Seamless, safe home care
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Living alone never really bothered Ilene Pearson.
"I've lived alone for 35 years. I've always been a loner."
Pearson, 92, moved from Long Point to her Queen Street apartment in Tillsonburg in 2007.
"And Toronto before that?" asked MSC Home Support Coordinator Tina Klassen.
"Yes, I was in Toronto for 35 years," said Pearson, noting she was born in Ostrander and grew up south of Tillsonburg.
"My father was a share-crop farmer and we moved a lot."
Recently, however, she has not been alone. She receives care from the Multi-Service Centre's Home Support Services.
"How do find it, adjusting to people coming in?" Klassen asked.
"Yes, I like it a lot," said Pearson. "I get somebody to talk to... I sort of go stir crazy around here - I don't get out."
"So there's a social aspect as well as a safety aspect as well," said Klassen. "We try our very best to deliver 'seamless delivery of care' to your unique care plan. So we don't come to you and say we're going to do 'this - this - that - and the other.' We sit with you and say, 'What are your needs?' So that we can base the care plan around your needs are. We do that individually with each of our clients."
"And it helps you maintain your independence," said PSW Lisa Neufeld, Pearson's primary care giver.
"The main thing is... we come in to meet your needs to stay safely in your home," Klassen nodded. "Again, your care plan is specific to your needs. You may have a neighbour across the hall, or in another home in the community that has home care as well, but their care plan is specific to them.
"The girls may come in and help with laundry, they may help with the shower, but they are always making sure that it's done in a safe environment so that you're 'here.'"
"Everthing's been good, everybody's been super," said Pearson. "I just told Jennifer last night, 'I haven't met one I don't like yet.' I write down their names in a book - I've got 13 different ones that come in and help."
"So each knows you uniquely," said Klassen. "And that way, too, if someone isn't available at the last minute we do have someone who can say, 'Oh, I know Ilene.' Again, it's that seamless delivery of care.
"For the time they're here making sure you're safe in your home, you get to have that conversation - and the security knowing that someone is listening."
"And the exercises," said Neufeld. "We go for walks to maintain mobility."
"Lisa takes me for walks and I go on my own once in a while," nodded Pearson, who uses a walker. "This one, this is the best thing ever made. This morning I got a knew name for it - my 'horse and buggy.' I couldn't get along without it... but a lot of times I forget it. I'll be in here thinking, 'now where's my walker?'"
Pearson was doing morning and night exercises, sometimes assisted by PSWs, but she recently gave up the morning routine.
"I've got so that I like to sleep in," she laughed. "So I miss my morning exercises."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Klassen smiled.
"Then we catch up with a walk later on," said Neufeld.
"Oh yes, it really helps to get out and walk," said Pearson, who moved to the Queen Street location so she could be closer to the mall for walking excursions. "I haven't been able to do that - I can't walk that far. My legs get tired.
"When I first moved here, I was driving."
"We do the exercises with all of our clients that are agreeable to it," said Klassen.
"I can't get down on the floor - because I can't get up," said Pearson. "But I do some here, sitting in my chair, and some in my bed."
"We plan to keep you here as long as we can, safely," said Klassen. "That's the goal with the program - safety first."
Pearson still makes her own breakfasts and lunches, but does not do a lot of cooking.
"My arms are bad, I can't raise them up too far. And I'm afraid to cook... because I'm afraid I'll forget something - my memory is so bad."
"One of the nice things about the program is that as your needs change," said Klassen, "the girls are excellent at reporting that back to us. Then we can re-assess. We can ask - 'would you like us three times a day?' We could do breakfast, lunch and supper prep to insure that you know, as your memory starts to fade, they are here to ensure that element of safety, and that you get the nourishment and strength that you need for the day.
"So again, it's wonderful that our program can work along with you as your needs change."
As of early November, Home Support Services had about 22 clients, said Klassen, and they have between 35-40 community workers, which includes house keeping and internal staff.
Since 1978, MSC’s Home Support Services department (and, more recently, sister corporation Stonebridge Community Services) have been providing many key services in the community. They include: Assisted Living & Supportive Housing; Personal Support & Homemaking; Meals on Wheels; Transportation; Home/Yard Maintenance & Repair; Home at Last; and Foot Care.
For more information go to www.multiservicecentre.com and choose the Home Support link. Regular updates are posted to the agency’s Facebook and Twitter accounts - highlighting information of interest to the community on a wide range of topics, including seniors’ issues.
Across the province, Community Support agencies provide a wide variety of services such as the services listed above, as well as attendant care, adult day programs and respite for family caregivers.
“To us, stories about the impact of community support services may be extraordinary, but to the dedicated staff and volunteers of these organizations, they’re all in a day’s work,” said Deborah Simon, CEO of the Ontario Community Support Association, in a media release.
“The need remains for services that allow people to live as independently as possible and remain at home," said Diana Handsaeme, Manager of MSC’s Home Support Services (and Life Care Division, Stonebridge Community Services), also in a media release. "We have worked with our partners for many years to ensure those services are in place and often assist families in navigating the system."