I am pleased to share the second edition of our revamped newsletter! We welcome any and all comments. Please send us your feedback as well as ideas, stories and information we can share.
Each month we will share news and information about home care, long-term care, community supports and services and shed light on the wonderful people and services that contribute to continuing care in our province.
Susan Stevens
Senior Director, Continuing Care, NSHA
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NSHA Continuing Care Spring Forums
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A total of 242 participants representing clients and families, home care, long-term care, equipment vendors, acute care, the provincial and federal governments, First Nations organizations and primary care, joined us for the four continuing care spring forums held across the province in June. The forums allow us all to pause for a moment to take stock of the past year, to celebrate our many success stories, problem solve our challenges together and remember that relationships are critical to providing safe, high quality care and experiences for the people we serve. We each offer a unique lens and perspective that when we bring together gives us all a fuller picture.
Highlights included a presentation from NSHA about people-centred care and current trends/issues, draft recommendations from the nursing home refusals working group which provided the opportunity to discuss, share and provide feedback about different challenges and input on possible solutions. Our primary health care colleagues presented on the health services planning work they are engaged in across the province. The Department of Health and Wellness gave an update on the CCA, LPN and RN workforce planning project including new strategies for strengthening recruitment and retention efforts. There was lots of excitement in the room learning that targeted CCA bursaries for areas in high need are coming back this year.
We appreciate your openness to listen, ask questions, share different perspectives and collaborate on solutions.
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Patient Family Advisor, Dick Jammer at the Spring Forum in Central Zone.
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Continuing Care Spring Forum Western Zone
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The evaluations were very positive with participants indicating the information they received was helpful and the discussion valuable.
Ninety-two per cent (92%)
agreed or strongly agreed they had the opportunity to network and discuss issues and practice within the sector.
Eighty-one per cent (81%)
agreed or strongly agreed they learned something that will help them improve service delivery.
Eighty-nine per cent (89%)
said the forum met their overall expectations. You can view the full spring forum evaluation summary on on the Continuing Care Corporate Site on the
Forums page
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We heard many great ideas and suggestions for the fall forums and believe it or not we are already planning them. Stay tuned for our Save the Date notice.
As always, we value your feedback on the forums, if you would like to provide feedback or suggestions contact Barb Baker at
[email protected]
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Patient, Family and Community Advisors
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Did you know?
Continuing care works with ten client, family and community advisors who are members of the Continuing Care Provincial Quality Council and zone quality teams. Their role is to bring patient and family voices, perspective and expertise gained through their experiences to help shape and improve our care and services.
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This week we hosted a day of information sharing, consultation, discussion, and networking with our advisors. Highlights include a recap of initiatives led by each quality team across the province, updates on continuing care projects, an engagement session facilitated by a family advisor and an opportunity to provide feedback on communications materials.
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“Although we are called 'advisors' we are full team members. We aren’t plugged in for a small part. We see things progress on our projects and our comments coming to fruition. It's a great feeling to know they appreciate you and you see changes made from your feedback—and there’s more to come!”- Patient Advisor
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Virtual bicycle allows seniors to tour the world, or revisit their childhood home
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Mildred Kettlewell, left, cycles down a virtual road in Cape Breton, while Patti Lane assists her.
(Alex Lynch/CBC)
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We want to highlight a wonderful story about our partners in care at Ocean View written by Shaina Luck · reprinted with permission from CBC News
The "virtual bicycle" called the BikeAround is being used by residents at Ocean View Continuing Care Centre to visit their childhood homes and tour the world.
Since it arrived two weeks ago, there's been a lineup to use it.
The stationary bicycle is connected to Google Street View and projects images of the street onto a large curved screen. Turning the handlebars of the bicycle turns the view, and peddling moves the screen view down the road.
It's the first one of its kind in Atlantic Canada and cost $22,000. The project was spearheaded by a Dalhousie University health administration student, who helped gather the funding to bring the bicycle to the home.
The staff at Ocean View say there are physical benefits to the exercise, but it's just as important to help residents start conversations about the places that are significant to them.
Many people are choosing to take the virtual bicycle to their childhood home, says Patti Lane, Ocean View's director of innovation and accountability.
"A lot of the time, people that have memory difficulties, the earliest memories are what remain. And so if you do put in your childhood home that's most often when you're reminiscing and talking about the past," she said.
"That's when you're oftentimes able to have those really meaningful conversations."
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Sign up to receive the latest NSHA news, updates and information.
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Please submit story ideas, photos and feedback to:
Jaimee Dobson, Communications Advisor,
Continuing Care
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