Aging Together Abbotsford 2016 is a conference for baby boomers and seniors. It took place over two days with educational workshops, expert speakers, as well as vendors and exhibitors that promote a full and healthy lifestyle for older adults. Presented by Abbotsford Community Services (www.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com), the conference was well attended with over 130 registrants who were engaged fully in the sessions, workshops and ongoing conversations that ensued.
Dan Levitt, Executive Director of Tabor Village and adjunct professor of Gerontology at SFU emceed the two day event. He said that he “hoped the next 2 days would help all of the participants grow in wisdom and although growing old may be a challenging chapter in life, it will also be a valuable and meaningful time in your life”. Dan’s engaging sense of humor and knowledge of the field of gerontology set the tone for the two days of information, networking and fun.
Greetings were brought to the conference by Mayor Henry Braun who affirmed Abbotsford as an Age-Friendly community with desire and initiative to continue providing services for seniors.
Before introducing Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC, Dan shared Henry Fredrick Amil’s powerful quote, “To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.”
Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC – Keynote Address
Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC addressed the crowded room mixed with seniors, professionals, pastors and chaplains. With more than 20 years of experience working with seniors, Isobel MacKenzie brings a thorough, evidence-based, researched method to her work in advocating for seniors in British Columbia. Just prior to becoming the Seniors Advocate, Isobel was leading BC’s largest non-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors.
Isobel debunked a number of myths in her keynote address, such as the idea that seniors are a burden – that there is a great silver tsunami coming that will come by surprise and wash over British Columbia devastating everything in its path. She addressed the myth that all seniors are rich, stating the statistic that at age 65 over half the people are living on an income of $24,000 or less. There are 54,000 seniors in British Columbia who are living only on Old age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement, a sum of $16,800 per year.
Isobel shared how well-meaning professionals are trained to make people’s lives as risk-free as possible and yet, it’s time to allow individual seniors to live at risk as they choose.
Another myth addressed by the Seniors Advocate was the idea that you will get dementia if you live to be elderly. Statistics show that four out of five people over 85 do not have dementia. An unintended consequence of creating awareness of Alzheimer’s for research dollars is that everyone fears that they will get dementia.
What about resident-on-resident aggression within residential care homes? For the first time, there is a benchmark statistic collected by the Seniors Advocate office. This says that between 425 and 550 reported cases resulted in harm in residential care. Although our aim is to have no aggression, this rate of aggression needs to be understood in the context of the 27,000 residents in British Columbia.
What about the myth that all elderly people will lose their driver’s license? Over 97% of seniors over 80 years old will pass the DMER test and not be subject to the DriveABLE test. From there forward, they will be able to renew their license.
The Seniors Advocate also shared that they are collecting statistics through the Senior Abuse and Information Phone Line as to how many seniors are being abused. As the benchmark numbers are being developed, Isobel noted that many of the reports of abuse were more than five years old, indicating an under-reporting of abuse incidents.
Her work ahead will include a Resident on Resident Aggression Review, Home Support Review and a Pharmacare Review.
Conference workshops at the Aging Together Abbotsford 2016 Conference ranged from Advance Care Planning; Financial and Estate Planning; Successful Aging; Privileges and Responsibilities of Driving; Intimacy Through the Years: Exploring Sex as we get Older; Travel Tips; Family and Friend Caregiver Tips; Heads up for a Healthy Brain; Healthy Smoothies and Laughter Yoga.
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Heads Up For a Healthy Brain by Jude Weir, Alzheimer’s Society
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Daryl Plecas addresses the participants
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Vendors
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Vendors
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Vendors
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Vendors brought excellent information for seniors
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Garden Park Towers – Menno Froese
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Phillips Lifeline share their lifeline alerts
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Isobel engaging with seniors
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Isobel engaging with seniors
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Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate debunks myths about seniors
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Mayor Henry Braun welcomes the participants
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Dan Levitt, emcee and Isobel Mackenzie
Save The Date – Celebration of Life and Love! – June 23 – Buy a Butterfly!
/in Family and FriendsCelebration of Life – Memorial Service and Butterfly Release
Date: Thursday, June 23
Time: Afternoon beginning at 2:30pm
Location: Chapel and Courtyard
We will be celebrating the lives of residents who passed away in the previous year along with honouring the life, friendship and legacy of those whom we continue to visit and love.
This special event brings together members of the Menno Place community of care, including residents, family members, staff, volunteers and caregivers.
You are welcome to join in one or both of the events that will take place on this special day.
Celebration of Life – A contemplative Memorial Service to honour those who have passed away in the previous year followed by the Butterfly Release – A joyful time to release Monarch butterflies into the beautiful courtyard. Join with residents to share a special moment of excitement as butterflies are released one by one by those who have pre-purchased a butterfly in anticipation of sharing this precious memory together.
Who is invited to attend the Celebration of Life?
What is involved in the Celebration of Life?
This is a time to honour the residents who have passed away in the past year. Their names and faces will be shared. You are invited to bring along photos and momentos that will remind you of your loved one and help others understand their personality and experience. There is a time for memories to be shared at an open mic if you wish. You are invited to stay for tea, coffee and desserts as well as to participate in the Butterfly Release.
Who purchases a butterfly for release?
How much does a butterfly cost? What is the money for?
In order to release a butterfly on June 23, each participant will purchase a butterfly for $25. This covers the cost of the butterfly and is a fundraiser for the Recreation Programs at Menno Place. With these funds, we anticipate putting in a butterfly garden in both the Courtyard as well as the Living Waters garden.
Why butterflies?
Butterflies provide a very special symbols of transitions in our own lives. We see the butterfly as a symbol of transformation and transition because of its impressive process of metamorphosis. The transition of a butterfly into something so very beautiful provides a symbol of hope for each of us as we see our own transitions take place.
The butterfly moves through the transitions from egg to larvae to pupa and emerges from the cocoon with grace and beauty. This reminder encourages us to move through our own transitions with hope and grace, embracing the next stage of life.
A butterfly’s metamorphosis is also symbolic of faith.The butterfly beckons us to keep our faith as we undergo transitions in our lives. We can see that toiling, fretting and anger are uselsess against the turning tides of transition. The butterfly invites us to recognize this for our own transitions.
What happens in the months prior to the butterfly release?
Initially, butterfly larvae will be purchased for each unit and building on the campus. Residents will have the privilege of watching the butterflies transition through the metamorphosis. There will also be opportunity for residents and families to participate in butterfly walls that will remind us of people we love – those that have passed and those that we continue to enjoy.
Families, friends, residents, staff and volunteers will begin to purchase butterflies that they will release in the ceremony on June 23rd.
How do I purchase a butterfly?
We are setting up the process for purchasing butterflies. You will be able to purchase them at Reception, The Fireside Treasures Gift Shop and online through our website. We will make purchasing available mid-April.
There are a limited number of butterflies available for purchase due to inventory availability. Please purchase early to ensure your opportunity to participate in this wonderful event!
Concert in Care – April 5 – D’Arcy Han & Michael Aihoship
/in Family and FriendsYou are invited to join with residents for this beautiful professional concert! No admission cost.
Tuesday, April 5 at 10:30am in the Menno Hospital Chapel
D’arcy Han, vocals
Michael Aihoshi, guitar
This event is made possible by Menno Hospital, Odlum Brown and Health Arts Society.
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Honour your loved one with a Memorial Bench – 3 Benches available immediately
/in Family and FriendsWould you like to honour a loved one with a bench donation?
Ten benches were donated in 2015 by families who honoured loved ones who passed away – and also those they continue to enjoy and visit.
There are three remaining 4′ benches ready to be donated in the Living Waters Garden Gazebo (along Primrose Street).
How much does the donation cost?
4′ Bench with Bronze Memorial Plaque – $3500
Details:
Bronze plaque – 4″x6″
Bench is black in Color. Powder-Coated Stainless Steel.
Click here for details and to order your bench. You may request that your bench be installed in an alternate location on the Menno Place campus.
Honouring and Remembering Elfriede Dyck
‘Like’ us on Facebook – Humans of Menno Place
/in Family and FriendsHumans of Menno Place
Humans of Menno Place understands that every face on the Menno Place Campus of Care tells a story. Together we make up this exceptional community of people who live, love, serve, work, play, sing, laugh and care.
Together, our stories tell the bigger story of what it is to be fully human at any age.
Humans of Menno Place is a growing collection of our important faces and stories. It is designed after the tremendously successful story-telling done by Humans of New York.
‘Like’ Us on Facebook – Click Here
Concert in Care – May 3rd at 10:30 am
/in Family and FriendsYou are invited to join with residents for this beautiful professional concert! No admission cost.
Tuesday, May 3rd at 10:30am in the Menno Hospital Chapel
Julian Nolan, Saxophone
Jane Hayes, Piano
Family and Friends Network – April 21
/in Family and FriendsCome and join us to discover how family and friends can be supported and involved in residents’ lives at Menno Home and Hospital.
Thursday, April 21st, 2016
1:30 – 2:30pm
Menno Hospital Chapel
We are looking forward to seeing you!
Facilitators:
Dan Janzen – Social Worker
Ruth Neufeld – Social Services
Refresh. Renew. Renovate – Updates: Home and Hospital
/in Family and FriendsThis spring, two areas of the Menno Place campus will be receiving updates – Menno Home E2 and Menno Hospital W2. These are the first updates to happen as we continue to move away from an institutionalized feeling in our care homes.
Menno Home E2 will be the initial pilot project for these updates – fresh paint, updates to the decor and new furniture throughout will help to create a homelike feel. A homelike environment is one that de-emphasizes the institutional character of the setting, to the extent possible, and allows the resident to enjoy the environment that feels like a home rather than an institution.
New dining room furniture is arriving for both Menno Home E2 and Menno Hospital W2 at the end of April!
Some good practices that serve to decrease the institutional character of the environment include:
* Elimination of overhead paging and piped-in music throughout the building
* Eliminating the use of trays to serve meals
* Removal of institutional signage labeling work rooms in areas visible to residents and the public
* Reduction of medication carts. Some innovative facilities store medications in locked areas in resident rooms
* Removal of large, centrally located nursing/care team stations
Changes in our older buildings can be challenging as the physical layout of the units creates obstacles to the homelike environment.
Last year, Menno Place partnered with Emily Carr University of Art and Design to begin the conversation with families, residents and staff around changes to the physical environment and increasing the emphasis on person-centered care.
Look forward to updates on this project as we continue to work toward a homelike environment.
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Recreation Highlights for March
/in Family and FriendsMenno Home
March 10 – Music with Nick Klassen
March 17 – St. Patrick’s day party
March 24 – Easter party with Paska
Hospital
March15 – St. Patrick’s Day with Shawn Mckee
March 17 – Irish dancers
March 24 – Resident and staff Easter egg hunt
March31 – Rock Show
Family and Friends Network – March 17
/in Family and FriendsCome and join us to discover how family and friends can be supported and involved in residents’ lives at Menno Home and Hospital.
Thursday, March 17th, 2016
1:30 – 2:30pm
Menno Hospital Chapel
We are looking forward to seeing you!
Facilitators:
Dan Janzen – Social Worker
Ruth Neufeld – Social Services
Aging Together Abbotsford 2016 Conference – Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate
/in NewsAging Together Abbotsford 2016 is a conference for baby boomers and seniors. It took place over two days with educational workshops, expert speakers, as well as vendors and exhibitors that promote a full and healthy lifestyle for older adults. Presented by Abbotsford Community Services (www.abbotsfordcommunityservices.com), the conference was well attended with over 130 registrants who were engaged fully in the sessions, workshops and ongoing conversations that ensued.
Dan Levitt, Executive Director of Tabor Village and adjunct professor of Gerontology at SFU emceed the two day event. He said that he “hoped the next 2 days would help all of the participants grow in wisdom and although growing old may be a challenging chapter in life, it will also be a valuable and meaningful time in your life”. Dan’s engaging sense of humor and knowledge of the field of gerontology set the tone for the two days of information, networking and fun.
Greetings were brought to the conference by Mayor Henry Braun who affirmed Abbotsford as an Age-Friendly community with desire and initiative to continue providing services for seniors.
Before introducing Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC, Dan shared Henry Fredrick Amil’s powerful quote, “To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.”
Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC – Keynote Address
Isobel Mackenzie, Seniors Advocate, BC addressed the crowded room mixed with seniors, professionals, pastors and chaplains. With more than 20 years of experience working with seniors, Isobel MacKenzie brings a thorough, evidence-based, researched method to her work in advocating for seniors in British Columbia. Just prior to becoming the Seniors Advocate, Isobel was leading BC’s largest non-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors.
Isobel debunked a number of myths in her keynote address, such as the idea that seniors are a burden – that there is a great silver tsunami coming that will come by surprise and wash over British Columbia devastating everything in its path. She addressed the myth that all seniors are rich, stating the statistic that at age 65 over half the people are living on an income of $24,000 or less. There are 54,000 seniors in British Columbia who are living only on Old age Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement, a sum of $16,800 per year.
Isobel shared how well-meaning professionals are trained to make people’s lives as risk-free as possible and yet, it’s time to allow individual seniors to live at risk as they choose.
Another myth addressed by the Seniors Advocate was the idea that you will get dementia if you live to be elderly. Statistics show that four out of five people over 85 do not have dementia. An unintended consequence of creating awareness of Alzheimer’s for research dollars is that everyone fears that they will get dementia.
What about resident-on-resident aggression within residential care homes? For the first time, there is a benchmark statistic collected by the Seniors Advocate office. This says that between 425 and 550 reported cases resulted in harm in residential care. Although our aim is to have no aggression, this rate of aggression needs to be understood in the context of the 27,000 residents in British Columbia.
What about the myth that all elderly people will lose their driver’s license? Over 97% of seniors over 80 years old will pass the DMER test and not be subject to the DriveABLE test. From there forward, they will be able to renew their license.
The Seniors Advocate also shared that they are collecting statistics through the Senior Abuse and Information Phone Line as to how many seniors are being abused. As the benchmark numbers are being developed, Isobel noted that many of the reports of abuse were more than five years old, indicating an under-reporting of abuse incidents.
Her work ahead will include a Resident on Resident Aggression Review, Home Support Review and a Pharmacare Review.
Conference workshops at the Aging Together Abbotsford 2016 Conference ranged from Advance Care Planning; Financial and Estate Planning; Successful Aging; Privileges and Responsibilities of Driving; Intimacy Through the Years: Exploring Sex as we get Older; Travel Tips; Family and Friend Caregiver Tips; Heads up for a Healthy Brain; Healthy Smoothies and Laughter Yoga.