Bruyère celebrates Seniors’ Month in Ontario
06/04/2019
This June, Bruyère joins Ontario in celebrating Seniors’ Month. While it’s important to raise awareness of the health and well-being issues faced by aging people, this month aims to celebrate seniors who are making important contributions to their communities.
At Bruyère, our focus is maximizing quality of life and enabling aging people to stay active in their communities. We are:
- helping people remain independent in their homes through research and development of smart home technology;
- helping people return home after caring for them in our hospitals with out-patient programs like those offered at our Geriatric Day Hospital; and,
- meeting the needs and wants of our aging population by offering a continuum of housing options from independent living to long-term care and affordable housing.
With a significant portion of our patients, residents and volunteers being seniors, we are proud to kick off the month by recognizing some of our most active seniors and highlighting some of the work we do to improve the quality of life for aging Canadians.
From the comfort of their own home,
Gerard and Lois Chetelat were recently able to test smart home technology being developed at Bruyère. This technology enables people with dementia and their caregivers to stay together in their homes. Leveraging sensors, it can detect when a person with dementia wanders around the house in the middle of the night. If the person gets out of bed when they are not supposed to, a system of lights will turn on, guiding them back to bed. For the caregiver who is constantly worried about whether their loved one will wander out of the house, this technology can be a life changer.
In
a recent interview on CBC’s All in a Day, conducted in Bruyère’s very own on-site smart apartment, Dr. Bruce Wallace of
SAM3 explains how the system works.
Meet
Heinz Ende. Four years ago, Mr. Ende was admitted to Bruyère for the first time, having suffered an injury following a fall in his garage. After only three weeks with our care team, Mr. Ende was back on his feet and returned home.
Two years later, worried that Mr. Ende might be at risk for another bad fall, his physician referred him to Bruyère’s
John and Jennifer Ruddy Geriatric Day Hospital to work on his balance and walking issues. Upon learning that he would be coming back to Bruyère, Mr. Ende was eager to get started on his bi-weekly visits.
Following a 10-week rehabilitation program at the Geriatric Day Hospital, Mr. Ende is able to keep enjoying his active lifestyle.
Watch Mr. Ende’s story:
This is Thérèse Lorrain. Every week – rain or shine, hot or cold – she can be spotted walking down Dalhousie Street, headed toward the neighbourhood florist. A volunteer with Bruyère for many years, Ms. Lorrain aims to put a smile on peoples’ faces by sharing her love of flowers
On Tuesday mornings, she visits The Stalk Market to pick up a large bouquet of flowers, which she then distributes to the patients and residents of the Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital.
Brightening peoples’ day, staying active and volunteering her time, Ms. Lorrain is a senior who gives back to her community – we are grateful for her support.