Tag: Residents

Celebrating Seniors in Ontario — Stay Safe, Stay in Touch

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
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

Posted on by Reagan Morgan

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

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

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
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

What Is Family Council?

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Family Councils of Ontario Logo

Many Long-Term Care Homes across Ontario have established a dedicated family council within their homes. In these Family Councils, members have successfully set aside goals and aspirations to help improve the quality of life for their loved ones within the Long-Term Care Home. A Family Council is an organized, self-led, and self-determining group of people composed of family and friends of the residents living in the Long-Term Care Homes. The main purpose of a Family Council is to improve the quality of life for Long-Term Care residents and to give families and friends a forum for sharing their experiences, leanings, and other valuable information within the home. A Family Council works together with residents’ family members, friends, and the Long-Term Care Home to identify and resolve any issues that affect the resident’s quality of life.

Here are some examples of what Family Council have accomplished with other Ontario Long-Term Care Homes in the past:

  • Members of one Family Council advocated for new doors in the Alzheimer unit to improve resident safety.
  • Air-conditioning was installed in one Home at a Family Council’s recommendation.
  • Family Council worked with a local municipality to include curb ramps around the building of their Long-Term Care Home so residents using wheelchairs could leave the property.

Some of the benefits of having a Family Council in your Long-Term Care Home is that it allows families to give each other ongoing mutual support and encouragement by sharing thoughts and feelings with others who also have relatives in a Long-Term Care Home. Not only that, a Family Council provides an opportunity to become knowledgeable about the Long-Term Care Home’s operations, policies, and rules. This can be especially helpful for families of new residents in the home.

Starting in June 2019, Bay Haven Care Community began a Family Council. So far, our Family Council is small, but we would like to increase the number of participants as much as possible! Each Family Council at a Long-Term Care Home is unique to that individual Home; however, they all share the same goals and aspirations, and that is to provide additional care for your loved ones.

To promote and raise awareness for Bay Haven’s Family Council, we will be hosting a tea social on Wednesday, October 16th, 2019 at 6:00 PM at the Recreation Room in the Long-Term Care side of Bay Haven. At this social, there will be a PowerPoint presentation explaining more about Family Council and what it means to us. We will also be giving a tutorial on how to navigate the Bay Haven Facebook Page. This social will be a great way to introduce potential new members our Family Council at Bay Haven. At this social, you will be learning more about our goal to create a well-established Family Council at Bay Haven, our mission, and the date and time for the next upcoming meeting. We highly recommend and encourage all current resident family members to attend our event.

If you have any relatives in Bay Haven’s Long-Term Care Home and would like to volunteer your time to be part of our Family Council, please contact Bay Haven Care Community at (705)-445-6501 and ask for either April Lawson (Recreation Manager) or Marco Sanfilippo (Marketing Specialist) for more information. Do not forget to attend our tea social to meet us and learn more about Family Council at Bay Haven.

 

NOTE: Since Bay Haven is under an outbreak, we may have to postpone our social to another date. We will update everyone once the outbreak is gone.

 

Thank you,

 

Marco Sanfilippo – Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant.

Happy Canada D-Eh!

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
  • Residents at the Bay Haven Canada Day Social.

On July 1st, 1867, Canada officially became its own country when three colonies (Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) united into a single Dominion called Canada. 152 years later, we continue to celebrate this beautiful country for its rights, freedoms, expressions, and laws that make Canada such a great country. At Bay Haven Care Community, staff, residents and volunteers celebrated Canada Day with a Canada Day Social. Wearing as much red as possible, residents from the Retirement Home side and from the Nursing Home side came together to mingle with their neighbours and friends in the Bay Haven courtyard.

The recreation and dietary team put together a very fun event for Bay Haven’s residents. Some of the recreation assistants put on Canadian themed games for the residents, these games included a Canadian fun facts and trivia, and a Canadian themed bean bag toss. The recreation team also put up Canadian flags and other decorations throughout the entire building. Additionally, the dietary team provided some cold punch, and the members at the Collingwood Royal Canadian Legion were kind enough to donate a large Canada Day cake for our residents! We would like to take this opportunity to thank the members at the Legion for their kindness and generosity. According to the residents, this years Canada Day Social was very fun, warm, and delicious! We cannot wait to do it again next year!

Marco Sanfilippo – Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant

Let’s Go On An Excursion!

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
Bay Haven staff and volunteers taking residents on an excursion to Sunset Point.

Excursions are an important part of Bay Haven’s culture and programs. The Bay Haven Excursions Committee Members organizes excursions with residents in order to provide the best outing for them throughout the entire year.  The Bay Haven Excursions Committee is comprised with the Chairman – Scott Strandholt, the Treasurer/Secretary – Cynthia Landriault, the Recreation Manager – April Lawson, and a mix of three volunteer Bay Haven resident representatives from the Retirement Home and the Nursing Home side.

The Excursion Committee meet every six months. Sometimes the committee meets more often, depending on the Chairs request. At these meetings, the committee members gather in the Bay Haven conference room and discuss and review all the excursions that have occurred, the ones that are upcoming, those that have been suggested, and then proceed to discuss all of the excursion related questions as they arise during the meeting. In the latest meeting, some of the residents suggested different possible outing ideas, such as attending vineyards, local breweries, apple orchards, strawberry picking, and more. It is great to be able to discuss these topics and ideas with our residents at these meetings since they provide us with great ideas for future outings. The Treasurer also gives out an updated report of the budget and funding that is provided for these excursions. Everyone’s role in the committee is important, and their hard work and commitment in keeping the Bay Haven excursions strong is great for the future for Bay Haven.

The Excursion Committee are kindly encouraging people to make donations to ensure that residents continue to enjoy our monthly outings. The money that will be donated will go towards everything related to our excursions, including the funds needed to pay for the Red Cross Bus to transport our residents to their destination. To donate, visit our website and click the Donation tab to see how to donate.

With your help, we will be able to continue our excursion programs with our residents in the future.

Let’s go on an excursion!

Marco Sanfilippo – Marketing Specialist/Recreation Assistant.

A Duckworthy Story

Posted on by Reagan Morgan
A Mother Mallard Duck with her Ducklings at the Bay Haven Care Community Courtyard.

For the past three years, a mother Mallard Duck chooses to lay her eggs in Bay Haven’s central courtyard. The courtyard contains a gazebo, a pound, and a beautiful garden. With such a beautiful environment, we understand why she choose this spot to lay her eggs and raise her children. Bay Haven residents are very fortunate to be able to watch her ducklings roam the courtyard from their bedrooms. Bay Haven likes to consider this mother Mallard duck their official mascot, since she and her family bring so much joy to the staff and residents at Bay Haven.

Since we see these ducks daily, I wanted to do more research and find out more about them.

What is a Mallard Duck?

The Mallard is a common duck mostly found in North America, Europe, and Asia. The Mallard Duck is also found in Central America, Australia, and New Zealand. Mallard Ducks enjoy the water and usually are found near rivers, lakes, and ponds.

What do they look like?

Mallard Ducks will grow to about two feet long and weigh around 2 ½ pounds. The female Mallard has tan coloured feathers, which is the one that we currently have in our courtyard. They are a beautiful looking duck, and we are fortunate enough to watch her every day.

What do they eat?

Mallard Ducks are omnivores. This means they eat both plants and animals. They mostly feed off the surface of water in a lake or pond. They eat all kinds of seeds, small fish, insects, and fish eggs. They also enjoy eating some human foods as well, often eating grain from human crops, bread, or even French Fries.

Migration

These ducks join flocks and migrate from the north to the south for the winter and then back north for the summer. This way they are always where it is warm and where there is food available. These ducks are adaptable in other ways as well. They do well even when their natural habitats are taken over by humans. So far, they have not become endangered by human development over the years. Please do NOT destroy their habitat!

The Ducklings

Baby Mallards are called ducklings. A mother Mallard Duck will usually lay around 10 or more eggs. She tends the eggs by herself in a nest. Shortly after the ducklings hatch out of the eggs, the mother duck will lead them to the water. From that point on, they usually do not return to the nest. Baby ducklings are ready to go within a few hours after they hatch. They can swim, waddle, feed themselves, and find food right away. Their mother will watch over them and help protect them for the next few months. After around two months, the ducklings can fly and will become independent.

Witnessing the Mallard Ducks at Bay Haven Care Community made me realize how independent and protective a mother duck can be. She is responsible for the lives and safety of her ducklings. Her job is to protect and make sure her ducklings grow up healthy and safe. We are truly excited to see if this particular mother Mallard duck will come back to lay her eggs in our courtyard for a fourth year in 2020.