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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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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Pictures and pub nights highlight Riverview Father’s Day festivities

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For Mother’s Day, The OMNIway reported how the Riverview Manor life enrichment team took photos of the ladies living at the Peterborough long-term care home to send family members and make collages for the dining rooms. For Father’s Day, the Riverview Manor dads had their turn.

A week before Father’s Day (June 20), Riverview Manor life enrichment aide (LEA) Adam Wicklum was busy taking photos of all the men living at the home. Each gentleman had two photos – a “cool” shot of them wearing sunglasses and a fedora, and regular portraits without props.

On Friday evening, some of the residents from the south-side neighbourhood helped Adam cut out the photos and put them up on a poster board for a collage.

After all the photos were taken, LEA Taylor Ioannou e-mailed them to each resident’s power of attorney as a keepsake.

Later on Friday night, photo collages went up in both the south- and north-side dining rooms.

On Father’s Day, a large front-lawn sign that said “Happy Father’s Day” was visible to residents from the dining rooms.

Life enrichment team members were busy organizing outdoor family visits for Father’s Day on Sunday, so no activities were planned.

However, on Monday and Tuesday, the dads got to enjoy special pub nights to celebrate them, with Adam working with Taylor and LEA Brigitte Byette to serve the gentlemen.

Residents enjoyed beer or pop as well as three kinds of potato chips while listening to music from the ’50s and ’60s.

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Riverview Manor’s ladies have a ‘picture-perfect’ Mother’s Day

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Residents have special photos taken and sent to their loved ones for Mother’s Day

The ladies living at Riverview Manor had a “picture-perfect” Mother’s Day this year.

In the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day on May 9, Riverview Manor life enrichment aides (LEAs) were busy taking photos of every lady living at the Peterborough long-term care home.

LEA Adam Wicklum was the photographer and worked with LEAs Brigitte Byette, Rosemary Roseborough and Taylor Ioannou, who organized a beauty parlour for the ladies so they could have their hair done for their photos.

Residents had their photos taken in front of a backdrop of a spring blooming tree mural. The tree changes colour with the seasons, and different props, such as birds, butterflies, frogs and turtles, were added.

There was a vase of large artificial flowers next to residents in their photos, and residents held a large bouquet of similar flowers.

The photos were printed in colour on life enrichment co-ordinator Sherry Baldwin’s printer. Using residents’ photos, Adam made two Mother’s Day collages, one for each side of the home.

The collages were taped up in the dining rooms for two weeks for all the residents and staff to enjoy. When they came down, each resident received their colour printed photo.

The power of attorney of residents who had their photos taken received an e-mail with an attached photo of their loved one just before Mother’s Day.

When Mother’s Day arrived, all the ladies received a Mother’s Day card and a corsage. A large “Happy Mother’s Day” lawn sign was put up at the front of the home. Residents and staff could see the sign from both dining rooms.

LEAs Tina Hutchinson and Marilyn Price organized a special tea and trivia on both sides of the home with fancy tea cups on Mother’s Day. They ate cupcakes and cookies that were made at another program that weekend.

Adam says the photos received lots of positive feedback from residents’ families.

“Sherry read some e-mails to the life enrichment team from different families thanking us for making a beautiful photo of their mother and e-mailing it to them (so they can) cherish it,” he says.

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Riverview Manor is celebrating St. Patrick’s Month

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The life enrichment team has organized engaging Irish-themed programs for residents throughout March

Rather than paying homage to Irish culture only on St. Patrick’s Day, the Riverview Manor life enrichment team has been helping residents celebrate the Emerald Isle throughout March.

During “St. Patrick’s Month”, the Peterborough long-term care home’s life enrichment team has been organizing a wide variety of programs for residents that combine fun with learning.

One creative program the team delivered residents was a virtual tour of Ireland that was presented by streaming Internet videos through the large TVs in the two dining rooms. Residents also got to see a piece of Blarney Castle life enrichment aide Adam Wicklum brought.

Adam also showed residents a video about the town of Wicklow, on the east coast of Ireland. The town has a personal connection with Adam, whose ancestors hailed from Wicklow. In fact, Adam explained, his family’s surname was changed from “Wicklow” to “Wicklum” upon their arrival in Canada.

Irish-themed trivia and games, including an Irish-themed bingo, a “shamrock spin beanbag toss” and a “pot of gold coin toss”, have also been featured throughout March.

The life enrichment team tapped into web-based resources like Activity Connection to come up with ideas for programming that included a game where residents played a version of “name that tune” with an Irish song theme.

Additionally, there was an Irish blessing at a church service, and residents also watched Stella Days, a 2011 film set in rural Ireland.

On March 15 and 16, residents were treated to pub nights which have proven to be fan-favourite events, Adam says, adding these programs have had “residents and staff talking for days.”

Drinks served at the pub nights included green beer, pop and a rainbow punch made from sherbet, crushed ice and diet lemon-lime pop.

To help build up everyone’s thirst, residents were provided with snacks that included green-coloured sour cream and onion ring chips, mozzarella sticks and orange Cheezies. The colours of these snacks matched the tri-colour flag of the Republic of Ireland.

Adam often makes creative Jell-O desserts for special occasions at Riverview Manor, and he came through for the pub nights, preparing a tri-colour green, white and orange gelatin dessert over top of crushed pineapple symbolizing a pot of gold.

He made a separate Jell-O dessert for those who are not fans of pineapple.

Adam says he also got into the groove during pub nights.

“(I) tried to do a little Irish jig, then danced a little with some residents before ending the program,” he says.

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Riverview Manor residents celebrate Mardi Gras

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With safety protocols in place, residents enjoyed a piece of New Orleans in the home

A little bit of New Orleans came to Riverview Manor in mid-February.

The Peterborough long-term care home hosted its own version of Mardi Gras, the famed carnival held every year in the Big Easy on Shrove Tuesday.

Residents living on the north side of Riverview Manor celebrated Mardi Gras with a pub night organized by the life enrichment team on Feb. 15 and those living on the south side celebrated on Feb. 16, which was Shrove Tuesday.

Mardi Gras, which translates to “Fat Tuesday,” gets its name from the tradition of Catholics eating rich, high-calorie foods the day before the start of Lent the next day, Ash Wednesday.

So, of course, there were plenty of snacks available for residents to enjoy, including mozzarella sticks, pigs in a blanket, sour cream ring chips and a special gelatin dessert life enrichment aide Adam Wicklum made with Jell-O featuring the three colours representing Mardi Gras, green, gold and purple.

For drinks, residents had a choice of Mardi Gras purple punch with cherry and pineapple ice cubes or beer and pop.

Each of the Mardi Gras colours carries significance. Green represents faith, gold stands for power and purple signifies justice. Adam also made a Mardi Gras backdrop using these three main colours.

Masks and beads are also part of Mardi Gras celebrations, and Adam attached Mardi Gras masks and beads to the colourful backdrop for added effect.

Mardi Gras beads are said to be protective and ward off evil spirits or spells, and they can also be good-luck charms, Adam explains.

Music is another important feature of any Mardi Gras celebration, and residents listened to Louisiana-flavoured music through Spotify during the events.

Due to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing was in effect and there were transparent barriers between people to ensure everyone kept safe.

“(During) other years, residents got Mardi Gras masks and beads (to wear), but because of COVID-19 they did not this year for their safety, but they had this year’s backdrop for decoration and (there were) photo sessions with some residents,” Adam says.

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Riverview Manor ensures resident has a happy Hanukkah

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Ken Greenberg celebrated the Festival of Lights with residents and staff

When Hanukkah began on Dec. 10, the Riverview Manor life enrichment team went to work to make sure a resident of the Jewish faith had everything he needed to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

Resident Ken Greenberg had a menorah to light and, as part of the Hanukkah tradition, received a small gift every morning during the course of the eight-day holiday.

Ken happily educated residents and staff about some of Hanukkah’s traditions, such as the dreidel, a spinning wooden top that’s played with during Hanukkah.

Ken and other residents spun a dreidel during Hanukkah, and Ken took the opportunity to explain its significance.

For example, each of the four sides of a dreidel has a letter from the Hebrew alphabet. The four letters – nun, gimel, hey and shin – stand for “nes gadol haya sham,” which translates to “a great miracle happened there.”

However, Ken explained, if a dreidel is made in Israel, the phrase is “nes gadol haya pho,” which means “a great miracle happened here.” On these dreidels, the letter shin is replaced with the letter peh.

“(The dreidel) was played because it is said that because Jewish people were outlawed from practising their religion and studying the Torah, they would use their dreidel to pretend that they were playing games,” Riverview Manor life enrichment aide (LEA) Adam Wicklum tells The OMNIway.

During Hanukkah, Ken had his own electric menorah in his room. For Hanukkah 2019, the life enrichment department purchased a small battery-powered menorah after Ken moved to the Peterborough long-term care home.

This menorah was placed in the window near the table where Ken has his meals, and during Hanukkah Ken would light the menorah at dinnertime. Team members also decorated the two windows near Ken’s table with a Hanukkah motif. Every morning before breakfast, an LEA would bring Ken a small gift.

Hanukkah began at sunset on Thursday, Dec. 10 and ended at sunset on Friday, Dec. 18. Hanukkah, which translates to the words “to dedicate,” is the eight-day celebration commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC.

Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, begins on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar.

People celebrate Hanukkah by eating traditional foods, playing games and exchanging gifts. The holiday is observed over eight days with the nightly lighting of the menorah candles and saying prayers.

Adam says it was important to celebrate Hanukkah at Riverview Manor because of the diversity of faith among residents and because it was an opportunity for residents to learn about one of Judaism’s most important holidays.

“It shows we care for one individual’s faith (and) special holiday, and (it was a chance) to educate and share culture with other residents,” he says.

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Riverview resident Dorothy Bourne celebrates 101st birthday

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The Riverview Manor team recently helped the Peterborough long-term care home’s most senior resident, Dorothy Bourne, celebrate her 101st birthday with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

On Dec. 1, the Riverview team organized a safe outdoor celebration to mark Dorothy’s birthday. Dorothy, who was warmly bundled up, and her family members, who all wore face masks, gathered under the gazebo in the home’s courtyard to celebrate.

Adam Wicklum, a life enrichment aide at Riverview Manor, says some of Dorothy’s family members had not seen her since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March.

“Two of her five children were there and they haven’t seen her since pre-COVID, so that was pretty special for them,” he says.

Once everyone was together, Dorothy’s family sang Happy Birthday and lit sparklers in her honour.

There was some additional fanfare for Dorothy as well, Adam notes.

“The family also had a big birthday sign on the lawn in front of her window,” he says.

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Small interventions can make a big difference to residents during pandemic

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Riverview Manor BSO team shares some of its tools and ideas

Since the global COVID-19 pandemic began in March, the Riverview Manor Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) team has been providing interventions to enhance quality of life for residents affected by cognitive impairment.

Often, these interventions are small things but they appeal to residents’ strengths and interests and keep their spirits high during what has been a challenging time.

At the beginning of the pandemic, one of the interventions BSO team members put in place was signage in residents’ rooms that let residents know they were safe and that their loved ones knew where they were.

“They were constant reminders for the residents to see for when staff members were not around, and that helped a lot,” explains registered practical nurse and Riverview Manor BSO team lead Becky Dennie.

Montessori kits, which include activities that reflect residents’ interests, have also been used since the pandemic began.

Recently, a new activity kit has been designed by the BSO team especially for new residents as well as for residents who are returning to the home from hospital and must go into isolation as a safety precaution.

The activities in the kit include clothespin matching, cutlery sorting, colouring activities, cards and sewing materials.

These are all items that can be easily sanitized between each use, explains personal support worker and BSO team member Karlie Phillips.

“We are hoping this will work well and that the staff will set this up with the residents to keep them busy as much as possible,” she says.

BSO is a provincial initiative that’s enhancing quality of life for seniors affected by dementia and other conditions that can cause agitation. The funding, which is provided to long-term care homes through the province’s 14 Local Health Integration Networks, is largely put towards staff education.

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Province approves 32 additional beds for the new Riverview Manor

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The new funding will increase the size of the rebuilt home in Peterborough’s north end from 160 to 192 beds

The news keeps getting better for Riverview Manor residents – both present and future.

The province recently announced it has approved funding for another 32 beds to add to the 36 new beds that were promised in December 2018 for the rebuilt Peterborough long-term care home.

Riverview Manor’s current location on Water Street has 124 beds. Construction on the new Riverview Manor, which will be nearby on Langton Street in Peterborough’s north end, will likely start in 2021 and will take about two years to build.

During a virtual press conference on Nov. 20, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith said the additional 32 beds Riverview Manor will receive will improve access for people in the region who require long-term care.

“Our seniors deserve quality care in the communities they live in,” he said.

“This is why today’s announcement of more new beds is so important. We are working to reduce wait times and meet the needs of our aging population now and in the future.”

Once completed, the new Riverview Manor will be a state-of-the-art long-term care home offering residents a wide range of modern amenities.

Some of the new Riverview Manor’s features will include wider hallways, more home-like dining and lounge spaces, and privacy for residents will be improved by having only one- and two-bed rooms.

The new Class A home will surround a spacious courtyard, complete with a walking loop paved with an “elder-friendly surface,” patio seating and a sandbox for visiting children to enjoy.

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