There have been a small number of people taking advantage of visiting their loved one in the Community Garden area. Residents were very happy to be talking and visiting with you without having a piece of glass between you. We celebrated Father’s Day all weekend with a Fishing Tournament, crunchy perch dinner, and some sports on the TV!!! Chantell, who is one of our library staff working here at the Home created a wonderful Fathers Day Video that you can view here.
As a reminder you will need to call a COVID-19 assessment center to get your COVID-19 swab test completed. It will take approximately 24-48 hours to obtain your results. The number for the Napanee Assessment Centre held at the Lenadco Complex (across the road from JMPC) is 613-354-8254. Other COVID assessment centers are available near you. The link to access your results for this testing is here. The Home will need to see a screenshot or document that you will show to the screener on the day of your visit (we don’t need to have this in advance) confirming you have been tested and have had a negative result in the past 2 weeks. You are not able to visit without having your negative results in hand. We made a video to walk you through what you can expect when having an outdoor garden visit which we shared last Thursday. In case you missed it, you can find it here. You will be asked a series of questions regarding your health as it is imperative that you not visit if you are unwell or were recently unwell. Questions will include whether you have a new or worsening cough; shortness of breath; sore throat; runny nose; nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, etc. You will also be required to use hand sanitizer which will be at the screening table.
Outdoor visiting will occur in the front community garden with yourselves on the outside of the fenced area and the residents on the inside of the fenced area. Physical distancing must be adhered to on both sides of the fence. Please bring your own mask to wear during the entire visit and also bring your own lawn chair. By having you bring your own lawn chair it saves our staff from having to go out and wipe down all of the visitor chairs in between each visitors use. You must not bring treats/drinks etc for your loved one. All parcels/treats must continue to be dropped off at the screening table as has been occurring all along.
A visiting schedule has been set up online using the same link as you have been using for zoom and window visits. Find it here. If you are unable to access this online tool, please reach out to the Home at 613 354 3306 and you will be supported in arranging this visit. Candice has been kept very busy with very high volumes of calls and emails regarding booking the visits and questions. Please consider reviewing the previous newsletters as many of the questions being asked are answered in these documents.
We will staff the Community Garden area while visiting is occurring. We will have drinks available for the residents, sun hats, and sun screen should they wish for or need this. Let’s hope for lots of sunshine! We will have multiple visits happening simultaneously so it will be imperative that everyone is mindful of physical distancing.
If this is your first time reading our newsletter, I would encourage you to go to this link where you will find the previous newsletters should you wish to view them.
Hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter,
Angela Malcolm
Director
What's New at JMPC
Menu -- Here is the menu for this week with the following changes made.
Monday Lunch – Summer vegetable Omelet changed to French Toast with peameal bacon
Wednesday Lunch – Orzo pasta Salad changed to Greek Pasta Salad – as per resident request
Wednesday Dinner – Irish Stew changed to Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding - Monthly Birthday Dinner request - chosen by Richard Hunt
Thursday – Turkey Chili changed to Turkey Sausage on a Bun
Thursday Dinner – Baked Ham Changed to Cottage Roll
Friday Lunch – Hamburger Changed to BBQ Hot dog on a bun (activation will BBQ)
Friday Dinner – Tomato Basil Baked Cod Changed to Lemon Pepper Cod as per resident request
Program Schedule -- Here is this week's program schedule.
Window Visit REMINDER – We are keeping the blinds closed as much as possible right now due to the hot temperatures. If you are coming for a window visit, you can always let the screener know at the front entrance and they can advise the staff that you are here so that the blind can be put back up for your visit.
Zoom Meetings, Window Visits & Garden Visits
Book yourZoom and Window and Garden Visit online using Picktime!
In order to help you with this online booking tool, we have created a step by step video that walks you through how to book your visit. You can view thishere.
We ask that visits be scheduled a day ahead and that weekend requests are completed by Friday at 2pm. For zoom visits, you will receive a confirmation email first. Then, 1 day prior to your zoom visit you will receive the zoom link emailed to you from the Home.
If you have any questions please call 613-354-3306 and someone will help you or email Candice.
Please note that you can continue to enjoy your zoom visit along with a Garden visit or window visit. You certainly can have more than one form of connection with your loved one.
Getting to Know Us
Some of you may not be familiar with Michelle Hickey-Clarke. Michelle is our Behavioural Support RPN. Michelle has been putting together our isolation kits, and working to create a sensory room in Lilac Knoll. Michelle is a certified Gentle Persuasive Approach (GPA) coach.
. It’s always nice to put a name to a face….. Here’s Michelle!
Noise and Dementia
The negative effects noise can have on one’s health may be more damaging than you would expect. Extreme, undesirable noise can increase blood pressure, heart rate, cause fatigue, anxiety, impaired immune function, impaired hearing and confusion. For a person living with dementia, excessive noise can gravely impact their quality of life.
Hearing, out of all of the 5 senses, has the greatest impact on those living with dementia. This is partly because dementia worsens sensory changes and alters how people perceive stimuli around them. Because hearing is a fundamental part of balance, overstimulated and noisy environments greatly increase risk of falling. The person living with dementia can easily become disoriented in noisy situations as they are not able to respond appropriately to unwanted noise like moving away from or simply removing the noise.
A person living with dementia can also have significant behavioural changes when senses other than hearing are overloaded at the same time. Busier times of the day in Long Term Care such as meal times and change in shift are often noted by staff to be the times when residents exhibit different behavioural changes. For example, wandering during these times may be a way for a resident living with dementia to remove themselves from noisy, overstimulated situations.
STRATEGIES USED BY JMPC TO REDUCE NOISE LEVELS
With the help of family, staff find out what music or songs individuals prefer and play this at an appropriate level for short periods of time. If music is played in group settings, staff watch for residents who may become anxious or restless. If this occurs, the music will be changed or that resident may be moved to a quieter more relaxing space.
Televisions in common areas are turned off when programs end and not left on to expose residents to continued unwanted stimuli.
Many residents living with dementia have aphasia which is the loss of language, leaving them unable to understand what is being said. Staff are educated not to talk across a resident to another staff when assisting with a task such as eating.
When encouraging residents to assist with tasks such as setting tables, staff ensure the task is kept simple. Handing the resident one item to set, such as cups, will keep the clanging of dinnerware to a minimum while avoiding overstimulation.
Long Term Care Homes can be noisy environments. Devices such as pagers, alarms and telephones, can be intrusive. Many new devises used at JMPC have the capability to be placed on vibrate, decreasing excessive background noise.
Limiting noise can be extremely beneficial to a person living with dementia. A good example of this is at night when they are having difficulty sleeping. Playing quiet, calming music for a short period can help silence the brain that is struggling to regulate itself from overstimulation. Appropriate noise levels can help improve focus for a person living with dementia. Completing a task with low level conversation or even silence can significantly increase concentration for those living with the disease.
Celebrating through song and dance is a necessary and greatly enjoyed by those living with dementia. Our best intentions of playing loud, upbeat music during these times may not serve a person with dementia well. If we can remember that they truly benefit from reduced noise and stimulation, then we will be ultimately supporting an improved quality of life for them.
Message from the Chair of Family Council
Candice and I have worked on trying to improve the glare and reflection during window visits. I went in at different times of the day. Fold out poster boards were purchased and are available just inside the foyer door to the left for anyone’s use. If you set them on one of the tables and adjust to where the light is, they do help. I have also arranged to have the first row of lights indoors turned off as this too seems to help. Not perfect but some help. I know we all pray for the time we can just hold our loved one’s hand.
We have only heard from three families so thought we would put the survey out one more time should you wish to provide comment. The survey will help us understand the type of supports or assistance that we could provide. Here is a link to a few questions that would help us to focus our efforts to resources you would find valuable.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions that you would like to have answered in this newsletter
Activation Staff made a wonderful burger BBQ for residents to enjoy on Friday
Paint Afternoon was made possible thanks to a generous donation from the Lowry family to support art programs at JMPC!
Enjoying the sunshine
Cool Treats
We made a Time Capsule this week. Residents wrote a letter to themselves and decorated it, sealed it up and they will be opened June 2021. The Time Capsule is in the library on the top shelf.