Self-Care: Practices for a Healthy Body & Mind

Sounds simple right? But when we really think about it, do we consciously and actively take good care of ourselves? For many, the answer is no.

Initially it can be challenging to find the time as we can overthink self-care and make it this “big thing” to achieve, however it can be quite simple, it comes down to small, daily decisions that add up to big rewards when you look at the big picture.

Here are 8 pillars of self-care that you can be focus on:

Physical: This involves movement of the body, your health, nutrition, sleep/rest touch and sexual needs. Some ways you can focus on physical self-care are 1) take a walk and connect with nature whenever possible 2) eat health nourishing foods, 3) get adequate sleep, aim for 8 hours a night on average, and 4) drink plenty of water.

Psychological: This involves learning new things, showing creativity, practicing mindfulness, using consequential thinking, engaging intrinsic motivation.  Some ways you can focus on physical self-care are journaling and self-reflection, practicing mindfulness and an awareness of the present moment and cultivate a feeling of acceptance of what is. Master a new skill that feels good to you-crafting or drawing or learning something new and expanding your knowledge, just make sure it does not cause stress.

Emotional: This involves exercising compassion for yourself and others and seeing negative emotions arise and not letting it control you. Finding ways to focus on emotional self-care are watching your thoughts, developing a better emotionally supportive dialogue in your mind, and become aware of your feelings. Manage stress through therapeutic activities like listing to music, create art, or engage with nature.

Social: This involves your connection with your community, your co-workers, your friends and family, the world, and humanity. With social distancing and lockdowns, this can put a strain on your social connections.  It makes it more important to make the time to connect with loved ones any way you can safely. Ways you can focus on social self-care include recognizing and keeping away from toxic people in your life. When we join a group, community or volunteer our time to help others, we fill our own happiness cup up too. Meet new people and connect on a deeper level. Realizing we are all connected and all unique.

Professional: This involves loving what you do for a profession. Having a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities and feeling that your work makes an impact every day. Ways too focus on professional self-care are- attending professional development courses and get involved at work in committees etc. Set clear healthy boundaries and have a good work-life balance, negotiate your needs and benefits in a clear assertive way.

Financial: This involves a healthy relationship with your money. How do you see money? Ways to focus on financial self-care are include being conscious of spending habits and debts that may be outstanding. Manage your money wisely, plan a budget that suits you and get help from a planner if needed. Keep mindful of what bills need to be paid and do it on time. It will make you feel relieved and focus on having a good relationship and purpose for your money.

Spiritual: This involves connecting with your higher consciousness, feeling the life and connectedness to all living beings within all of us. Ways you can focus on spiritual self-care are – making a list of personal beliefs and guiding values but its best to not have a fixed, rigid mental state that must be defended – accept what is. Spend time connecting with nature and feel its essence. Ensure to allow for adequate spiritual practices or religious activities, what makes you feel connected with others and feels good to you.

Environmental: This involves your space you live in, your connection with the earth and all living things. Ways to focus on your environmental self-care are to keeping your living and workspaces clean, neat, and organized. This will help you focus, gain clarity, and comfort when needed. Complete seasonal cleaning and organizing and allow for that time to regenerate and change things up. If it is not working seek out a feng shui approach to help. Consider your direct impact on the health of Mother Earth and do whatever you can to reduce your impact. For example, reuse, reduce and recycle when possible. Plant trees and plants that help heal the earth and reduce chemical use in the home and in the garden. Healthy soils equal healthy life.

Remember everyone’s self-care plan will look so different and be totally personal. Start by making small goals and feel joyful about self-care try to reduce and overwhelmed feelings related to it! I hope this helps everyone’s self-care journey! Lots of love to you all!


Lillian Kelly

RN Director of Nursing

Important Message From Dr. Gandhi

Dear Friends & Family of Bay Haven Care Community,

As the Medical Director of Bay Haven, I wanted to write to all of you to update you on some important new information about COVID-19.

As you are likely aware, Ontario is now firmly in the second wave of the seemingly never-ending COVID-19 pandemic.  As I write this, 99 out of 626 nursing homes in Ontario are in outbreak from COVID-19.  Thankfully, Bay Haven is not one of them.  I hope and pray that it will stay that it will stay that way, and that the other nursing homes get out of outbreak as soon as possible.

Our knowledge of the COVID-19 virus has increased significantly in the past few months.  We still don’t know everything about it, nor do we have a cure, but we can be better prepared than we were in the past.

We now know that the virus is largely spread by what’s called “aerosolized” means.  That’s to say that it is expelled by your mouth when you breath/talk/sing and floats in the air for a large period of time, thus spreading to others.  This is why wearing a mask is so important.  All of our staff and visitors have been required to wear masks for many months, in addition to all the other screening that we do.

With this knowledge, it is becoming more and more apparent of the need for high quality ventilation and air purifiers, particularly those with HEPA filters.  While the physical plant at Bay Haven is quite old, I am extremely grateful that the management of Bay Haven invested in HEPA air purifiers for all the large common areas, even before Health Canada updated their website to indicate the risk of airborne spread.  I applaud their commitment to keeping residents safe.

Additionally, there has been much speculation about the benefits of Magnesium, Zinc and Vitamin D in fighting viruses.  To be candid, the evidence for Magnesium is not that great.  Magnesium may kill viruses “in-vitro” – that’s to say, in a petri dish in a lab, but more study is needed to see how it works in a human body.  But at least it’s not harmful.

There is actually decent evidence that Zinc can help fight off viral infections.  Taking 25 mg of Zinc daily is not harmful and has benefits.

There’s been some evidence that Vitamin D can help fight viral infections for some years now. Recently however, a large clinical trial showed that people with low vitamin D levels were more likely to get COVID19.  It’s a very large trial, and the first one I am aware of where the benefits vitamin D were proven for one specific virus.

What can you do?

First, of course we ask that you abide by our visitor policies, that have been mandated by the Public Health Departments.  These policies are sometimes frustrating to follow, but they have been implemented to keep our residents safe.  We ask that you please help us keep your loved ones safe.

Second, if you wish to provide additional protection, you could purchase a small room HEPA air purifier for your loved one.  These would stay next to the head of the bed in the room, and provide additional protection.  Currently they range in price from about $60 to $90 from Amazon.  There are other models as well, of course, but they should be HEPA certified to be effective.  At that price, frankly these devices will only last 6-9 months before going bad, but hopefully by that time we will have a vaccine.  (While a vaccine is expected shortly, there are many distribution problems with them, and I don’t expect them to be available for a few months).

Finally, if you would like your loved ones to start Magnesium, Zinc, and Vitamin D, please let me know by sending me a message and I will ensure these are ordered.

None of these measures of course, is guaranteed to prevent a COVID infection, or an outbreak, but right now, represents the best possible protection we can provide.

I hope and pray you all continue to stay safe and well.

Your sincerely,

Dr. M. S. Gandhi, MD, CCFP
Medical Director,
Bay Haven Care Community

Safe Outings Now Possible For Long-Term Care and Retirement Home Residents

The Ontario government has announced that long term care and retirement home residents can once again leave their residences for short stay and temporary absences.

Short stay absences are for outpatient medical visits, to see family or run errands and do not include an overnight stay, with the exception of single-night emergency room visits. Bay Haven will provide resident with a medical mask to be worn at all times when outside the home, if tolerated.  Residents will be reminded of the importance of physical distancing and hand hygiene.  When the resident returns, they will be actively screened but will not be required to be tested or to self isolate.

Temporary absences are for personal reasons of one or more nights. Temporary absences will be at the discretion of the home and decided upon a case-by-case basis based upon safety factors like the risk associated with the absence (e.g. for a family weekend vs. a large gathering) and ability of the home to help residents self-isolate upon return. Residents can return if the home is not in outbreak, the resident has tested negative for COVID-19 and is returning to a room shared with no more than one other resident. For the protection of their neighbours, resident who leave on a temporary absence will be required to self-isolate for 14 days when they return to the home.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate ask Lillian Kelly, Director of Nursing or Roseanne Beaupre, Retirement Home Manager.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to address the COVID-19 situation.

Communicating with a person living with Dementia while wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Do you ever wonder what a person with Dementia would think about regarding the COVID-19 pandemic? What exactly are they thinking about when they see their family and friends wearing a mask? What about when they think about the fact that they cannot go outside to public spaces or outings? Why is my family not visiting me? These are all questions that a person living with Dementia could be thinking about during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, a person living with Dementia may experience an increase in anxiety and/or confusion about the world around them. A person living with Dementia who is living in a Retirement or Long-Term Care home and is in isolation from their family and friends cannot properly understand all the precautionary measures taken during this time. The lack of visiting, going outdoors, and people wearing masks can impact their mental health and ability to socialize. This is why it is important to fully understand how to communicate and approach a person living with Dementia when you put on your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

In a health care setting, a person’s living with Dementia are likely unaware of current events and may have difficulty understanding the need for additional PPE & precautions in place. These extra precautions may be stressful for them because it is out of their normal daily routine. Once a person living with Dementia’s routine changes from their ordinary lifestyle, it can cause confusion and frustration for them. Normally, a person’s living with Dementia often rely on body language and facial expressions during interactions with another person, however, if they cannot see your mouth or your body language, this can affect them as well. This is why it is important to communicate properly with a person with Dementia even if you are wearing a lot of Personal Protection Equipment.

It is important to allow time for the person living with Dementia to process and understand who is approaching them. It may take additional time for them to understand what is being asked, and since a mask can cover up your mouth and distort their ability to understand or recognize your face, this could cause extra stress as well. It is always important to have direct eye contact with the person living with Dementia while communicating with them. When approaching them, remember to always use their name often when providing instructions to maintain their attention. If a person’s living with Dementia have questions surrounding precautions or PPE, provide simplified explanations so they can understand easily. Always remember to be mindful of your own non-verbal cues that the person’s living with Dementia may be responding to (body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions). It is important that you remain calm at all times. These are some important tips from the Alzheimer’s Society that you can take while communicating with a person in your life who is living with Dementia.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Outdoor patio visits between Residents and Families will commence

Staying distant and wearing a mask are crucial while visiting family

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Bay Haven Care Community took precautionary measures to ensure that all residents and staff stay healthy and safe during these unprecedented times. Bay Haven Care Community is excited to announce that starting on Friday, June 26th, we will begin scheduled and supervised outside patio visits between residents and families. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) has issued strict guidelines to ensure safe family visiting takes place during this time. Please note that ALL of the following rules are extremely necessary before attending an outdoor patio visit. An outdoor patio visit cannot be scheduled unless all of the following criteria are met. If a visitor does not comply with these requirements, there will be immediate discontinuation for resident visiting.

Please read and adhere to the following Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care safeguards so we can maintain your family members safety.

1. All visits must be scheduled ahead of time and pre-screened over the phone.

The Bay Haven Care Community Recreation staff will make every effort to accommodate scheduling of visitors during regular visiting hours. Regular visiting hours will take place between 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. To schedule a time, please call the Recreation Department at 705–445–6501 ext. 222 for Alivya on the Nursing Home side, or ext. 229 for Marco on the Retirement Home side.

2. Residents participating in the outside patio visit must be able to follow instructions.

All rules and instructions are placed for a reason. Everyone must be able to comply with the requirements for the outdoor patio visit. For those resident’s who’s current functional abilities prohibit compliance, or who are bed bound, a virtual or window visit will be scheduled. When you call to schedule the visit; Recreation staff can discuss options for you and your loved one.

3. All visitors must have a negative COVID-19 test result.

All visitors must have a negative COVID-19 test that has been conducted within the last 14 days. You can call Telehealth at 1 866–797–0000 and they will direct you to the nearest assessment centre for testing.

4. All visitors must pass an active screening questionnaire prior to the actual visit.

These active screening tools include having their temperature taken, attest that they are symptom free, have not been exposed to COVID-19 and have tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 14 days. Visitors must follow proper hand hygiene and cough etiquette.

5. Limit of one visitor per week to allow all residents the opportunity to visit with their loved one.

You will need to determine with your family members who this will be and how to plan your visits. At a later date and upon the home’s discretion supervised outdoor visits may increase from one visitor at a time to two or more. If visitors are adhering to current visiting protocols, resident safety will be maintained.

6. Visitors are responsible for bringing their own face covering for outside visits.

If a visitor forgets their medical mask or fabric face covering, Bay Have Care Community will provide you one. Visitors must wear the mask during the entire duration of their visit. Residents are not required to a wear face covering during the outside visit, but if they able to tolerate a mask, one will be provided.

7. All visitors will remain on the designated outdoor patio area during the visit.

When you arrive at the home, ring the doorbell and wait for Recreation staff to answer. Bay Haven Care Community is required to ask you a screening questionnaire. Both the resident and visiting family member must perform hand hygiene and maintain social distance of two metres.

8. All visitors should bring their own folding chair or lawn chair.

Please bring your own folding chairs or lawn chairs to the visit to stay comfortable outside. This will save the staff from having to disinfect surfaces after each visit and allow us to arrange for more visits.

9. The visits will be scheduled for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Please do not come early as we are trying to maintain social distancing between visiting families. Everyone is on a schedule, so we ask you to please coordinate your time properly.

10. The resident will remain 2 meters or 6 feet away.

All residents will be 2 meters or 6 feet away from the family member. Residents will be behind the table barrier. No items or gifts can be given directly to the residents. Staff will accept these gift items and follow our disinfecting protocols.

11. You must maintain a minimum distance of 2 metres / 6 feet from the resident and staff at all times.

We will bring the resident out to you and the staff member will return at the end of the visit to porter the resident back into the home. We know that it will be difficult to not hug or kiss your loved one, but it is necessary to ensure that no one unknowingly exposes our residents or staff to COVID-19. If these rules are not maintained and someone does come into contact with a resident, we are required by law to isolate the resident for 14 days post exposure. Please help us avoid this. Please maintain physical distancing by staying 2 metres / 6’ feet apart.

We understand that this is difficult for you and your family, but we feel it is necessary to allow these visits to happen safely. We are desperate for you and your resident to have these visits. Please help us by following these rule and guidelines. Any non-adherence to these rules will be the basis for discontinuation of future visits.

In the meantime, we will be evaluating the outdoor patio visits after the first few weeks. We welcome all feedback and encourage you to let us know how we can make these visit experiences better. Please feel free to share any comments or questions about all of the above rules and guidelines.

We are hopeful that this brings a bit of balance by ensuring our residents can see their family and loved ones in person while keeping safe as COVID-19 is still circulating in the community.

Please feel free to email or call us for any questions that you have and we will be happy to respond to you as soon as possible. Let’s work together to keep our residents healthy and COVID-free!

Thank you for your cooperation and stay healthy and safe!

Celebrating Seniors in Ontario — Stay Safe, Stay in Touch

June is Seniors’ Month! Make sure you Stay Safe, Stay in Touch

In Ontario, the month of June is considered Seniors’ Month and is a time to reflect and celebrate all seniors from across the province. This year’s theme is “Stay Safe, Stay in Touch” and it focuses on keeping our seniors safe, connected, and engaged at their home during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Minister for Seniors and Accessibility Raymond Cho “As we take this opportunity to mark Seniors’ Month, we recognize that these are very challenging times for seniors as they continue to self-isolate due to the risk of COVID-19. Now more than ever, it is important that we come together to support our seniors and recognize and honour the knowledge, experience, and the contributions that seniors have made to build the province that we enjoy today.

Let us make this month extra special for our seniors by showing them as much support and love as possible. If you have a senior in your life, or if you want to help out voluntarily, please take the time to reach out to them to ensure that they have what they need during this very difficult time. There are plenty of things you can do to stay in touch with seniors, you can give them a call over the phone or through FaceTime or Zoom, you could pick up some groceries for them so they can stock up their refrigerators’ so they have food, or you could safely see them through a window while visiting. Anything that you do to help or connect with a senior will increase their level of happiness, especially since most of them cannot leave their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ontario Government has the highest regard for our seniors and they are committed to protecting and supporting them as much as possible. According to Raymond Cho “We are continuing to invest in almost 300 Seniors Active Living Centres which help seniors remain active and engaged in age-friendly communities.” Cho said that 175 of these programs are currently being offered remotely through teleconference, online videos, and one on one phone calls. These are all critical programs that help seniors stay connection while being at home. The Ontario Government also invested $11 million dollars to implement the Ontario Community Support Program, which is used to help coordinate meals, medicine, and other necessities to seniors across the province. Not only that, but the Ontario government is also developing a comprehensive Seniors’ Strategy which helps seniors remain healthy, active, and socially engaged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you can see, the Ontario Government is doing a lot to support seniors during this most difficult time, and since June is Seniors’ Month, we should all be doing our part by reaching out to our seniors as well. At Bay Haven Care Community, the Recreation team conducts and designs programs that help stimulate seniors emotional, intellectual, physical, vocational, social, spiritual, and environmental well-beings to benefit the seniors lifestyle. This month, let’s stay safe and stay in touch together as we help our seniors cope through this pandemic lockdown.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Why A Traveling Tuck Shop Is Important

The Bay Haven Care Community Recreation Department started a traveling Tuck Shop for our residents on both the nursing home and retirement home side. The traveling Tuck Shop is beautifully decorated and contains a number of delicious snacks and treats that are sure to delight all residents. At Bay Haven Care Community, we understand that it is hard to provide snacks and treats to your loved ones during the pandemic, so we came up with a solution to provide those treats for them at no cost. Our number one priority is to make sure our residents are happy and healthy as we continue to go through this COVID-19 pandemic.

The traveling Tuck Shop began on Friday, May 8th and will continue to happen every other week. On the retirement home side, the traveling Tuck Shop will be held every other Wednesday afternoon. We were amazed at how happy the residents are when they see the traveling Tuck Shop approach them. If you go to our photo section on our Facebook page, you will be able to see all of their surprised facial reactions as the Tuck Shop approached them.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, our Walmart outings have been cancelled and for obvious reasons, residents cannot go out shopping with their families. Our solution is to bring that shopping experience to them. To create all of these experiences for our residents ultimately increases their emotional and environmental well-being. In conclusion, we believe that the traveling Tuck Shop is so important for the well-being of our residents.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Community Love

Firetrucks from the Collingwood Fire Department driving by to salute all Bay Haven Care Community staff members

The amount of love and support that Bay Haven Care Community is receiving from the Collingwood community is astonishing! Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bay Haven staff have received a large number of gifts, food, PPE donations, cards, positive feedbacks, and more. It is so nice to see the community come together to help out our frontline workers with all their generosity. All staff members appreciate the amount of love that they are given by the community, whether it be wood fired pizza from Pie Wood Fire Pizza Joint, freshly brewed coffee from Tim Hortons, or PPE donations from local businesses around the community, all of the surprises and gifts that Bay Haven has received during this pandemic brings a smile to our faces as we continue to work hard to prevent COVID-19 from entering our home.

Here is a list of some of the generous donations and gifts that Bay Haven Care Community received during the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • Pizza from Pie Wood Fire Pizza Joint.
  • Subs from Subway.
  • Donuts, Timbits, and Coffee from Tim Hortons.
  • Beautiful hand-written letters and cards from families and supporters.
  • Donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as gowns, masks, and gloves.
  • Positive feedback through phone calls and from our Facebook page.
  • Firefighters driving by Bay Haven Care Community to salute all staff.
  • Families decorating our outside windows and gazebo with creative designs and colourful ribbons.

These are only some of the generous gifts that were given to us during the pandemic. As you can tell from the list, the community love and support that people have given us is absolutely amazing for our workers. To everyone who supports us during this difficult time, we would like to say thank you for all of your love, kind words, and for your generosity. You guys are the best!

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Share The Love Week – Valentine’s Day at Bay Haven 2020

The final collage from the Valentine’s Day Love Photo marketing event

The entire Recreation Department and Marco, the Marketing Specialist, worked hard to create a two-week long Valentine’s Day event for the residents at Bay Haven Care Community. The Recreation Department organized Valentine’s Day themed programs throughout the first and second week of February. Some of the programs included creating a Valentine’s Day posters, arts and crafts, trivia, drama performances, and even making heart-shaped Topper’s pizza with Emaan, a new volunteer who owns all of the Topper’s Pizza in Canada with her family.

This year, Bay Haven Care Community and the Georgian Tringle Humane Society collaborated on a Valentine’s Day idea to raise money for the Humane Society. The Recreation Department created two program that allowed the residents on the retirement home and the nursing home side to bake and decorate Valentine’s Day themed cupcakes. These cupcakes were then sold on Wednesday, February 5th to all residents, staff, and guests at Bay Haven. On that day, we had two volunteers from the Therapeutic Paws of Canada bring in their dogs to help celebrate our bake sale! Virginia brought in her dog Poodle Enzo, and Alex brought in her Golden Retriever Georgia. The residents absolutely loved buying cupcakes and having a dog visit. Bay Haven Care Community raised $183.00 during the bake sale, with all proceeds going to the Georgian Triangle Humane Society.

Throughout the two weeks of February, Marco created a campaign titled “Valentine’s Day Love Photo.” This campaign allowed family members of residents and staff to submit a photo of their loved ones and to add a short description about why you love them, and what kind of inspiration that particular person gave you throughout your life. Since February 1st, Marco has been posting a new submitted photo on the Bay Haven Care Community Facebook page until Valentine’s Day. The marketing campaign was a huge success! The campaign generated 14 new “Likes” for the Bay Haven Care Community Facebook page, which is a 250% increase since January 17th, 2020. The campaign also got a 79% increase in “Post Engagement,” meaning there were more people commenting and liking our Facebook pictures and posts during this week than any other. After the campaign was over, Marco created a collage of everyone’s pictures and posted them on Facebook, as well as around the building.

Overall, Bay Haven’s 2020 Valentine’s Day was very successful and we are excited to continue providing the best quality care for all of our residents.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Bay Haven Care Community Celebrates 51 Years of Quality Living for Long-Term Care and Retirement Home Residents

Administrator Scott Strandholt cutting Bay Haven Care Community’s 51st anniversary cake with Nursing Home resident Joyce Hayles

Bay Haven Care Community celebrated its 51st anniversary on Wednesday, January 15th along with residents, staff, and guests. The celebration began with the Town of Collingwood’s official town crier Ken Templeton presenting a speech about Bay Haven’s longevity and its continued impact on Collingwood. After that, Scott Strandholt held a speech about the history of Bay Haven and how it was established when both of his parents began Bay Haven after moving from Toronto to Collingwood to start a new life in 1969. Scott explained how his father, Elwyn Strandholt, was in charge of the office work and bookkeeping, and his mother, Dawn Strandholt, was doing a lot of the house work and cooking for their newly established business. Scott continued his speech by elaborating on the success that Bay Haven has achieved over the 51 years; he said he is looking forward to the future of the company when Bay Haven Care Community and the Collingwood Nursing Home merge into one business to develop a brand-new facility. Scott also delivered a shout-out to the head nurse Roseanne Beaupre, who has been working at Bay Haven Care Community for over 50 years.

After Scott finished his speech, Cynthia Strandholt took the podium and began talking about how Bay Haven is like a huge family and thanked all of the staff for their hard-work and dedication to keeping a high quality of care for the residents on the Long-Term Care and Retirement Home side. After the speeches were over, Scott Stranholt and Nursing Home resident Joyce Hayles both cut the cake together. The anniversary celebration had delicious food from the Bay Haven dietary team, music performance by Linda Ross, and beautiful decorations from the Bay Haven recreation team.

Happy 51st Anniversary Bay Haven! We are all excited to continue to be part of the Bay Haven team and its 51-year history. Together, all of the staff are going to work hard to continue delivering the highest quality care and make Bay Haven the best place to live for all residents.

Marco Sanfilippo
Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant