Fall flavours, community engagement and pirates highlighted life at OMNI in October
Indulging in fall flavours, community engagement and a day dedicated to pirates – these are among the many highlights of life in OMNI Health Care long-term care homes in October.
Just before Thanksgiving weekend, we visited Springdale Country Manor to attend a favourite event that was both engaging and delicious: the annual pumpkin pie social.
About 15 residents attended the Oct. 6 event, which saw them go through nearly three large pumpkin pies, much to the delight of one of the social’s organizers, life enrichment co-ordinator (LEC) Sonia Murney.
Sonia notes that special treats like pumpkin pie are a great way to get people to eat and socialize.
“Everybody loves pumpkin pie,” she told The OMNIway, while prepping pie slices for residents. “And we always offer it to the staff as well.”
Between slices of pie, team members engaged residents in a discussion about how to make the perfect pumpkin pie, and everyone shared their favourite tips.
Some residents were quick to point out errors others were committing when trying to make the perfect pie crust.
“You can’t overwork the pastry,” one resident advised a staff member.
At Streamway Villa, a representative from the Cobourg Police Service (CPS) stopped by to help build a community relationship and deliver a presentation about fraud prevention to protect residents from rising telephone scams targeting seniors.
Acting detective James Egas explained how so-called “grandparent scams” are committed by fraudsters who play on people’s emotional vulnerabilities in order to get their financial information.
Streamway life LEC Laurie Kracht says there was a large turnout for the presentation, and residents paid close attention throughout the session, asking Det. Egas questions afterward.
Aside from being a valuable educational session for residents, the presentation also opened the door for future community partnerships with the CPS, Laurie says.
“This was a perfect opportunity to get back into the community and bring (the police) in,” she says. “Moving forward, they would love to come back to the home in the future.”
Meanwhile, at Village Green, residents and team members once again celebrated a different kind of event, one that has become a part of the Selby, Ont. long-term care home’s culture.
International Talk Like a Pirate Day is precisely that – a day dedicated to people talking like a pirate that dates back to 1995.
For the past two years, Village Green has joined the celebration by playing games with pirate themes, encouraging people to dress like pirates and, of course, talking like pirates.
LEC Ulana Orrick says one of the benefits of the day was that it engaged residents of all abilities in an entertaining program that generated lots of excitement.
“The residents all had a lot of fun,” she says.
