Winter 2007 Newsletter

Message from the Board
IT HAS BEEN LESS THAN EIGHTEEN
MONTHS BUT ALREADY ROGER’S
HOUSE HAS ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS
The Board of Directors are
entrusted to govern the house and
fiscally ensure our future. As a
AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF THE
‘new’ Board we have focussed as
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. The vision to well on our own development. With
build a home to care for our
the assistance of
children and youth and their
Bryan Herechuk,
families as a living
the Roger’s
legacy to Roger NeilHouse team and
son has truly come to
our community
fruition. Whereas the
partners we worked
previous year was
to develop our
dedicated to building
strategic plan and to
the foundation of
refine the vision,
Roger’s House
mandate and
the brick and
objectives of Roger’s
mortar, this year
House. Marion
we have focused
Rattray, Dr. Bill
on building the
Splinter and Lloyd Cowin have been
team to assure our house was
true leaders, guiding and developing the awesome talents of our
truly a home.
team of employees.
It is with great pride that I have
seen how the Board and the
employees have in such a short
time come together to not only care
for our children and youth but also
to care and support each other.
The entire Board of Directors and I
look forward to the coming year and
all of the upcoming opportunities to
learn and develop.
Julie Tubman
Chair, Board of Directors
Featured Event: 5th Annual Direct Energy Walk, Roll and Run
The Ottawa Senators Foundation
announced that $248,000 was raised
today in the fifth annual Direct Energy
Walk, Roll and Run for Roger’s House.
“The community continues to show its
outstanding support for the legacy of
Roger Neilson,” said Ottawa Senators
Foundation president Dave Ready.
“This year’s event was a tremendous
success, setting records for both
number of participants and funds
raised for Roger’s House.”
The event, which took place at
Ottawa’s Brookstreet Resort, saw
more than 1,000 participants take
part in either
5th Annual Direct Energy Walk, Roger's House is the
the 2-, 5- or
Roll and Run Raises $248,000 charity of choice of the
10-kilometre
Ottawa Senators
events.
for Roger’s House
Foundation. Located on
Senators
the grounds of the Children’s Hospital
players Martin Gerber, Antoine
of Eastern Ontario, Roger's House
Vermette and Roger’s House honorary
provides a comprehensive pediatric
chair Mike Fisher took part in the
respite and palliative care program
ceremonies and signed autographs for
with elements of outreach, residential
the participants.
hospice, pain and symptom
R O G E R ’ S H O U S E C H R O N I C L E S - W I N T E R 2007
management; grief and bereavement
counseling; and research.
Since opening its doors in May 2006,
Roger's
House has
had more
than 250
admissions. The
welcoming
homeaway-from-home atmosphere comforts
children and families who are admitted
to the state-of-the-art, eight-bedroom
facility, where dedicated professionals
and volunteers provide the very best in
compassionate care and support.
Roger’s House
Board of Directors
Julie Tubman (Chair)
Ray Byrne
Erin Crowe
Ruth Hartanto
Ian Hendry
Sylvie Lamoureux
Tamera Mlakar
Susan Richardson
Chad Schella
IT’S A FACT: Roger Neilson was head coach for 450 NHL wins!
House
News
Message from the Executive Director
WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO? Maybe
it is because Roger’s House was so
busy this past summer that the summer seemed to go by so quickly. A big
thank you goes out to all staff and volunteers who handled our high occupancy this summer
with calm and caring.
There is much to report
on related to positive
endorsements of our
services as well as opportunities to make improvements. I
will highlight a few of these.
Earlier this year we
received a very positive
licensing review from
the Ministry of Children
and Youth Services.
This was very validating to the
hard work that went into planning
and developing Roger’s House
services. The licensing review also
provided us with a few areas we could
improve upon, which is very helpful.
Mentorship
Program
We also received excellent feedback
from many families in our first annual
family satisfaction survey. The ratings
and comments were overwhelmingly
positive. We again learned some things
that we can improve on. The feedback
is very helpful and
appreciated. Thank
you to all families who
took the time to complete the survey--and
to Sarah Humphreys,
the RN at Roger’s
House who put the
survey together. An
employee committee
is working on
prioritizing the areas
we can improve upon.
We initiated a mentorship program this past spring, with
a grant received from the Ministry
of Health. Employees of Roger’s
House received training and
mentoring from Canuck Place, the Hos-
pice at May Court and the Isaac Walton
Killan Hospital. This valuable opportunity for our employees, volunteers and
some of our partners was successfully
led by Lynn Grandmaison Dumond, our
Advanced Practice Nurse.
We are working closely with Ron
Higgins of the Wren Group to review
and improve many of our processes at
Roger’s House. Ron’s expertise is
extremely valuable and helpful. We
expect these initiatives will make our
work more effective and efficient.
As we look ahead to 2008, we intend to
embark on accreditation with the Hospice Association of Ontario (HAO). This
is yet another opportunity for us to
review our services and processes and
improve what we do. Accreditation with
the HAO will be evidence to all families
that our services are meeting provincial
expectations.
edit and publish this newsletter. It is
a good example of how volunteers
contribute so much to the daily
operation of Roger’s House. Thank
you Bryan and to all of our dedicated
volunteers.
All of us at Roger’s House wish you
and your family a restful and happy
holiday season and all the best for
the New Year.
Lloyd Cowin
Executive Director
A special thanks goes out to Bryan
Herechuk who volunteered his time to
Roger’s House Interdisciplinary and InterOrganizational Mentorship Program
clarifying roles and responsiThe satisfaction of particibilities, enhancing collaborapants with the initiative was
tive practice and communioverwhelmingly positive.
IN THE SPRING OF 2007 ROGER’S HOUSE,
cation between team
Highlights included
one of only a few pediatric hospices in
members, improving
collaboration, collegiality,
Canada, partnered with 3 other palliative
program processes,
team building and validation
care agencies from across Canada to
structure and procedures
of shared practices. The
establish a mentoring initiative for Roger’s
and developing relationships
House professional staff, volunteers and
educational initiative has also
among and between like
community partners. The mentors were
set the stage for future
colleagues to enhance
asked to share
sharing of clinical Ali Black (far left) & Volunteer Mentors partnerships in pediatric
knowledge and skills
from Hospice at May Court
experience and
palliative care.
about caring for
research ideas.
children with life
We wish to thank the Hospice at May Court,
These goals were derived from the
limiting illnesses and
the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice and the
Roger’s House Inter-professional
their families. Roger’s
and Inter-organizational Mentoring
IWK Halifax Pediatric Palliative Care Team for
House’s Mentors
Needs Assessment as well as the
sharing their
included the Hospice
Roger’s House Program Improveknowledge, skill and
at May Court
ment and Feedback Survey (fall
expertise in
(Ottawa), the Canuck
2006).
caring for children
Place Children’s
Hospice at May Court Staff: Susan
One
hundred
and
seventy-one
with life limiting
Hospice (Vancouver)
Smith & Anne Tackaberry
participants (49 mentors and 118
illnesses and their
and the IWK Halifax
mentees) attended a total of 12
Pediatric Palliative Care Team. This initiafamilies with the
days of mentoring in 4 locations across
tive was funded through the InterRoger’s House
Canada. Participants logged in over 1121.5
professional Mentorship, Leadership and
Pediatric Hospice
hours of education and mentoring activities.
Coaching (IMPLC) Fund sponsored by the
Canuck Place Mentoring Team
professional staff,
Participation
was
interdisciplinary
in
nature
Ontario Ministry of Health and Long term
volunteers
and
and included professionals from the nursing,
Care, Nursing Secretariat.
partners.
medicine, pharmacy and allied health
The goals of the initiative included:
disciplines as well as numerous volunteers.
Lynn Grandmaison-Dumond
enhancing clinical skills of professionals,
R O G E R ’ S H O U S E C H R O N I C L E S - W I N T E R 2007
IT’S A FACT: Roger’s House went from conception to opening it’s doors within 2 years!
Volunteer
News
Message from the Coordinator of Volunteer Services
Roger’s House is proud to welcome
thirty-one new graduates of the Palliative Care Mandatory Training for
volunteers. These volunteers will be
qualified as Family Support
Volunteers. This role
involves working in the
residence with our guests
and their families. We are
pleased to have so many
qualified individuals and look forward
to welcoming them to the care team.
Some highlights:
• At last count, we have 155 active
volunteers
their magical touch to beautify our
home
• Since September Volunteers from
Speaker’s Bureau facilitated 9 events
and tours
• Roger’s House hosted two corporate
days of volunteering, two separate
groups, one came to the home to
assist with cataloguing the books in
the library and the other prepared
meals for the freezer.
• Knitting and sewing volunteers have
helped stock our supplies of slippers,
quilts and pyjamas
This is just a short list of the many
contributions that volunteers have made
to Roger’s House.
A Big Thank You to All! Thanks for being
part of the care team.
Lise Beauchemin
Coordinator of Volunteer Services
613-523-6300 ext. 605
lbeauchemin@cheo.on.ca
• Floral volunteers have been adding
Roger’s House: From A Nurse’s Eyes
When asked what we do for a living
the conversation usually comes to an
abrupt stop when we say…”I’m a
nurse at Roger’s House”. Quite often
the responses we hear are “I don’t
know how you do that”, or “It must be
such a sad place to work”. Truth be
told we are not sure how we could
not work where we do and although it
has its sad moments it is actually a
happy place.
There are many things in life that
occur which we cannot explain nor
justify but have to accept. Pediatric
palliative care is one of those
things. It is unfortunate that there is a
need for this service, but at the same
time, we feel it is a great honour and
privilege to be part of it. As nurses,
we know that there is little we can do
to stop a life limiting illness or
disease, but we can assure that these
children and their families have the
quality of life and dignity they so
deserve. Roger’s House is the place
where we can offer that type of care
and support.
Our job can certainly be mentally,
emotionally and spiritually challenging
but we receive never-ending support
from a team of professionals and an
amazing group of volunteers. Families graciously accept and welcome us
into their world as we work together to
make their journey a little easier. The
courage and strength we draw from
our families encourages us to grow
both personally and professionally. To
see a child’s face light up with a smile
or to be able to bring comfort to a
child in pain or to see parents who
were physically and mentally
exhausted spending time laughing
and playing with their child are our
rewards. We gain so much through
Family Satisfaction Survey
Roger’s House conducted its first
family satisfaction survey in July
2007. Surveys were mailed to all
families who had stayed at Roger’s
House during the first year of operations. We received 22 responses
(44 %), which is considered a good
response rate.
Staff and the Family Advisory
Committee will assess the format
and questions with plans to conduct
the survey yearly.
A working group of staff has
reviewed the results and will make
recommendations based on the
comments to management and to
the Family Advisory Committee.
Nora Ullyot
Roger’s House staff would like to
thank the families who responded
to the survey. Your input is
welcome at any time. We are
The overall rating was very positive committed to working in partnership
with an average of 89.5% of famiwith you to continue to provide the
lies indicating they were satisfied or best possible care for your children
very satisfied with the care they
and youth.
received.
R O G E R ’ S H O U S E C H R O N I C L E S - W I N T E R 2007
our experiences and the lessons these
families teach us will last a lifetime.
Regardless of what children are in the
house, whether for respite, transition,
pain and symptom management or
end of life care the rewards are
huge. So to answer the question, how
do we do it? This is not a job, but a
passion, a certain philosophy on life
and we are proud to say that we are
part of the Roger’s House family. And
yes, we do laugh at work.
Megan Sloan & Wendy Gougeon
Family
News
Family Advisory Committee
Family
News
• advise staff and volunteers through
We are pleased to announce the formation of the Roger’s House FAMILY
ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The FAC will have
an important role to play in advising the
Board of Directors on those issues that
have a direct impact on the familycentered care provided at Roger’s
House.
The FAC will include two board
members, 6 family representatives
including one youth, and one representative from both the CHEO palliative
care team and the nursing staff.
The FAC will:
• act as the liaison between the Board
and families
the Board
• be a ‘voice’ for other families,
ensuring that all families receive
support and care that meet their
needs; are in line with Roger’s
House vision, mission and value
statements; and respect different
cultural beliefs and customs
• ensure that the perspective of
guests and siblings are considered
when key decisions are made by the
Board and staff
• participate in networking with other
groups such as CHEO, CFAN
(Canadian Family Advisory Network)
and OCTC
with many initiatives such as
family surveys; family handbook;
and participating in learning
sessions for new staff and medical residents.
We hope to encourage other
Roger’s House families to
participate in short term, ad hoc
projects when needed.
Upcoming Events:
BELL / SENS SOIRÉE
Hilton Lac-Leamy
FEBRUARY 20, 2008
TELETHON FOR ROGER’S HOUSE
Roger’s Sportsnet
FEBRUARY 25, 2008
The FAC will provide advice on a
number of topics and will be involved
SUPPORT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES!
Roger's House is the charity of choice for the Ottawa
Senators Foundation. As such, the Ottawa Senators
Foundation has made a commitment to cover an
important portion of the annual operating budget for
Roger's House and to help build an endowment fund to
provide for its future financial stability and growth.
The Ottawa Senators Foundation handles all of the
fundraising/charitable receipting activities of Roger's
House and invites you to support them in continued
endeavors for Roger's House. Through the Ottawa
Senators Foundation you can make a donation or host
an event to benefit Roger's House.
For fundraising inquiries, please contact:
The Ottawa Senators Foundation
1000 Palladium Drive
Kanata, ON
K2V 1A5
tel: 613-599-0202
fax: 613-599-1471
rogershouse@ottawasenatorsfoundation.com
www.ottawasenatorsfoundation.com
ADDRESS:
399 SMYTH ROAD, OTTAWA, ON K1H 8L2
PHONE:
613-523-6300 EXT 600
FAX:
613-523-3617
EMAIL:
OLEYNIK@CHEO.ON.CA
WEBSITE:
WWW.ROGERSHOUSE.CA
R O G E R ’ S H O U S E C H R O N I C L E S - W I N T E R 2007
Roger’s House
Founding Sponsors