Senior Care and Healthy Aging Impact Report 2023

Seniors Care and Healthy Aging

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We are so grateful to you, our donors, for helping us provide compassionate, innovative support for seniors throughout Providence Health Care’s long-term and acute care sites.

It’s no secret that Canada’s population is rapidly aging, and with your help we are rising to the challenge. Because of you, we support over 27,000 seniors and older adults throughout the aging journey. Whether living in a long-term care residence, recovering from a stroke, experiencing cognitive change for the first time, or caring for a loved one, your gifts help Providence provide personalised, life-affirming care.

Today, more than one in three people over age 55 experiences some form of cognitive change. Whether patients are seeking support from a geriatrician or are new residents moving out of their home into long-term care – we are here for you. Your support is helping us shift to a new model of care that puts residents, patients, and their families at the centre. These changes are happening right now through our acute care sites and new dementia village, Providence Living at The Views in Comox, BC, opening in 2024. Thank you for sharing this journey with us.

Better access to acute care with experts in care for seniors and older adults;

Top-tier clinical care for caregivers who support loved ones with dementia;

Gold-standard equipment for diagnoses in hospital and rehab following illness or injury;

Better (and safer) quality of life in long-term care including mobility and dementia support;

A whole new approach to seniors care through a globalfirst research journey to shift from an institutional to a social model in long-term care;

Resources to prioritize the “little things” that makes life rich and fulfilling.

This past year, you helped provide:

Your Care

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Your gifts support a number of programs throughout Providence long-term care homes that make life rich and fulfilling.

New Salon Room Opens Thanks to Donor Support

You help support 6 long-term care and assisted living residences for seniors: HOLY

St. Vincent’s Langara now has a new salon room to bring the regular enjoyment of personal hair care services to all residents for years to come in one of Providence’s largest long-term care homes.

One of the star features is a high quality adjustable sink that accommodates people of all sizes and mobilities with comfort and added dignity. Now people do not need to be moved around uncomfortably when they attend the salon in their wheelchair.

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Above: The new salon is a peaceful space that supports residents’ dignity and choice about how they prefer to present themselves to the world.

Holiday celebrations

All of our long-term care homes bring people together to enjoy each other’s company, food, decorations, music, and special guests. Donor support for these celebrations help to lift spirits and brighten days throughout the year. Christmas, Chinese New Year, and other occasions nurture a sense of community and belonging in our long-term care homes.

Gardening

Donor funding provided new planters in the gardens and added wheelchair accessible vegtrugs (elevated and specially shaped garden boxes). These special planters allow residents to participate more fully in planning, maintaining and harvesting vegetables as they choose.

Because of you, we can provide:

Upgraded equipment, supplies for music and art, garden improvements, cultural celebrations, entertainers, Remembrance Day ceremonies, culturally appropriate foods, and much more!

Above: A resident sharing a romantic dance with his wife during a live music performance. Bringing back entertainers to our homes has brought so much joy to our residents.

Above: Long-term care residents can enjoy their experience in the gardens according to their abilities and personal preferences.

Above: Residents enjoyed the beautiful poinsettias that were delivered at Christmas time throughout the homes. These special touches are made possible with donor support.

You help support

3 acute care sites for seniors:

GERIATRICS (St Paul’s Hospital and Mount Saint Joseph Hospital)

PALLIATIVE CARE (St Paul’s Hospital and St John’s Hospice)

SENIORS REHAB (Holy Family Hospital Rehabilitation Unit)

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Did you know that 62,000 strokes occur each year in Canada?

Over the next 20 years, this number will double.

Your support gives stroke patients a hopeful future

“Having a stroke at any age can be challenging, but at a late age having a stroke can seem particularly devastating. For Mary Gordon, the impact of her stroke at age 82 meant compromised sight, speech, mobility and dexterity. But, with the exceptional support of Holy Family Rehab hospital, Mary was able to meet and reduce these challenges with knowledge, humour, dignity, and perseverance.

“The physiotherapy team at Holy Family does not give up on anyone - regardless of age, severity, or socioeconomics. Their goal is to educate, rehabilitate, support, and advocate for those people who have experienced life-changing impacts to their abilities and to give them and their families the encouragement they deserve. They gave Mary Gordon excellent care but they also gave her - and us - a hopeful future.”

MARY CAROS, GODDAUGHTER OF MARY GORDON

DR. ELISABETH DRANCE AND HER DAD

Equipping Caregivers with the skills and support they need

I also cared for my amazing parents who both experienced dementia later in life. My lived experience of caregiving, along with my professional work, have helped me to deeply understand the needs of families living with dementia.

At the Dementia Caregiver Resilience Clinic, our team provides care to highly stressed care partners, focusing specifically on the skills they need to manage their emotional experiences, and to prevent or work through difficult interactions that can happen when trying to help their loved one. Care partners learn skills that support their own well-being in the context of caring for a loved one with an illness over which they have little control.

We take a very individualized approach to supporting care partners in our clinic, working to address the significant distress they are experiencing while empowering them to adopt a mindful approach, to take a step back, and see situations more clearly. They also learn about real ways to bring self-care to life. We offer individual counselling and lead innovative group programs that are specific to the needs of dementia caregivers.

Our team and all of the care partners we have helped in the past five years are deeply and sincerely grateful for your support of this clinic. Thank you!

THANKS TO DONORS LIKE YOU, THE DEMENTIA CAREGIVER RESILIENCE CLINIC CAN PROVIDE THE SKILLS, TRAINING AND COUNSELLING REQUIRED TO FACE THE COMPLEX CHALLENGES OF CAREGIVING WITH COMPASSION.

My name is Dr. Elisabeth Drance and I’ve been working as a geriatric psychiatrist with Providence Health Care for over 22 years.

Dr. Dave Williscroft has been a Palliative Medicine physician at PHC for over eight years; he has seen first hand the impact music therapy can have for patients, especially when medicine cannot touch the existential, spiritual, and mental suffering of some patients at the end of life.

Your gift supports life-enriching

Music Therapy Programs

“I was driven to do my Fellowship in Palliative Medicine after working as an Emergency doctor and recognising that there is so much more we can do to provide better care for patients.

My first experience with music therapy was on the Palliative Care Unit at St Paul’s, and my first impression was that I couldn’t believe how good it was and how needed it was by patients, and also that it wasn’t a bigger presence on the unit.

I am humbled by Josh Denny-Keys (PHC Palliative Care Music Therapist) and his ability to meet

patients where they’re at. He doesn’t come into every patient’s room with the same Beatles song; he takes the time to get to know the patient, their needs and to understand why I might suggest he visit them. Josh talks to patients and their loved ones to find out who they really are and how music therapy could fit into the story of their life, especially knowing what stage of life they’re currently in – it actually blows me away the level of customised care he provides.

The feedback from patients who engage with music therapy is universally positive. It’s also

The following story is in Dr. Williscroft’s words:

AS PALLIATIVE CARE PATIENTS NEAR THE END OF LIFE, MUSIC THERAPY BRINGS COMFORT AND SPECIAL MOMENTS WITH LOVED ONES.

extraordinary to see patients cared for in an approach that is so deeply tailored to their individual needs. I now encourage every staff member in Palliative Care to include music therapy as part of the initial patient screening – it really helps provides comprehensive care and I could not support music therapy more strongly.”

Thank you to donors for making this program possible!

Michael’s mother, Maree, spent 6 days on the Palliative Care Unit at St Paul’s Hospital after being transferred from ICU. Despite battling cancer, she found contentment during this time – a true testament to the compassionate care provided by the palliative care team and the unexpected joy of music therapy.

“I’ve never been a ‘hospital person’ but I liked being on the palliative floor and you couldn’t have a better representation of palliative care than Josh (PHC Palliative Care Music Therapist) and their entire team. It’s hard to describe, but it’s like the spirit of my mom’s body came alive here. Seeing Mum go from being unable to move in the ICU to bouncing her feet and tapping her hands while Josh played music on the Palliative Care Unit was so soothing and will be a lasting memory for me. I really will remember it forever.”

MICHAEL FERGUSON

Creating a New Model of Seniors Care

Providence Living is currently developing Canada’s first public, non-profit long-term care home based on the concepts of a “dementia village.” Located on the beautiful shores of Comox, BC, Providence Living at The Views began construction in Spring 2022 and is expected to be complete by Summer 2024.

Truly changing public long-term care goes beyond reconfiguring spaces and new buildings. It is about changing the way we provide care to create fulfilling environments for residents.

An integrated research project is happening alongside the development of The Views in Comox. This research is actively informing the

With gratitude for your support.

Bruce Bouchard

Manager, Major Gifts, Seniors Care and Healthy Aging

236.326.6589 | bbouchard@providencehealth.bc.ca

Alexandra Erjavec

Manager, Seniors Care and Healthy Aging

604.841.0448 | aerjavec@providencehealth.bc.ca

Suite 178 – 1081 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

design of The Views and the new social relational model of care that we call “Home for Us”.

Feedback from residents, families, and caregivers will inform a household pilot of the new model of long-term care, which will give more choice and flexibility in each resident’s day. Routines such as waking time, meals, bathing, and personal choice in daily activities will be oriented around residents’ personal preferences, while honouring their traditions and interests.

We look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.

We acknowledge with gratitude that Providence Health Care, Providence Living, and St. Paul’s Foundation work and provide care on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl ílwətaɬ (TsleilWaututh), and K’ómoks (Comox) Nations.

With your help, we are creating positive, enduring change that will impact seniors care for years to come.