated Girl Guide cookies for residents to enjoy as well.

In the weeks prior to the fall fair, residents and staff members were busy making baked goods for the now-annual Peasant Meadow Manor fall fair bake-off.

The baking was divided into categories and votes were taken to decide the winners.

In the Favourite Cookie category, the winner was personal support worker (PSW) Karly Nelson. In the Squares category, reigning champion PSW Jeannette Davis once again took top honours. Screener Leslie Rogers won for both the Brownie and the Cupcake categories.

Kim says the fall fair was once again a huge hit with residents.

“The residents really enjoyed the day and had a lot of laughs,” she says. “We had residents who usually don’t enjoy going to programs come out and enjoy the afternoon.”

One memorable moment for Kim was a resident who had so much fun she couldn’t wait to let her loved ones know about the fair.

“One resident was excited to get back to her room after the entertainment finished so she could call her son and tell him all about the day,” she says.

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Too cold for ice cream? Never!

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Garden Terrace embraces a favourite summer treat on a cold autumn day

Who thinks of paying a visit to an ice cream truck on a cold, brisk, autumn day?

The residents, families and staff members at Garden Terrace, that’s who.

People living and working at the Kanata, Ont. long-term care home recently proved that ice cream tastes great, no matter what the weather is like.

On Sept. 30, a Mr. Sundae ice cream truck turned up at Garden Terrace, and residents and staff members were quick to line up for ice cream cones and sundaes.

Ice creams were provided free to all residents and $3 each to family members and staff.

About 50 people in total turned up to get ice cream, says Garden Terrace life enrichment co-ordinator Rachael King.

Rachael says one of the big benefits from the Mr. Sundae visit was the social aspect. She says ice cream proved to be a great tool to get residents chatting amongst themselves and meeting new people.

“It was really nice, we had some social time, I got to chat with a lot of the residents, and the residents got to mix and mingle, so it was great that they had time to chat with each other,” she tells The OMNIway.

A photo booth was set up by team members for the day; however, due to the cool weather, most people decided to enjoy their ice cream indoors.

And, of course, visiting an ice cream truck was one last chance to hold on to summer.

“Someone said it was too cold (for ice cream), but one of the residents said, ‘I’ll have ice cream any time of the year,’ ” Rachael says, noting she agrees with this sentiment.

“I think ice cream is something people can enjoy even in the coldest of weather.”

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Riverview Manor among Peterborough LTC homes to receive additional funding to increase staffing, hours of care

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Riverview Manor is one of five long-term care homes in the Peterborough-Kawartha riding to receive a portion of a $3.1-million investment from the Ontario government to boost staffing levels and increase direct care to residents for the remainder of the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Additionally, Riverview Manor will receive $2,116,320 annually more than the home currently receives in funding by 2024-25 as part of an investment package of $18,043,200 earmarked for the riding, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith said at an Oct. 20 announcement in Peterborough.

As a result of this funding, the province says the hours of direct care residents receive will increase from an average of two hours and 45 minutes per day to three hours for the remainder of this fiscal year.

By 2024-25, residents can expect an average of four hours of direct care per day, the province says.

Riverview Manor will receive $345,530 to enhance nursing and personal care for residents for the remainder of 2021-22. This, coupled with the funding the home will receive by 2024-25, will help enhance overall care at the home, says Riverview Manor administrator Mary Anne Greco.

Greco said Riverview Manor and OMNI Health Care are thankful to the Ontario government for this investment and that the funding will help bolster staffing levels and improve the care residents receive at the home.

“All of the funding is to be spent directly on nursing, personal care and programs, with any surplus returned to government,” she said.

Smith said the $18,043,200 long-term care homes in Peterborough-Kawartha will receive by 2024-25 “will hire thousands of new nurses, personal support workers, attendants and physiotherapists for homes across our community.

“Our seniors will see four hours of direct care every day by our hardworking health-care professionals,” he said.

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Frost Manor LEAs’ creativity delivers a memorable Thanksgiving to residents

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‘Thanksgiving was really a team event, and the LEAs did a great job’

Amy Whitehead is commending Frost Manor life enrichment aides (LEAs) for tapping into their creativity to help deliver a fun and engaging Thanksgiving to the Lindsay, Ont. long-term care home’s residents.

Amy, Frost Manor’s life enrichment co-ordinator, says LEAs Sarah Thayer, Taylor Davies and Amanda Pendrith each brought their own talents to the table in the days leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend to create activities and programs that helped make the holiday memorable.

For instance, Sarah made a turkey out of construction paper and attached it to a wall where each month the life enrichment team creates a mural as part of a theme.

On Thanksgiving Day, Taylor encouraged residents to write something they are thankful for on the turkey’s feathers.

“The whole feathered area of the turkey now has all the things residents could think of that they are thankful for written on them, and some of them were really cute,” Amy tells The OMNIway.

“Some of them said bingo, and lots of them were about being here, having great food, and having great staff.”

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Amanda led an activity where residents made centrepieces. Each table had a centrepiece that was made by residents waiting for them when they sat down to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinner.

“Thanksgiving was really a team event, and the LEAs did a great job,” Amy says.

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A thank-you to staff for vaccine campaign’s success

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As we enter the final quarter of 2021, COVID-19 remains at the forefront of Canada’s collective mind, and we are now, by most estimations, in the fourth wave of the pandemic.

At OMNI Health Care, the good news is how well the pandemic has been managed by our 18 long-term care homes in 2021. This is largely due to the availability of vaccines since the start of the year and the exceptionally high rate of immunization amongst our resident population.

The people working on the front lines in OMNI homes have played an important part in this success. Their contributions to this year’s vaccine campaign cannot be understated.

When inoculations for COVID-19 became available to long-term-care home residents at the start of the year, staff members were educated about the vaccines and shared information about the science supporting their effectiveness with residents and their families.

This resulted in large-scale vaccine support and a 90-plus-per-cent vaccination rate in our homes, with many homes having nearly all eligible residents immunized against the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.

Staff members also worked tirelessly this year to organize in-house vaccine clinics, and they have collaborated with public health units to ensure seamless delivery of the vaccines to our homes.

Additionally, OMNI, along with a number of other Ontario long-term care operators, has made vaccinations mandatory for all staff members effective Oct. 15.

The Ontario government has subsequently issued a vaccine mandate for people working in all long-term care homes in the province.

Health-care experts across the board have stressed that vaccines are the best tool we have for preventing COVID-19 infection and for minimizing the impact of the virus in people who still become infected.

With a high vaccination rate amongst residents and staff, new directives from the Ministry of Long-Term Care and the hard work of team members working in OMNI long-term care homes, residents have continued to enjoy a high quality of life, despite the challenges that have come with the pandemic.

Keeping residents’ quality of life high is our greatest measure of success.

Still, we cannot lose sight of the fact the pandemic is not over, and we will remain diligent in keeping residents safe while keeping their quality of life high.

A huge thank-you to all staff members is in order for continuously maintaining this balance.

Local elementary school students make Thanksgiving gifts for Riverview residents

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‘I am very proud of the students for their hard work and care they put into the project’

Riverview Manor residents were surprised to find gifts waiting for them at Thanksgiving, and what they received made the holiday extra special for them.

Grade 2 and 3 students at St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School in Douro created Thanksgiving artwork and letters that were sent to residents at the Peterborough long-term care home.

The artwork the children created had Thanksgiving motifs, such as cornucopias filled with harvested vegetables and, of course, turkeys. The artwork was accompanied by letters students wrote to residents.

The idea for the project came from Nick McIlwain, a personal support worker at Riverview Manor, and his wife.

Nick and his wife spoke with a teacher they know at St. Joseph’s about the project, and the teacher got on board with the idea.

The students created the artwork and wrote the letters as part of a segment of their religion program that focuses on doing charitable work and supporting social justice.

Nick has seen first hand the benefits children can bring to residents and the benefits residents can bring to children.

Up until the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, Nick’s two children would visit Riverview Manor during special holidays, bringing cards with them they would make for residents.

Nick says the residents “really enjoyed seeing our children” and the experience was also rewarding to Nick’s son and daughter, “who have been taught the importance of building relationships based on kindness and respect,” Nick says.

Residents were so pleased with their gifts at Thanksgiving that residents’ council president Peter Bascan thanked Nick for his part in getting the project off the ground.

Nick hands credit to the students for their work.

“I am very proud of the students for their hard work and care they put into the project,” he says.

“The residents were very happy to receive picture boxes and little books from the children,” he says.

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Garden Terrace Apple Fest proves to be a ‘fruitful’ way to start autumn

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LEA Dakota Lynch created the program, which centred on apple pies and a fall-inspired craft

With summer coming to an end and autumn on the horizon, a Garden Terrace team member was recently inspired to create a fall-themed program to engage the Kanata, Ont. long-term care home’s residents.

Life enrichment aide Dakota Lynch came up with the idea to organize Apple Fest to celebrate the coming autumn season. She decided to focus the event on two things the fall season is known for: trees losing their leaves and apples.

On Sept. 8, the residents were treated to Apple Fest. The life enrichment team provided residents with apple pies and apple cider which everyone enjoyed.

Garden Terrace life enrichment co-ordinator Rachael King says Apple Fest proved to be the perfect way to launch the fall season.

“We wanted to kick off fall with apple pies and apple cider,” she tells The OMNIway.

After their apple pie and cider, about 15 residents broke into groups and made an autumn-themed craft: fall trees made from tissue paper.

Once the trees were complete, residents hung their creations on their doors as seasonal ornaments.

Rachael commends Dakota for coming up with a program idea that proved to be meaningful for residents.

“She thought it would be a cool idea to have Apple Fest for the residents, and the residents really enjoyed the day,” she says.

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