Your life, your community, your news
team members at Andrews of Summerside, dance during a performance at Three Oaks
High School on Thursday, April 10, 2025. Staff members from Andrews of Summerside were invited to perform a cultural dance at the school's Relay for Life pep rally. More photos on pages 3-4
BURGERS, GAMES
ABOVE & BEYOND
AND EASTER FUN
Check out this month's Above and Beyond winner | p. 10
Check out our photos of burger feasts, Easter celebrations and our men’s groups. | p. 5-8
MED STUDENT VISIT
RESIDENT RECIPES
Memorial University medical student Donovan Wyand spent a day at Andrews of Summerside | p 9
This month we feature a decadent butter tart recipe from resident Evelyn Rafuse | p. 4-5
PET THERAPY
‘IF YOU CAN GIVE, IT’S WONDERFUL’ Andrews Senior Care again raising money for the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s | p 10-11
Spending time with animals proven to benefit seniors and people living with dementia | p. 6-7
Kiran, Komalpreet Kaur Virk, Manjeet Kaur and Shehnaz Thind,
Senior
E A S T E R F U N
Residents at all our homes celebrated Easter with parties, meals and crafts.
M E D S T U D E N T V I S I T S
Donovan Wyand, a first-year medical student at Memorial University, spent a day at Andrews of Summerside recently as part of his community engagement placement.
His day started with doing rounds with Dr. Phelan and went on to include shadowing our own RN Melissa Butler, taking part in a demonstration on P.E.I.’s new portable x-ray machine and spending time with the occupation therapist during wheelchair fittings. We wish Donovan all the best in his education and future career!
‘If you can give, it’s wonderful’
Andrews Senior Care again raising money for the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s
If you can help, help
That’s Andrews of Park West resident Bill William’s message to people this month as Andrews Senior Care gears up for the annual IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s
“Say you make a donation,” Bill said. “You’re giving that donation to a very good cause. We need to get something that can help people out there, that can help their partner.”
For Bill, the fundraiser bears a special significance.
Bill’s common-law partner of 27 years, Mary, was diagnosed with dementia in 2023. The experience left a mark.
“That was so hard on her it was unbelievable,” said Bill “She wasn’t herself anymore She was another person It wasn’t Mary ”
Mary’s cognitive decline included jarring personality shifts, where she would lash out at Bill inexplicably His own health issue of chronically low blood pressure made caring for her even more difficult
“I cried all day because there was nothing I could do,” he said
Eventually, it became too much and Mary was moved into a care home
CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Bill Williams is pictured inside his room at Andrews of Park West.
Sharon Woods-Bryenton, activity director at Andrews of Stratford, leads residents during an in-house fundraising walk in 2024.
Bill’s experience is common among spouses and partners of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as well as other forms of dementia
The day Bert Wilcox’s wife Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s his “whole world” was turned upside down
“I can’t describe it,” Bert said “It was sad ”
It was 2023 and Bert and Mary had been married more than 60 years The couple met in high school and had built their lives around each other Bert served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and Mary devoted her time to her community, volunteering with organizations like Brownies, The Lion’s Club and their church
In the months and weeks leading up to Mary’s diagnosis, her behavior changed She wasn’t cleaning or cooking the way she normally did Then she struggled to recognize people she’d known for years After a conversation with his daughter during one of her visits home from Halifax, Bert decided to have Mary assessed by a doctor
“She had three appointments (with a geriatric specialist) until it was decided she had Alzheimer’s and it was advanced,” Bert said
In the aftermath of the diagnosis Bert worked hard to manage Mary’s care at home As her condition deteriorated and she required more care, he brought in additional support
“We brought in some day care, ” he said. “A couple hours a day on different days. Some respite time for me. But I’d go for an hour then I’d have to go back home. I felt I could do more by being home.”
Eventually, she needed full-time care and moved into Andrews of Summerside. Bert visits her twice a day, every day. Despite the comfort of knowing Mary is well taken care of, Bert still struggles with the gravity of the situation.
“(It feels like) the end,” Bert said. “There’s no cure for this disease. And you don’t know, it could be a year, it could be 10 years. It’s the unknown.”
Despite this, Bill remains hopeful and is leading the fundraising charge at Andrews of Park West this year
“Whatever you ’ re doing, stop and think,” Bill said “Would you want that happening to you? Of course not, not your loved ones So, what you do is you turn around and if you can give, it’s wonderful ”
Each Andrews Senior Care home will be raising money in-house, which will be added to the total raised by the Andrews Rockstars team walking in the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s on Saturday, May 24 All funds raised by the team will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Andrews Senior Care To donate to The Andrews Rockstars, click here
Sudoku
The object of the puzzle is to fill the remaining squares, using all the numbers 1–9 exactly once in each row, column, and the nine 3 × 3 subgrids
Community Cash 50/50
Weekly 50/50 draw in support of support not for profit groups including Murphy s Pharmacies Community Centre and the Holland College Athletics Department Anyone can play for just $2/week
If you or someone you
Community and Nursing Care Decision Guide
A comprehensive guide to help you select a community care or nursing home on Prince Edward Island. Some topics covered in this guide:
How to navigate the senior care system on PEI (pg 4)
How to choose a community care or nursing home home (pg 11)
How to have the talk with your loved one (pg 28)
Home evaluation checklists (pgs 13 and 24)
Selling your home (pg 45)
This resources can be downloaded from the email version of this newsletter or by visiting www communitycarepei ca
you have any questions or would like to book a tour please contact our Senior Living Advisor
Should you not be happy for any reason during your first month at Andrews, we will refund your money (private pay amounts only) and help you move back home.
