Day Trip to Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory Monday, September

September 2014 Newsletter
Afternoon Social &
Entertainment
with Donald
Monday, September 1st
Residents’ Council
Meeting
Wednesday, September
10, 2 pm,
Community Centre
Sunday Social
September 14
2 pm, Main Street
Salvation
Army
Thursday,
September 11
7 pm, Chapel
Birthday Bash
Tuesday, September
30
2 pm, Main Street
Volume 12, Issue 9
Day Trip to
Cambridge Butterfly
Conservatory
Monday, September 29th
9– 4:30
Butterfly Conservatory is home to over 2000 free-flying
tropical
butterflies in a rainforest setting.
Take a stroll through the Live Butterfly Conservatory and
Enjoy the lunch( Home Made Soup & Sandwich).
$50 per resident
Space Limited
Please Sign Up in the Recreation Office
Alzheimer Society
Coffee Break
Family Council
Meeting
Saturday, September 6
Council Chamber
Thursday, September 18
1-3 pm on the Main Street
Pub Night
Golden Oldies
Friday, September 26
7 pm,
Main Street
Saturday, September 20
2 pm, Main Street
Welcome to
The Village of
Erin Meadows
David Kent
Dundas
Zak Ebeid
Howland
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Anneliese
Krueger
General Manager
A Note from
General Manager
This year we have been focusing on a few of our aspirations including
promoting cross-functional teams, fostering authentic relationships, and promoting resident
empowerment. We believe that we can improve Village life for our residents through team
work that breaks down departmental silos and encourages collaboration and cooperation between all team members.
Promote Cross-Functional Teams - In our Village, all team members are engaged with every
aspect of resident life by fostering collaboration through leadership, coaching, mentoring, education and critical reflection within each neighbourhood.
In 2014 we started cross-functional orientation days for new team members. The orientation day consists of a few hours spent within each department to give insight into the valuable work each team member does to support residents, and to help a new team member better
understand how their own role intersects with the other’s. Through greater role clarity of our
own roles and those around us, we can recognise areas where we can help each other and
more deeply appreciate the unique contributions of each person on the team. The feedback
from new team members has been great and the day has been viewed as a valuable learning
opportunity.
We will soon be rolling out the cross-functional orientation day to our current team members so they, too, can share in the experience.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our annual Conversation Cafés and Culture Change Week. This year we will structure the cafés slightly differently than in previous
years. We will ask only one question of you: Where do we go from here? You may recall
seeing in a previous newsletter the beautiful illustration of reflection on our culture change
journey. They are posted on the Main Street bulletin board as well. Seeing the tremendous
progress we have already made, where would you like to see us go next? There will be many
opportunities for you to share your feedback and participate in exciting events throughout the
week of September 15th. Please see your Neighbourhood bulletin board for a list of café
dates and Culture Change Week activities. The week will end off with a huge celebration on
Sunday, September 21st at 2pm. Please watch for details to come!
Our Mission is to provide holistic heath care in a home environment located within
an internal neighbourhood design that promotes a caring community, with emphasis
on optimal health and life purpose
for each resident.
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Wishing you a
Happy Birthday!
Howland
Irene Ford September 2
Joan Mary Smith September 3
Derry
Kathleen Bancroft-Dyer
September 10
Maude Hamilton September 4
Pearl Ludlow September 14
Marion Stolar September 7
Mildred Tuckett September 26
Trafalgar
Joseph Primeau September 10
Savitri Khosla September 19
Dundas
Maria Melo September 3
David Kent September 8
Violet Hale September 13
Sheridan
Doris Auber September 29
Linda Kelly September 5
Mercedes Sargent September 30
Meadowvale
Barbara Warren September 4
IN MEMORIAM
Ann Rogers September 18
Birthday Bash
Tuesday, September 30
Salwa Elsharief September 22
2 pm Main Street
Roberte Pepin September 22
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Nursing Corner
Denis Zafirovski, Director of Nursing Care
Dear Residents, Families, and Team Members,
As I am writing this newsletter article we just received our debriefing feedback from the
Ministry
of Health inspectors, who were with us for the past two weeks conducting the annual Resident Quality inspection. Once we receive the official report, it will be posted on Main Street and available to the
public as well. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all residents, families, and team members
who participated in the inspection process in any way, and I am hopeful that it’ll be applied as a learning experience and an opportunity to improve the quality of life for the residents of Erin Meadows.
Fall is just around the corner and with that the shorter and cooler days are fast approaching. However, looking at the bright side, September and October are generally comfortable months weather-wise
and accompanied with the nice autumn colors of nature. I trust that all of you enjoyed this year’s
summer fun fair. Thanks to all the residents, families, and volunteers who participated and contributed for another successful and fun event and congratulations to John Knox on winning the potato
sack race.
The fall is also associated with the start of the flu season. Hence, with focus on prevention, we are
preparing ahead to be ready for the flu season and we will offer the seasonal flu vaccine to all of our
residents and team members. We strongly recommend that all family members receive the seasonal
flu vaccine as well, especially the ones who are visiting their loved ones on a regular basis. This is
both to protect yourselves and your families, and for the safety of all residents in the village. Additionally, when visiting your loved ones please remember to be diligent with your hand hygiene practices as well.
A quick reminder to all residents and family members that since the transition to our new foot care
service provider, On-site specialists, new consent forms are needed before residents can be seen.
There are still several residents that have been receiving foot care services in the village and their
consents are still pending. These consent forms are available on all the neighborhoods and please
speak with the respective neighborhood coordinator if you have any additional questions. Additionally, a reminder to all family members to update their contact information, when it changes, with our
administrative team Flo or Sujeeva. This is to ensure we have current contact info for all family members on file when trying to schedule admission or annual care conferences.
Finally, I would like to remind all team members about the deadlines to complete all of the mandatory
annual in-services on Schlegel Marketplace. Please note that the system gives 11 months from the
last time one completed the in-service, i.e., if you completed an in-service in October of 2013 it will be
due in September of 2014, and so on. These mandatory in-services are an expectation from all team
members and will be part of everyone’s performance feedback. For all educational in-services completed on own time success points will be awarded.
In closing, I would like to recognize one of our team members, Michelle Oliver, a PCA from our Trafalgar neighborhood, for going above and beyond her role and responsibilities and seeking opportunities to enhance resident’s quality of life here in Erin Meadows. Among many other things, on her
way to work Michelle always brings a cup of iced cappuccino to one of our residents to make his day
brighter. Thank you Michelle for finding ways to make our residents happy. You are a great asset to
the team and we are very happy to have you.
Spiritual Care Programs
Pricely Francis, Chaplain
Caregivers Multi-faith Guidelines
The Research Institute For Aging (RIA) recently published Multi-Faith Practices: Guidelines for Caregivers.
This is a user-friendly resource to help team members, residents, family members and even
visitors in retirement and long-term care homes understand the traditions and practices of six major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.
The guide provides a short description of each religion and its major beliefs, including a
summary of holidays and holy days, as well as practical tips about caring for residents when they
are sick or nearing the end of life. Prayers that are generally accepted within each religion are also
included.
Copies of the multi-faith practice guide will be available in each neighbourhood. Caregivers who have a particular interest in spiritual care may contact the Chaplain for a copy of the
booklet. See me personally, or leave a message at extension 808, option 3.
This booklet is just one of the many ways we put on bold display our recognition of our
religious and cultural diversity.
Alan Bradshow
Social Service
Coordinator
Sharing Social work with You
I’m sure that all of us can agree that September has come again much too
quickly and just like previous years July and August seemed to have gone by in a
blink of an eye. Like every other month September has some notable days.
Apparently September 19th is Talk like a Pirate Day which is the first time I’ve ever
heard about that one! However, on a more serious note in Japan on the third
Monday of September they celebrate the national holiday of Respect for the Aged
day. In Canada and the U.S the first Sunday after Labour Day is National Grandparents Day so this year it is September 7. Many other countries around the
world have a day like this as well, for example, Italy has had this day since 2005
but for them it is celebrated on October 2nd. Grandparents’ Day is not a very publicized holiday which is why every year I have mentioned it in the September
newsletter. It is a good reason to go and spend time with a loved one or any senior to help show them that they are appreciated. Remember that this is only one
day and we should try our best to show our appreciation for seniors all year
round!
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Moez Jamal
Program for Active
Living Exercise
Therapist
Program for Active Living
Lauren’s Farewell
Thank you Erin Meadows for this amazing learning experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here as the
student kinesiologist and am certain the knowledge and experiences I accumulated will help me prevail
with all my future endeavors. I will be continuing my studies this summer at the University of Waterloo. I
want to thank each one of the Team member’s and residents for giving me a warm welcome when I first
started here and helping all along the way
Angela’s Introduction
Hello Erin Meadows,
My name is Angela Keller and I am the new kinesiology student working here at Erin Meadows. I am very
excited to get the chance to run daily exercise programs and to meet and interact with everyone.
A little bit about myself
I have just completed my second year of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo.
This is my second work term but it is my first time working at Schlegel Villages. I
am greatly enjoying my program and the opportunities available to me. My first coop placement was at St. Mary’s General Hospital Cardiac Rehab Program which
was a great experience. I really enjoyed the environment and the rehabilitation
side of Kinesiology which is why I wanted to work at Erin Meadows. I am originally
from the Kitchener Waterloo area but moved her in order to work in Mississauga. I
am currently enjoying the experience of living away from home and excited to learn
and try new things. I want to thank everyone for being so welcoming to me during
my first week and I can’t wait to get to know each and every one of the residents living here !
Canadian Lions Eye Glass Recycling
Program
Lions Recycle for Sight
The Donation Box is in General office
now.
Please Drop off your old eye glasses
there.
Your donated eye glasses will be
sent to developing countries
In August we experienced
some challenges with our
phone system, specifically
with the voicemail features.
The problem has now been
corrected. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this
may have caused.
Summer Fun Fair
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Vol. 9, Issue 9 September2011
Summer Fun Fair
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Cooksville
Lions Club and
Lion Bob Emond
for sponsoring
the BBQ
Mississauga Fire Department
Power 122
Captain Stephen Norwood, John Flatt
Peter Benko and Adam Nelson
And all
other
precious
volunteers
who
helped us
to make
it a
successful
event.
Larissa Alsayed
Coordinator of
Volunteers
Volunteer Central
Reasons Why You Should Volunteer
Surfing on-line, I went through an interesting article, some ideas of which I would like to
share with all EM volunteers, family members, friends and visitors. Enjoy the reading!
Volunteering isn’t something to put off until you have extra time and money. There are numerous reasons why the returns far outweigh the time you invest, especially during lean
times. I’ll point out just few reasons you should consider making volunteering a part of your
every day life.
1. Volunteers live longer and are healthier.
Volunteers are happier and healthier than non-volunteers. In fact, during later life, volunteering is even more beneficial for one's health than exercising and eating well. Older people who
volunteer remain physically functional longer, have more robust psychological well-being,
and live longer. However, older people who volunteer are almost always people who volunteered earlier in life. Health and longevity gains from volunteering come from establishing
meaningful volunteer roles before you retire and continuing to volunteer once you arrive in
your post-retirement years.
2. Volunteering establishes strong relationships.
Despite all of the online connections that are available at our fingertips, people are lonelier
now than ever before. Indeed, a social study reported that prevalence of loneliness is at an all
time high, with about one in three adults age 45 or older categorized as lonely. Online connections, while useful for maintaining existing relationships, are not very helpful in establishing lasting, new ones. Working alongside people who feel as strongly as you do about supporting a particular cause creates a path to developing strong relationships with others. It isn’t just beneficial for making new friendships either. Volunteering alongside other members
of your family strengthens family bonds based in ―doing‖ your values. And these benefits
have a ripple effect. Children who volunteer with their parents are more likely to become
adults who volunteer.
3. Volunteering is good for your career.
People who volunteer make more money, partially because the relationships people create
while volunteering can be leveraged for financial benefit. In 1973, a John’s Hopkins Sociologist named Mark Granovetter described the important role of ―weak ties.‖ Weak ties are those
relationships that are outside of one’s close-knit social network. These relationships are important because they provide access to new information and opportunities. People in your
close network provide redundant information—they are already participating in the same
kinds of activities and know the same people. Volunteering has long been viewed as a way to
create new ―weak tie‖ connections that lead to career opportunities. Volunteering in your current career industry—or an area you’d like to transition into—is an especially effective way to
leverage social connections for career gain.
We will back to this topic and more reasons to mention in the next newsletter.
Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com
Recreation Report
Sami Kermani
Director of Recreation
Well, how did you enjoy our Summer Fun Fair? Wasn’t it a blast? From what I’ve heard
from the residents, families and team members, it was an interesting, enjoyable and fun day.
A million thanks to you, residents and families, for supporting me and my team by attending
our events and for being that much helpful, positive and encouraging.
Christmas Bazaar is happening on Saturday,
November 22nd. We are working hard on it, but as usual your help is a great asset and would
undoubtedly improve our event. If you knit, quilt, sew or have a craft idea please contact me
at Ext. 807. Preserves, jam, pickles and definitely baking (baking on November 21st and 22nd
only) are the other items that would be greatly appreciated. We are also counting on you for
donations for silent auction table. I am confident that you will support me by any means, as
you have for the past eight years. And please remember: we do all of this for our dear
residents, to make sure they have meaningful activities to do, so they add meaning to their
life and happiness at Erin Meadows.
Day Trip to Cambridge Butterfly
Conservatory
Monday, September 29th
9– 4:30
$ 50.00 per resident
Butterfly Conservatory is home to over 2000 free-flying troical
butterflies in a rainforest setting.
Take a stroll through the Live Butterfly Conservatory and
Enjoy the lunch( Home Made Soup & Sandwich).
Space is limited
Please sign up in the Recreation Office
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September Family Council Update
Summer Fun Fair – August 23
We had fun at this year’s Fun Fair! We sold sweets, focaccia loaves, and prints, plus raffle tickets for a massage. Congratulations to Neighbourhood Coordinator Chi Awadh, who had the
winning ticket. We raised almost $200, including a generous donation from a family member.
We will meet with the Palliative Care Committee soon to plan how the money will be spent.
Our friends and relatives took part in the games and enjoyed the food. We greeted family members we knew and welcomed the families of some new residents.
We owe a big thank you to Sami Kermani and her team for helping us set up and giving us a
prime spot right inside the front entrance. A most successful day.
August Family Council Meeting
We were scheduled to discuss our mission statement and terms of reference, but Denis Zafirovski, Director of Nursing, was available, so we took the opportunity to hear him speak about
care conferences.
The first care conference occurs within six weeks after a resident moves into the home. Subsequent annual care conferences are scheduled around the anniversary of the first one. The resident and family members attend, along with whatever team members are involved in the resident’s care. In addition to the annual conference, team members hold quarterly conferences
(RAP meetings). Afterwards they advise family members of the issues discussed and seek input from the family.
Flo Abiog, Administrative Assistant, contacts families to set up annual care conferences. It is
important for family members who are primary contacts to advise the home of any changes in
their phone numbers, addresses, or email so she has up-to-date information.
Schedule for the rest of 2014:
September 6
October 4
November 1
December
Family Council Mission Statement and Terms of Reference
Update by the General Manager
Update by the Director of Environmental Services
no meeting
Contact us at familycouncilvoem@gmail.com. Let us know if you want to suggest topics for future meetings or if you wish to receive the minutes of our meetings.
We meet in the Council Chambers on Main Street on the first Saturday of each month, except
for long weekends, when we meet on the following Saturday. All family members and friends of
residents are welcome.
The Family Council is an open forum of family and friends of residents. Its mission is to ensure
the best quality of care for all the residents. It is a member of the Family Councils’ Program in
Ontario.
Alan Bradshaw
Social Services
Coordinator
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