Springdale works to accommodate couples
Tuesday January 15, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
With many couples seeking residence at Springdale Country Manor, the Peterborough long-term care home built a couple’s room when the home was renovated 4 1/2 years ago.

Since then, four couples have resided in the room. The couple’s room is more spacious than other rooms in the home, allowing the residents to bring in a lot of their own furniture when they move in.

“The couple that’s in there now, they have a little bar fridge, they have a love seat, two chairs from home (and) a large entertainment unit with a TV,” says Maureen Imamovic, the home’s administrator and director of care.

Because many couples choose to live in separate rooms, there isn’t a long waiting list for couple’s room, she adds.

In some cases, family members will request that the spouse of a newly admitted resident also be considered for residence at the home. In these cases, one half of the couple is often more cognitively well than their spouse, and bringing the other half of the couple into the home can be beneficial, Imamovic points out.

“The one part of the couple that doesn’t need as much care, they often need a lot of emotional support, because they kind of have to live that experience of watching their spouse (decline in health),” says Imamovic.

Staff members at the home have to customize their daily routines to meet the needs of couples living at the home. This means staff members must refrain from a knock-and-go-in approach.

“(Residents) entertain in there, they pursue their hobbies in there (and) they live like a married couple,” says Imamovic, adding that another issue to be contended with when married couples live in the home is whether or not they want to eat at the same dining room table.

In cases where spouses have different levels of cognitive ability, staff members will focus on the spouse who is at a lower functioning level so their partner can pursue activities and make friends in the home, says Imamovic.

“You really have to help the couple go through that. One doesn’t wish to participate, the other does, so you really have to keep your eye on them and make sure the one who wants to participate is being given that opportunity,” she says.