All of us at Inglewood would like to give a big thank you to the individuals who helped with the big garden clean up. David, Emily, Marianne, Peter, Louise, Joanne, Nick, Joan, Cheryl, Janey, Bonnie, Pat, Margaret, Inger, and anyone else who contributed!

A special thanks to Don H. for donating a day to clean our patio and outdoor furniture with his power washer.

Thank you for helping us keep our Gardens beautiful.
 

This will be my last edition editing the Inglewood Herald. I have found an exciting recreation therapist position closer to home at Louis Brier Home and Hospital. I would like to thank everyone for the support, guidance and encouragement they have given me this past year. Even though I will miss my colleagues and the residents at Inglewood, I am looking forward to this new challenge.

-Corinne Verwey (Recreation Therapist in the Manor).
 

Volunteer News

Canada celebrates National Volunteer Week from April 27th – May 3rd, 2008. This year we plan to hold a social on Saturday, May 10th in the afternoon to thank and recognize the time, energy, and talents which our volunteers have shared with us.
We have 25 volunteers who have been with us five years or longer. Last year, we welcomed 26 new volunteers to our program. Thank You to all our volunteers who contributed ‘2360’ hours in 2007.

We want to do the best for our residents, our families, and our staff. This is where our wonderful Volunteers come in—making Inglewood a better place to “live life.” They make a difference in the quality of living here…by all the roles they fill. In over 20 different assignments, they assist and enrich the social environment by providing:

• help with the meal assistance

• support for the rehab team

• opening the Tuck Shop

• entertaining our residents with beautiful music

• visiting one‑to‑one for talks or a game of cards

• giving companionship or sitting with the family of a

• resident who may be in the final stage of life

• our gardeners

• our pet visitors

• volunteers who lead programs and assist recreation with their events and outings

• volunteers who sit on the Eden Alternative Committee, our Accreditation teams, and our Family/Community Advisory Board

The Volunteers are all valued for their contributions. They really do enhance the quality of life here at Inglewood. Thank You for making Inglewood part of your lives! If you would like to learn more about the Volunteer Program, please call Susan WB, Coordinator of Volunteers, at 604‑913‑4730.

INGLEWOOD FAMILY/COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD

Kerry McPhedran has been a board member since 2000. Her mom, Vivian Anderson, lived at Inglewood from 2000 until Viv’s peaceful death from a stroke at age 88, on a summer evening in June 2003.

Despite 10 years of Alzheimers, Viv was still finding small pleasures in Royalty magazine, a shared pot of tea with a pretty cozy, and favourite songs. Vera Lynn’s poignant song about war-time leave–“That Lovely Weekend”–always reduced her to tears. Denied university because of the Depression, and trained as a hairdresser, Viv was happy to be a homemaker, but one who also delighted in life-long learning at night school, golfing and gardening. She watched Inspector Morse, World Series and political forums with equal interest.

“Moving Mom to Inglewood was the hardest thing I’d ever done,” recalls Kerry. “Mom had lived on her own for some 30 years and was a very private, shy person so suddenly living with 250 people plus three shift changes of staff was overwhelming. She did not want to be there.” Happily, Viv made a very close friend in fellow resident Marguerite Taylor. As Viv’s dementia progressed, she moved from the Manor to the Upper Terrace where she found kindness and humour amongst staff.

By profession a magazine writer and museum consultant, Kerry became committed to those living with dementia, helping where she could, through the Alzheimer Society of BC and Inglewood. Favourite Inglewood Projects: helping develop the Manor’s Friendship Garden, decorating five bathing rooms, and producing the new Just for Families series of educational brochures.

Although Kerry no longer has family at Inglewood, she continues as a community’ member of the Inglewood Family & Community Advisory Board and is a volunteer visitor. She also facilitates an Early Stage Support Group (for those who have the disease) for the Alzheimer Society. Like Bob Swannell, Kerry is an advisory community board member for UBC’s Centre for Research on Personhood in Dementia (CRPD).

Next Family Education Evening

Circle Wednesday May 7th, on your calendar!
Next Family Education Evening at 7 p.m.

“Behaviour—that’s how people with dementia communicate. What are they telling us?”

Back by popular demand: Angela Johnson, frequent speaker and educator on dementia,

looks at how families and staff can decipher what residents are telling us.

So-called ‘difficult behaviour’–such as seemingly inappropriate sexual behaviour,

aggressive outbursts, resistance to bathing, insistence of “going home”–are really

their way of speaking to us. But are we really listening?
We promise another fascinating evening, with more of Angela’s insights and practical tips.
 

RESIDENT SAFETY: ELOPEMENT

Wandering behaviour of persons with dementia is a common problem in long-term care; at Inglewood Care Centre we place an emphasis on our residents and their safety.

To reduce the risk of elopement we have regular checks to ensure all residents are safe in our facility. High elopement residents wear a wanderguard on their clothing which locks certain doors and sounds an alarm to alert staff if these individuals try to leave the facility. We provide programs to stimulate and engage residents in an effort to distract them from wanting to wander. We also have our gates and doors equipped with keypads to help prevent residents from leaving the facility.

Even with all these measures in place, we still need your help

1. When going through secured doors such as in the Manor, Upper Terrace or at the entrances to the facility, it would be helpful if you count to 10 before continuing on your way to ensure the gate or door is closed and no one has followed you out.

2. Visitors are often polite and like to hold the doors open for others, however, this can be problematic for our wandering residents and the staff who care for them. Please do not let anyone, even if they look like just another visitor, out of the gate into the parking lot or out of a secured area within the facility. Some residents still look quite young and spry even though they are not safe to be out on their own.

3. Please remember to sign residents in/out in the ‘sign in/out book’, located at nursing stations, when taking them out of the facility or to another area within the facility. Staff needs to know the whereabouts of all residents.

4. Please do not share the keypad codes with residents or write the code and post it where residents can view it.

If you are having difficulty leaving an area and a resident is trying to leave with you, please return to the office/nursing station and ask staff to assist you.

Together we can keep all our residents at Inglewood safe!

Thank you for your co-operation and assistance.