Riverview staff member enjoys getting to know residents
'When you spend time with them, you get to know them and it’s quality time'
Friday September 21, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Having worked jobs in other fields before joining the staff at Riverview Manor, Mary Lou Rayment says when she looks back it’s easy to see what separates a career in long-term care from many other types of work.

“It’s more meaningful,” she says of long-term care. “When you get to know the residents, you get to know their history and you learn a lot from the residents.”

Rayment, the Peterborough long-term care home’s activity aide and volunteer co-ordinator, began her career at Riverview in December 2000

Working in long-term care, she says, gives her the opportunity to see first-hand the difference she can make in the lives of residents.

Whether it’s taking residents on a group outing or spending one-on-one time with them, the fact she can take the time to give residents a part of their old lives back it all worthwhile, she says.

“When you spend time with them, you get to know them and it’s quality time,” she says.

Activities such as cooking and baking have proven successful in taking residents on a trip to the past.

“It takes them to a time when they used to cook, and they can tell you what they enjoyed doing in the past,” says Rayment.

Rayment says her favourite part of her job is when she gets to take residents on outings.

Taking residents to events, such as Blue Jays games or to her cottage for barbecues gets residents out of their normal environment and has a positive impact on them.

“It just makes them so happy,” she says.

In fact, Rayment is planning a getaway to her cottage with 10 residents on Sept. 21. She says residents are already getting excited about the outing.

“They want steak,” she says with a chuckle. “They’re really looking forward to it. They like watching the boats go by, and there’s an airport across the river and they can watch the planes.”

However, she also enjoys helping out with many of Riverview’s in-home activities. She cites the home’s pub night as one of her favourite regular events.

“I run it and I make them non-alcoholic drinks,” she says.