Our Stories

Exploring and developing ways to help seniors live fully every day often comes in the form of partnerships with other organizations.

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) needs no introduction, but their Art in the Moment tours is something most people have never heard of before. Fortunately for the residents of Deerwood Creek Care Community, their recreation therapist had.

Having an opportunity to appreciate and engage with art in the later stages of life is something the AGO is encouraging through their 3-year pilot initiative. It is designed to help people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias relate to art, and have meaningful conversations around art to enhance their quality of life.

Melissa Smith is a gallery guide and adult education officer at the AGO, and coordinates the Art in the Moment tours with the Toronto Alzheimer’s Society. The program was adopted in 2008 to provide free gallery visits for people with dementia, as well as companions who accompany them. Tours typically last an hour and contain an inclusive discussion.

“Support workers and participants enjoy the opportunity to have a discussion that does not revolve around health,” said Melissa. “This does wonders for their relationships, and we have noticed how participants open up and often remember stories that no one has heard before.”

Deerwood’s recreation therapist Nyema Ahmed worked closely with Melissa to plan a trip for residents. This involved taking seven residents, four team members and one volunteer to downtown Toronto for the tour.

“The trip was a lot of fun and an amazing experience because it allowed residents to enjoy a visit to the gallery that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to do,” said Nyema. “This is a unique outing that we hope to revisit again in the future.”
 
Activation aide Caitlin Bowes also attended the outing, and was impressed with how the Gallery makes art accessible for everyone. “The Art in the Moment tours is an innovative program that allows art lovers to engage in their passion despite their health limitations," she said.  
 

A chance meeting between Sienna’s senior general manager and a CFL wide receiver turned into an amazing treat for residents on Super Bowl Sunday.
 
Two football players from the BC Lions—Shawn Gore and Jason Arakgi—joined residents, families and team members for the Super Bowl 50 party at Pacifica Retirement Residence on Sunday February 7.

“I was waiting for an appointment when a tall man in BC Lions sweatpants walked up to the desk,” said Rob Gillis, senior general manager of Pacific and Peninsula retirement residences in Surrey, British Columbia. “When he turned around, I immediately knew that it was Shawn Gore.”
 
Shawn Gore has played for the BC Lions since 2010, and was formerly signed to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. The Toronto-born player was on the team when the Lions won the Grey Cup in 2011.
 
Rob and Shawn struck up a conversation in the waiting room that day, and discussed the BC Lions and the residents at Pacifica and Peninsula.

“I asked him if he would consider coming out to have a chat with our residents one day. He said, ‘Absolutely!’ and gave me his personal cell number and email address.”

A few days later, Pacifica’s lifestyle consultant, Allison Giuliani, called Shawn to tell him about the Super Bowl party they were having. Before she could ask, Shawn offered to call a team buddy, and come for the afternoon.
 
He arrived wearing his Grey Cup ring, and took it off for residents to hold and wear. A short time later, BC Lions’ linebacker Jason Arakgi walked through the door.
 
“When they came in, they immediately started chatting with the residents and staff. As you can imagine, the residents ate this up!” said Rob. “Their presence was also a huge hit with the sons and grandsons of residents that came for the afternoon.”
 
Resident Jean Roe shared some laughs with Jason before the game. "Oh, that was great having the players from the BC Lions here. It was a lot of fun!" she said.
 
Another resident, Helen Fitzer, watched the game with her son Gordon. "This was excellent. His ring is huge!" she said. Gordon was also delighted by the special guests. "I can't believe you did this for the residents," he said.
 
Both players posed for photos, and even autographed the BC Lions shirt that Rob was wearing. After the event, Rob printed out the photos he had taken, and gave them to the residents that day.

“They could have spent the day at any party, but chose to come and spend it with our residents. These young men are pillars of the community, and amazing ambassadors for the BC Lions and the CFL,” said Rob.

According to the two all-star players, the benefit was not entirely one-sided.
 
"Jason and I really enjoyed spending Super Bowl Sunday with the residents at Pacifica,” said Shawn. “It was a good opportunity to give them some insight from a player’s perspective, but also for us to learn from people with such life experience. I'd like to thank the staff and residents at Pacifica for such a great time."

 

The benefits of swimming as a therapeutic leisure activity are many, ranging from the physical to the emotional. So take these benefits and add in a heavy mix of sensory stimulation, and it should come as no surprise that five residents of Deerwood Creek Care Community had a great time on their visit to Holland Bloorview’s Snoezelen Pool.
 
“The Snoezelen pool engages individuals through the combination of lighting, music, and a warmer temperature to promote relaxation and decrease restlessness,” says recreation therapist Nyema Ahmed. She has been using these techniques with residents at Deerwood Creek for close to a year now, and this was the first time that she and other team members organized the outing to Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto.
 
Snoezelen sensory stimulation therapy was first developed in Holland during the 1970s. It is used in many of Sienna Senior Living’s care communities to help residents with dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
 
Snoezelen rooms and their associated tactile and stimulus equipment are in use throughout the world as a therapy for both children and adults. It works by using a variety of multisensory soothing aides, usually in a controlled environment, to stimulate senses through sound, scent, light, and colour.
 
“Some residents required a bit of encouragement in order to warm up to the experience. However, once they were in the pool, it was difficult to get them back out at the end of the session,” said Nyema.
 
Larissa Covato’s father is one of the residents who participated in the swim. "The Snoezelen Pool provided my dad with a wonderful opportunity to engage in an activity he had previously enjoyed,” she said. “As a former swimming enthusiast, he took to the therapeutic water environment right away. We both had an amazing time there together."
 
The residents are all individuals that Nyema regularly meets with on her recreation therapy rounds throughout the week. She typically adapts each session to the needs of each resident for one-on-one programming with a mobile sensory cart. They were all assessed beforehand to ensure they would have their leisure and recreation needs met by attending the pool outing.
 
“The stimuli in the pool encouraged residents to interact with their environment either actively through movement, or by simply enjoying the atmosphere. We immediately noticed an increase in speech with residents who don’t normally speak, and the relaxation of residents who normally have a stiff posture. We even had one of the resident’s state, ‘I got it from here,’ after getting into the water.”

Discover an artist who has spent years perfecting his skill. Take a glimpse into his studio and the creative process of his inventive mind. Enjoy Mr. Tom Matthews’ beautiful watercolour paintings and be inspired by his story.

Eileen Fleming has always been a musical person. When she moved into Royale Place in May 2014, she was offered the chance to bring her treasured piano with her, and keep it in the residence chapel. 

For the first few months she played alone until an idea suddenly came to her. What if she started a choir group with other residents? The management thought it was a great idea, and helped her copy sheet music, produce booklets, and create posters advertising for singers. A small group of interested residents came together in February 2015, and have been meeting on a biweekly basis and growing in size ever since. Eileen plays the piano while the group sings; and they are often seen having impromptu sing-alongs in the bistro when the mood takes hold.

When asked why she started the choir at Royale Place, she said that she simply saw the need for music, and did something about it. 

“Music is extremely important in giving residents a sense of belonging and something to call their own,” said Eileen. “I’ve always been very passionate about it, and I wanted to share that passion with others here.”

Eileen has practiced music since she was 13 years old, and has been a member of many choir groups as both an organist and a choir leader. She believes that if someone has a talent, they should use it—whether that means rediscovering their musical talent again, or discovering it for the first time as a member of the “Royale Singers”. 

She started playing the organ in small country churches, where her love for music grew.
 
It wasn’t long before she discovered that playing in a church brought great joy to both her and the congregation. Now Eileen brings that same sense of joy to the residents of Royale Place, many decades after she first discovered it.
 
Eileen says the residents are comfortable in a group setting, and sing along together with pride and confidence.

Sienna Senior Living received the 2015 Quality Improvement and Innovation Award at the Ontario Long Term Care Association’s Quality Awards Ceremony this week for its Cyber-Seniors program.

Cyber-Seniors is an international campaign to empower independent older adults and expand their social and physical worlds through technology. Sienna Senior Living has proudly joined the Cyber-Seniors movement as its national senior living partner.

Now available in all Sienna Senior Living retirement residences and care communities, the Cyber-Seniors program offers residents an opportunity to learn how to use computers by pairing them with student mentors from local high schools, colleges and youth groups.

Check out what happened when a local high school in Georgina, Ontario, welcomed 11 Cyber-Seniors from Cedarvale Lodge Retirement and Care Community into their classroom: http://bit.ly/SiennaCyberSeniors

Four residents offer a Remembrance Day voice on their experiences and life lessons during and after the Second World War.
 

What was that? A haunted house in a long-term care community?
 
According to Melissa Elliott, Director of Resident Programs (DRPA) at Langstaff Square Care Community, where the creepy cavern is set up in the basement for Halloween—it is great therapy for all, especially residents and employees.  
 
“We have been able to adapt it specifically to whomever is going through,” says Melissa. “For residents, the response I always get is, ‘the scarier the better’. They really are our true daredevils!”
 
Melissa has been running a haunted house for the past eight years, bringing it to Langstaff Square for the first time since transferring from Fountain View earlier this year. She says that this one is “the best haunted house I have ever done, with a bigger budget to purchase animatronics, sound effects, props and costumes that have all added to the spookiness.”

The Haunted House contains a series of rooms, each more terrifying than the last. A guest book signs your name all on its own, and a talking tree stands as the final frontier warning you not to enter. Your guide is a vampire temptress with a striking resemblance to Melissa, who escorts visitors from room to room where ghoulish hands reach through walls to grab at you.

Once through the creaky entrance door, an 8-foot devil bellows with rage as light distorts your vision and sound effects unsettle your every step, plunging you into the depths of fear. Victorian-style haunted portraits shape-shift before your eyes. And if you’re scared of spiders, you might want to run through the room with the GIANT, hairy tarantulas leaping at you from the shadows with fire-red eyes.

Should your nerves still be intact by this point, you still have to bypass the hysterical witch, a mad scientist and his assortment of body parts, zombies crawling out of open graves, and blinding fog that clambers up your legs from ancient tombstones and discarded skulls. Now you have earned your cookies and witches brew as you gratefully exit the house.

Personal support workers Virgilia and Mariluz were among the first employees at Langstaff Square to tour the haunted house on the first day. Both ladies originate from the Philippines, and explain how Halloween is celebrated there as All Saints days, which is a period to remember and pray for departed loves ones. They have embraced the tradition here in Canada, and are great sports for daring to venture into the dark void below.
 
Several team members from Langstaff Square volunteered to play the characters in the house, donning masks and costumes, and acting the part of seasoned stage performers for each tour.
 
The Haunted House runs throughout the week of October 26. It’s free for residents and team members, and is open to the public on October 31 with a $5 admission.

Armed with her rice cooker, two pots, two daughters, and a team of five other residents, Assunta Mancini is getting ready to take on Keswick’s professional chefs once again.

Assunta’s team won the Cook for the Cure event in 2014 at Cedarvale Lodge Retirement and Care Community, where she has been a resident since October 2013. After entering for the first time last year, she’s now back with a new dish and a strong resolve to face off against professional chefs from four local restaurants.

The competition will run the evening of October 20, where up to two hundred hungry guests will be eagerly waiting to taste the competing dishes and vote for a winner. Cedarvale Lodge is one of six Sienna homes running the competition this year, with a combined fundraising goal of $25,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Last year, nine Sienna homes raised over $42,400 for the Foundation, with Cedarvale donating over $7,500 of this from their event.

Assunta’s winning dish went the traditional Italian route, with made homemade fettuccine using 40 eggs, and three hand-powered machines in constant use to churn out the pasta. Five hundred meatballs and 25 bottles of sauce later, she was ready to enter her food in the competition.

Leisure consultant Emily Curcuruto helped decorate the table in an Italian theme, and bought all the required ingredients.

The award has also given Assunta the coveted title of being the first resident to win one of these annual cook-off competitions.

“It was a lot of work,” she said, but this clearly hasn’t deterred her spirit or determination to get back in the ring. Exchanging her winning recipe of meatballs and fettuccine for her legendary beef stew, she is confident she can win again this year with the same trusted team behind her.

When it comes to attending 911 appreciation events, no one is holding Frank Carberry’s feet to the fire.
 
Frank, 88, spent 30 years with the fire service in North Vancouver, retiring in 1985 as an assistant fire chief. He’s now a resident at Pacifica Retirement Residence, and a regular at their annual 911 appreciation events.
 
Active firefighters from Surrey Fire Service brought their truck and swapped stories with Frank and another resident and former firefighter, Bob Longshaw. As soon as they discovered Frank’s illustrious service record, they referred to him as “Chief” for the rest of the day—much to his delight.

“Fire trucks have changed a lot since my time; especially the equipment,” says Frank, who in his late twenties was working as a garage mechanic where a fire chief brought his car in for service.

“One day he asked me if I would be interested in joining the fire service as a mechanic,” said Frank. “I thought about it, asked my wife, and joined up on June 2, 1955.”

Over the next three decades, Frank worked his way up through the ranks—from lieutenant to captain, and eventually to assistant fire chief. He was on call the night of the Second Narrows Bridge collapse in North Vancouver in 1958, when eighteen steel workers lost their lives. He remembers that night in vivid detail, some 57 years later. The bridge was subsequently rebuilt and renamed the “Ironworkers Memorial Bridge” in 1994 to honour those who died in the collapse.

Following his retirement from the fire service, Frank worked briefly as a snow equipment mechanic at a ski resort on Mount Seymour, North Vancouver. He has been living at Pacifica Retirement Residence since March 2011.

Where can you get fit, enjoy a free pancake breakfast and raise money to fund a cure for Alzheimer’s disease?

The 2015 Dash to Defeat Dementia fundraising event took place on August 23 at the Bruce's Mill Conservation Area in Stouffville Ontario—home of the Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival.

Participants on the 5K, 10K and Kids Dash run and walk events, took the trail route through the provincial park, and were issued with special t-shirts containing a chip that records their time crossing the finish line. Everyone received a medal and a swag bag for taking part.

Bloomington Cove started this event in 2010 with forty participants walking along Main Street in Stouffville town centre. In 2012, they added a run; and the following year it was moved to Bruce’s Mill before being rebranded as Dash to Defeat Dementia in 2014. 

This year had over 250 participants as well as fifty volunteers to help make the morning safe and enjoyable for everyone.

“Every year the event grows in popularity,” said Bloomington Cove’s executive director Janet Iwaszczenko. She anticipates raising their target of $25,000 from this year’s run to add to the $89,000 they have already donated to the Baycrest Foundation for Alzheimer’s research since 2010. This will bring the expected grand total raised to $114,000 since the events first began. 

A unanimous decision was made by employees and families to raise money directly for medical research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

“We’re inviting people to do this as a family,” said Janet, referring to the various runs and walks available for all ages, levels of fitness and capabilities within the community.

Many participants competed in the form of teams, including York Region Police who crossed the finish line four seconds before the Whitchurch-Stouffville Fire & Emergency Services.

Speakers at the event included Sienna’s CEO Lois Cormack, Janet Iwaszczenko, and the Mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville Justin Altmann, who donated bananas for the runners. Bloomington Cove also offered a free pancake breakfast with produce donated from local grocers—enough to make over a thousand pancakes. That’s a lot of eggs!

The glorious sunshine was a stark contrast to the 2012 event when the heavy rain and strong winds of Hurricane Sandy added an unexpected challenge. But come rain or shine, Janet is determined to keep fundraising for this important research.

“This event is about being socially responsible and giving back to the community. Let's continue to work together to one day hear someone say, ‘I'm an Alzheimer’s Survivor’,” she said.

Alzheimer's is a terminal disease of the brain that erases memory and makes simple tasks difficult, such as eating and dressing. There is no known cure, and it is eventually fatal.

Bloomington Cove is a licensed long-term care community in Ontario entirely dedicated to dementia care for its 112 residents. 

Norm Brown and Beverly Fleck joined a group of residents from Red Oak Retirement Residence who went to Perth Ontario for an afternoon picnic, and to attend the Classical Theatre Festival production of “Barefoot in the Park”.
 
For Norm and Beverly, the July 22 trip to Perth also led to a trip down memory lane. During lunch, lifestyle consultant Jennifer Nason took a few minutes to introduce everyone, providing a reminder of first and last names. This had Beverly to her feet; and she relocated herself to sit beside Norm.
 
Bev turned to Norm and asked, “Did you ever live in the Glebe?” He responded, “Yes, I lived on Third Avenue.” With a pleasant smile Beverly said, “I lived on Fourth Avenue. My name was Beverly Mick”. Norm’s face lit up, and he declared, “We were backyard neighbours”.
 
You could see immediate recognition from the expression on Norm’s face, and an abundance of fond memories coming to his mind. Norm and Beverly spent the remainder of the picnic catching up. Norm shared that the last time he recalled seeing Beverly was approximately 65 years ago when she was on her way to a football game.
 
Norm’s grandmother and Bev’s mother were good friends, and the two families often enjoyed activities together. Beverly was friends with Norm’s younger brother Jerry.
 
Beverly and Norm both lived in the Glebe as children until they married in 1950 and 1951, respectively. Norm has lived at Red Oak for about one year, and Beverly has lived at Red Oak with her husband James Fleck since December 2014.

Here’s to fifty more. Tullamore Care Community in Brampton celebrated their fiftieth birthday in June with a glorious garden party. The event doubled as an opportunity to also celebrate their rebranding under the new name Tullamore Care Community, and new parent company name Sienna Senior Living.
Tullamore’s executive director, Astrida Kalnins, opened the event to a garden full of residents, employees, community partners and stakeholders, as well as many other guests.
 
Sienna Senior Living’s CEO, Lois Cormack, attended and spoke at the event.
 
“Tullamore has a very proud history in this community,” she said. “This business has changed considerably over the past fifty years, and it’s unbelievable the new skills and requirements that employees have had to learn and adopt.”
 
She explained that as residents’ needs have changed, employees try and make every day as meaningful as possible.
 
“It’s about the warmth of human connection. It’s about the relationships, and knowing that your needs are going to be met when families leave their loves ones in our care.”
 
A representative of Kyle Seeback, Conservative MP for Brampton West, presented a certificate and read out a personal message from the Prime Minister of Canada. Other community leaders also spoke at the event, including the Mayor of Brampton Linda Jeffrey.
 
Throughout its fifty years, Tullamore has had only four executive directors. Someone who knows the home extremely well is Dr. Brian Thicke, who started working there as a physician when it opened in 1965. He still continues looking after the residents today along with Dr. Simon Cheung, who has been serving residents at Tullamore for the past 36 years.
 
“This place keeps rising and rising,” said Dr. Thicke. “I have never seen such fluorescent staff—so caring, so committed and dedicated. You are really great, and I want you to know that when I’m in here… I want you to look after me!”