February News from The Views at St. Joseph's |
The Views Family Support Group on Zoom |
We're offering Family Support Group meetings via Zoom to help support family members during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are pleased to offer an alternative to meet from our own individual spaces with the restrictions in place for onsite visitation and social gatherings.
This opportunity invites you to share feelings, thoughts or experiences you and your loved ones have had while living through this pandemic. It's also a forum where you can voice concerns about your loved one living at The Views during these difficult times.
This group offers a safe, confidential and compassionate environment where feelings can be shared and honored.
Family Support Group meetings will take place on the third Wednesday of each month from 2 to 3 pm.
Our next Zoom Family Support Group meeting will be held on March 19, 2021, at 2 pm (PST). You can access the meeting via the below details.
Meeting ID: 861 9427 6788
Passcode: 316148
If you have any questions, you can email Brian Ducedre or call him at 778-431-0282 ext. 68794.
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Taking a Moment – Learning series for The Views family members
(via Zoom)
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We are offering four upcoming sessions on a mixture of topics, including exploring dementia and dementia-communication strategies, as well as topics related to self-care and resilience for the caregiving journey.
All sessions are offered on Zoom each Wednesday from 3 to 4 pm, starting on March 3.
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Session 1: Revisiting dementia – Wednesday, March 3 from 3-4 pm. This session will explore the term ‘dementia’ and the illnesses that cause it. We will explore the common symptoms of the dementia syndrome, and how they affect the behaviour of our family members.
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Session 2: Strengthening our connections – Wednesday, March 10 from 3-4 pm. In this session, we will explore communication challenges that arise in caring for our family members who have cognitive difficulties, and some wise strategies to optimize our mutual connections. We will also talk about in-the-moment strategies to use when our attempts to connect lead to distress for the person with dementia or ourselves.
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Session 3: Ambiguous grief in dementia care partnering – Wednesday, March 17 from 3-4 pm. When we love someone who is living with dementia, we are constantly having to adjust to losses – losses in the person’s ability to function and communicate, and emotional losses resulting from the change in our relationship over time. This kind of ongoing change leads to grief, which is called ambiguous grief as no one has died, and yet the person we knew has changed and we experience pain around those changes. We will explore ways to acknowledge and deal with this grief that occurs while our family member is still living.
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Session 4: Growing resilience as a care partner/caregiver – Wednesday, March 24 from 3-4 pm. Dealing with constant change and ambiguous grief, as well as COVID, and the limitations on our lives in trying to keep this illness at bay, we all need to be able to bounce back from challenge and find a new stride. This is called resilience. In this session, the participants will be introduced to 5 key aspects of resilience, and two superchargers of resilience: mindfulness & self-compassion.
Facilitators
Dr. Elisabeth Drance is a Geriatric Psychiatrist who has worked in Vancouver over the past 30 years. She has lived experience as the daughter of two parents with dementia, and over the past three years has been working with family caregivers with high levels of caregiver distress in the Dementia Caregiver Resilience Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital. A recent transplant to Gabriola Island, Dr. Drance will be providing consultation services to a new memory service in Nanaimo slated for spring of 2021. Dr. Drance is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher with the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.
Jennifer Bertrand is a Social Worker at The Views. She has been in the Social Services field for the past 30 years in a variety of roles, the past 16 years in hospital and community. In her current role, she has been enjoying getting to know the residents and connecting with family members.
If you are interested in these interactive sessions, or you have any questions, please email Jennifer Bertrand or call her at 778-431-0280 ext. 68700.
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Next Family Feedback Meeting |
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The next Family Feedback Meeting will be held next Thursday, March 4 at 2 pm (PST) on Zoom via the below details.
Meeting ID: 846 4009 3047
Passcode: 419821
Lena Ross, Communications Specialist for Providence Living, will be holding a short discussion to gather families' thoughts on a new name for The Views Redevelopment Project (see The Views Redevelopment section further down in this email for more information).
Our Pharmacist Lanai Vek from CareRX Pharmacy, will also share information on how medications will be billed as we move away from the Hospital Act.
Please contact Brenda Phillips if you would like the Zoom link emailed to you directly.
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Resident Suzanne Hind (age 102!) receives her first vaccination. |
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We're thrilled to have Island Health onsite to provide second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the vast majority of residents on Monday, March 1. This is a momentous day as our residents receive the highest level of protection against COVID-19.
The routine will be similar to the first doses. All teams at The Views will be pitching in to help out, and family members have graciously offered to reschedule any visits scheduled during this time.
The visitation team will again help with bringing residents to the clinic locations onsite, and the residents will be kept for at least 15 minutes following their vaccinations to monitor for any side effects.
All staff at The Views are encouraged to support our residents as this is a very big deal for them! We saw how they all really enjoyed all the activity during the first dose, so we'll make this a special day for them again this time!
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For general information about the COVID-19 vaccine, please see the following:
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Please see below for details on visits at The Views:
- Designated visitors can book in-person social visits
- Everyone can book window and virtual visits
- Visits are available every day of the week from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
- Evening social visits are available until 7:00 pm
To book your visit:
Call 778-431-0280 extension 68788 during business hours to speak to our Visitation Supervisor Abby.
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Reminder to follow public health guidelines at all times |
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We are asking everyone who visits The Views to please follow all public health guidelines when onsite and while out in the community.
As you may have seen in the news, there’s been a marked increase in COVID exposures in the Comox Valley, including at several schools and places of business. On Monday, Island Health reported the number of positive cases in north island communities had more than doubled over three days as a result of social contact.
As a result, many people in our community have been directed to self-isolate. We’re hoping these exposures were identified early so as not to spread. This is why it’s so important to remain vigilant and follow all the public health guidelines. Though the emergence of vaccines is a bright light of hope, we’re not out of the woods yet. There’s still a long way to go before we can look at loosening restrictions.
All visitors are reminded to:
- continue to closely self-monitor, and do not come in to visit if you are experiencing any COVID symptoms
- if you're contacted by an Island health contact tracer and given direction to self-isolate, please let us know
- Public Health guidelines are in effect that strictly prohibit any gatherings or socializing with anyone not in your household
- non-essential travel is not permitted, which includes out-of-town weekends for recreation purposes
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Providence Living values in action |
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We saw many examples of staff living the Providence Living values this month! But a few people stood out for modeling how to navigate these trying times with grace and care for others.
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Showcasing our value of spirituality by nurturing the creativity, love and compassion within us all, our wonderful volunteer Ann Anderson made individual “thank you” Valentine’s Day cards to remind our staff how much they’re cared for.
These were so thoughtful and appreciated. We can’t wait until our incredible volunteers can return and continue their great work with staff and residents!
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Also showcasing creativity, love and compassion, the wonderful signs Glen Halverson has been making to put outside The Views have brightened our days during these dark winter months!
On top of his roles as the Views bus driver and employee in the Adult Day Program, Glen continues to add so much positivity to our daily lives by making these signs at home on his days off. Some of his great turns of phrase include, “The best view comes after the hardest climb,” and “Make today so great that yesterday gets jealous!”
Reflecting our values of stewardship and trust, Glen and Joyce Lane Shepherd have been creating fun events for the Adult Day Program to promote inclusion, wellbeing and support.
They’ve been showing so much creativity in their programming, and are always on the lookout for new and special programs and events to engage the ADP clients.
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In Glen’s own words, “bringing joy to our clients and stirring up happy memories is so satisfying.”
Glen even had the ADP clients flying 38,000 feet looking out the airplane window while having lunch! And he doesn’t shy away from dressing up for theme days to spread fun and joy. In fact, Glen is so thoughtful he even brought in a bunch of long-stemmed red roses on Wednesday to randomly hand out to a few staff members. What a guy!!
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The Views redevelopment update |
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New name for care village
Providence Living has uncovered a need to move away from the syndrome-focused “dementia village” term towards something more reflective of home, life and living.
The term “dementia village” has gained traction with media, government and the public over the past few years. However, key stakeholders — including residents, families, and others in the seniors’ care community — have reflected this term is not an appropriate way to refer to these positive, person-centred communities.
As The Views Redevelopment Project ramps up quickly, a new name is being developed to describe the project and evoke the village concept in a unique and memorable way. This new name must work for multiple purposes: reputation, fundraising, local communities including First Nations, and other considerations to be identified through the naming process.
A discussion will be held on the new name at the next Family Feedback meeting on March 4.
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Partner and stakeholder outreach
This month, members of the project team met with Indigenous community representatives to better understand how to work together in partnership. Because we’re planning to include an Indigenous-only household, we’re seeking input from community representatives to ensure this will be a safe, culturally appropriate space for the Indigenous Elders who will reside there.
This was a very positive meeting with great synergy and will be the first of many. As touchpoints in planning and operations, Providence Living has a strong desire and commitment to uphold the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples framework.
Mark Blandford, Vice President, Seniors Care, Clinical & Operations, also brought in key leaders from Providence Health Care to jointly review recent schematics with The Views Leadership Team. This was a terrific opportunity to get input from a varied group, as many have worked at other long-term care sites, opened other homes, and attended various conferences, which allowed them to provide many useful insights.
Overall, the feedback was very positive with excellent suggestions brought forward. These include how to improve food transportation, suggestions for building functional design (such as not underestimating storage needs), and opportunities for virtual care. Feedback was provided to the development consultants who will make modifications to the building design, within budget, to best meet our residents’ needs.
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Public consultation update
Following our values, we’ve wrapped up the second stage of a two-step public consultation process as outlined by the Town of Comox. This involved presenting early visuals of our care village redevelopment project for feedback from the broader community.
The public consultation brought forward many favourable responses towards the project indicating familiarity with the dementia village concept, more resources for seniors, support for innovation in seniors’ care, and support for The Views and Providence Living. A key issue that emerged is the redevelopment blocking individual, neighbourhood and public views. Some respondents expressed support for the project in general, but had concerns with this aspect.
As a next step, a group of representatives from Providence Living and The Views will present to the Comox Town Council next week to inform them of plans for the redevelopment, an estimate of timelines, benefits to the community, and overall site planning. They will also address findings from the public consultation and how the project will address these.
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Process for family feedback
Should you have any thoughts to share on the redevelopment project, please email [email protected] and note that you are a family member at The Views. Thank you to those who have already provided feedback!
We are keenly interested in hearing any thoughts you may have at this stage. The Views family members are some of our most important stakeholders, and your feedback is needed to help ensure the project meets your needs as well as those of our residents, staff, and the broader community.
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And in case you missed it, please take a few minutes to watch our latest video featuring ideas and advice for the new building design and surrounding spaces. The video features residents and family members who put forward some excellent thoughts for consideration. We’re grateful they chose to share with us!
Thank you for your interest in this exciting project!
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Providence Health Care provided a lovely reflection on Ash Wednesday, which happened on February 17 to mark the start of forty days of Lent in the Christian calendar. This is a holy day of prayer and fasting, and represents a time of reflection on mortality and the fleeting nature of life.
During Lent, participants are encouraged to reflect on the words of the ancient saying, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Ash Wednesday derives its name from placing repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants while uttering these words.
It’s not coincidental that this season precedes Easter, the day Christians celebrate Jesus Christ’s rising from the dead. Because, in the end, life always finds a way. Out of ashes comes new growth, and the cycle of life begins again.
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Good news from around The Views |
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Pink Shirt Day
February 24, we were proud to see people wearing their pink shirts to symbolize taking a stand against bullying. An idea that originated in Canada, Pink Shirt Day is now celebrated on various dates around the world.
This Pink Shirt Day, we focused on working together and to treat others with dignity and respect.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all. It shows us the importance of helping one another and advocating for those who need more empathy, compassion and kindness.
Here’s another pic of Glen Halverson sporting his pink shirt in support of anti-bullying!
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23 Years of giving to healthcare in the Comox community! |
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Photo credit: Stella Webers, Publicity Courtenay Legion. (Left to right: Dave Bell, Courtenay Legion Poppy Campaign Chair, Jessica Aldred, Comox Valley Healthcare Foundation Executive Director, Gary Flath, Courtenay Legion President)
The Royal Canadian Legion Courtenay Branch 17 (Courtenay Legion) donated $25,000 to support care for Veterans and seniors in the Comox Valley. This donation, from funds raised through the Poppy Campaign, will be used to purchase ceiling lifts at The Views at St. Joseph's.
Ceiling Lifts enable the transfer of long term care residents safely, with dignity, and provide a significant source of relief to patients who suffer pain due to being highly sensitive to movements. With this generous donation, The Views will be able to replace 8 of the 20 lifts needed. The new lifts will then transfer to the new care village when it’s built as part of our vision for innovative seniors’ care. Read more in the Comox Valley Record below!
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Thrift Shop now open!
We’re so happy to see the Auxiliary for Comox Valley Healthcare’s beloved Thrift Shop reopened on Wednesday, February 17.
The thrift shop will retain their usual hours, 10 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Saturday, for both shopping and drop-offs.
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Our Annual Talent Show, held on February 11, brought out all the cats in "The Cat Came Back!” Thank you to everyone who participated. The show was the cat’s pajamas and was very much enjoyed by all! |
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Honouring every life story: Joan Campbell
Building on the Providence Living tagline, “honouring every life story,” we’re working to incorporate resident stories into our communications. If you have a story to tell or know someone who’d be great to profile — even just by sharing a few interesting details — please let Brenda Phillips know. She’ll confirm we have the resident’s and/or their family’s consent to share their story.
This month’s resident profile is Joan Campbell! Joan is currently a resident of Oceanview, and we’re honoured she has chosen to share her story with us.
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The early years
Joan met her former husband Jack in the Comox Valley during the summer of 1977. They were married later that year in London, Ontario where her parents were living at the time. After rigorous study and training, Joan became a registered nurse (RN), and when she came to the Valley she began working at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Joan and Jack lived in a Comox apartment for a number of years after they were married. Both dedicated workers, they would sometimes go days without seeing each other, but always appreciated their home and family life.
About three years later, they moved to a house in Courtenay where they lived for eight years while raising two beautiful children. Joan was working at a medical clinic in Courtenay in the mid-1980s when she became ill and needed to leave her job.
Current favourites
What brings Joan her greatest joy is seeing her daughter Amy. Also an RN, Amy has followed in her mother’s footsteps becoming part of the next generation of care providers.
Now a resident at her former place of work, Joan’s favorite activity is “Spa Day” in Oceanview where she can get her nails done and spend one-on-one time with staff. Joan also enjoys spending time with The Views cat Joey, who always appreciates Joan’s loving care and attention. And with the recent arrival of her first grandson, Joan couldn’t be happier to call herself a grandma!
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