When Riverview Manor’s Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) team members spot a male resident who is agitated or appears bored, they have a toolkit – quite literally – they can turn to that will prevent responsive behaviours. Read more
With social distancing and restricted visitation in place to keep residents safe at Springdale Country Manor during the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, the Peterborough-area long-term care home has turned to music to bring people together. Read more
Trent University nursing students Dimitri Kulikov and Alana Mahoney, pictured above, created two workshops in the form of skits to demonstrate the value of two RNAO best practice guidelines to Riverview Manor staff members.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – Long-term-care home residents should never be part of a “to-do list” – rather, they should be engaged and empowered to help create their own care and making their own decisions. This is the central theme behind a case study two Trent University students have brought to life through a skit they created for Riverview Manor staff members. Read more
Springdale Country Manor resident Fred McCormick and director of care Kathy Shewell are pictured here as the Island Princess prepares to set sail for the Peterborough Lift Lock.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – About 30 residents from three OMNI Health Care long-term care homes took a scenic cruise through the Trent Severn Waterway aboard the Island Princess Sept. 17 to the famous Peterborough Lift Lock. Read more
The Pulling for Our Residents team from Riverview Manor pulls a 44,000-pound fire engine in the Peterborough Memorial Centre parking lot Sept. 16 during the fifth annual Pulling for Dementia fire truck pull fundraiser.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – Pulling for Our Residents, a 10-member team representing Riverview Manor, raised $4,500 in support of the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, Northumberland and Haliburton on Sept. 13 during the fifth annual Pulling for Dementia fire truck pull fundraiser in Peterborough. Read more
Riverview Manor BSO team member Karlie Phillips holds the costume-jewel-studded lanyard she made to prompt a resident to wear her decorative WanderGuard.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – When a Riverview Manor resident who exit-seeks was forgetting or refusing to keep her WanderGuard bracelet on her person, the Peterborough long-term care home’s Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) team came up with a clever idea that has since ensured the resident not only wears the device at all times, she also wants to be seen with it. Read more
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – About 20 residents and family members attended a June 25 information session at Riverview Manor to update them on the progress of the construction project to build a new 160-bed, three-storey home, which is slated to open in Peterborough’s north end by December 2022. Read more
Pictured above, Springdale Country Manor volunteer Lynda Rose (seated) and life enrichment co-ordinator Sonia Murney.
SPRINGVILLE, Ont. – Lynda Rose recalls how when her mother was living in a retirement home in North Bay she would make a monthly drive up to visit her. Lynda says she wished she could have spent more time with her mother, but she had a career and they lived far apart, so that was not always possible. Read more
Four Fleming College occupational therapy assistant/physiotherapy assistant students are doing a seven-week placement at Riverview Manor. Pictured above, from left to right: Jeel Patel, Divya Patel, instructor Natasha Annette-Lawrence, Domenique Douglas and Van Tran Thi Thao.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – Fleming College occupational therapy assistant/physiotherapy assistant (OP/PT) student Domenique Douglas says one thing that has stood out for her during her placement at Riverview Manor is how quickly she and other students can make a difference in residents’ quality of life. Read more
Pictured from left to right, Riverview Manor BSO team lead Becky Dennie, PSW Nicole Munro and RPN Carly Kenny.
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – Riverview Manor registered practical nurse (RPN) Carly Kenny says she applied for a position on the Peterborough long-term care home’s Behavioural Supports Ontario (BSO) team nine months ago because she saw opportunities to use her skills to enhance the quality of life for residents living with dementia.
The BSO team works with residents living with dementia who are exhibiting responsive behaviours. The goal of BSO teams in long-term care homes is to prevent the triggers that may cause residents to become agitated, largely by learning about each person’s history.
“It was a different avenue to go into,” Carly tells The OMNIway. “I’ve done lots of hands-on nursing over the years, and this was a new path to grow and to explore.”
Carly notes there is a major focus on providing person-centred care in the long-term care sector and learning about people’s history and how their history may be impacting them now that they have a cognitive impairment. This, she says, helps improve the quality of care provided to residents.
Carly says some of the key interventions she has found helpful in working to prevent agitation in residents with cognitive impairment include music therapy; environmental changes, such as room rearrangements; and one-to-one time.
“Everyone is kind of like a puzzle when they have dementia,” Carly says. “You have to figure out what is unique about them and how you can best support them.”
Indeed, Carly’s experience as an RPN has been a major asset to the BSO team since she joined, says Riverview Manor BSO team lead Becky Dennie.
“Carly brings many years of experience as an RPN to the table, so just having that experience and bringing that to the team, the four girls (on the BSO team) will focus on a task and she is very good at keeping everyone focused,” Becky 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.
If you have a story you would like to share with The OMNIway, please contact the newsroom at deron(at)axiomnews.com.
If you have feedback on this story, please contact the newsroom at deron(at)axiomnews.com.