Understanding change
is essential in long-term care
Tuesday January 29, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
PETERBOROUGH, Ont.— Everyone in the long-term care environment needs to be sensitive to the needs of individuals dealing with change in their lives. This was the message Janet Irvine delivered Jan. 24 at the Four Counties Long-Term Care Palliative Network seminar held in Peterborough.

Representatives from Springdale Country Manor, Frost Manor, Maplewood, Pleasant Meadow Manor, Riverview Manor and Burnbrae Gardens met with their counterparts from other long-term care providers in the region to attend the educational opportunity, which was sponsored by OMNI and health-care company Novo Nordisk. The event was held at St. John’s Anglican Church.

Change has been a major theme in Irvine’s life. Within a short period of time her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, her parents passed away and she suffered two strokes. The way to deal with change, she told the audience, is to “understand and accept the reality of change” and that “change is life.”

When residents move into long-term care they are going through a major life transition. Since each person is unique, everyone deals with change differently, explained Irvine. Caregivers, she noted, must always be aware of this and adapt to meet the needs of the resident.

Irvine also stressed that staff members in long-term care homes need to take time to adapt to changes within their working environment and to have their own needs met, as well.

“They also need some of the things they’re providing for the (residents),” said Irvine, who is CEO of Alz Well That Enz Well, a company she started in Cobourg to empower caregivers and provide training sessions to partnerships. Through the company, Irvine also has a service called Reviv’in, a retreat offered to caregivers so they can take time to address their needs.

Following her presentation, Irvine expressed what she hoped everyone in the audience learned from the seminar.

“I hope they walked away with the sense that you can go through very difficult times and move out of the shadows and still reconstruct a life that’s worth living,” she said.

Mary Anne Greco, administrator and director of care at Burnbrae Gardens in Campbellford, said she and others from the OMNI team found the presentation to be enlightening and helpful.

“She (Irvine) is such a wealth of information and everyone I’ve spoken to is finding what she talked about to be relevant to their current status in life,” she said.