Tareq opened the meeting as he was filling in for Len who was in Florida.
Grace was led by Mike, followed by the national anthem lead by Frank.
There were 27 people in attendance including three guests: Morgan Ropper; Hugh Pauwells (from Acclaim Health) and Melissa Cameron our guest speaker who was to be introduced later.
Wayne was responsible for happy bucks and fines. Happy bucks included Manny for his trip to Florida for his parents 60th Wedding anniversary; Rudy—just because; Hugh who was happy to be here; Frank for his 10th wedding anniversary; Mike for his daughter getting accepted for her M.A., and for having it paid for; George for attending the PETS leadership training (and advised that the entire board would be attending the April 14th session—Thanks); and, Mahandra for the Canadian Olympic Results!
Fines was handled differently than usual, with each table being asked to identify if a statement was True of Fake. Mike and Rudy answered correctly, and Ian was wrong, so his table all had to pay fines.
Announcements: Mike updated on two Community Service initiatives: i) A donation was made to the March of Dimes (kitchen at the apartments; ii) Judy is spearheading the April 21 Earth Day Tree Planting program—all three Oakville Clubs are participating. The goal is to plant 300 trees and there would be a site visit on Feb 28th. Golf will be held on September 17th at Turtle Creek (same course as last year). The Board has approved a donation to Halton Learning for $5,000 for 2 schools, and $900 to Oakwood for ukuleles. The club is on track for $17,000 in donations this year.
Kevin Shao was sworn in as the newest member, pinned by Frank. He had been sponsored by Len. Kevin was very pleased to join the club and said he looked forward to working with the committees, and would be offering his services.
George Farrow introduced the evening’s speaker, Melissa from Acclaim Health (Formerly the Victorian Order of Nurses). He advised that she was a former Rotary Exchange Student (from Bolton), who had her exchange in Brazil.
Melissa was very pleased to attend this evening’s meeting to talk about an exciting new Acclaim Health project in Oakville to address dementia challenges, particularly those relating to care givers. Anyone who has had to provide care for a dementia patient know how challenging, exhausting and frustrating it can be. The toll it takes can be like sinking into a black hole. They were developing an environment where the client can be themselves. They wanted to keep the family together for as long as possible, and have the patient live at home for as long as they can. To do this, it is necessary to provide more support for care givers. They will be providing care givers with a break---help care givers get a new lease on life for themselves and the entire family. A guiding premise was “Those we forget should not be forgotten.” They provide adult day care at the Sheridan College campus.
We will be seeing incredible change as demand increases as the population ages. There also needs to be changes in the way that care is provided. It is expected that there will be a 66% increase in dementia by 2031, and a 23% increase in Halton’s aging population.
At this time there is no overnight respite service in the Oakville area. They can only take people in a crisis situation. People have to go to Hamilton or Mississauga, and in some cases one has to plan a year in advance. Acclaim is trying to deal with this short term care need. They want to help the care giver keep going. They provided 30% increase in help to care givers. In addition to providing the care to the patient they are also grieving the loss of who the person was. Acclaim provides information, support and courses.
Acclaim suggests a different approach in dealing with dementia---go along with the person, don’t correct them---be in the moment with the person. This will help to reduce their frustration and anxiety. Include information on the person in the program to help them hang on to who they are for as long as possible. It’s a new way to treat dementia—engage them as opposed to the old way of just keeping them safe. For example, they have a “sparkle table” to engage the person and allow them to be active for as long as possible. It’s a Montessori approach to dealing with the patients.
Allow them to explore and have a more active and rewarding life. But, the waiting list is long and growing. It can take up to a year to get into the program. Consequently, Acclaim is working to develop and build a new state of the art Dementia Care Centre for Oakville, that would offer an expanded adult day program. It will be open 6 days a week, and people can come 2-3 times a week. The plan would be to have it open 7 days a week with expanded hours (7-7). Hugh added that Howard Berry, a former member of this club, needed this type of support. The new facility will provide overnight respite, approx. 1,095 nights per year. It will have 3-4 beds, and allow stays of up to 2 weeks. It would offer a seamless transition to the adult day program.
There is a need for more family care giver support. It will be designed for independence. Dementia is a series of losses, so things like the sparkle table help to keep people active and engaged. Many who suffer dementia like to pace or walk so need space to let them walk. The old way was to paint the rooms in soft colours but now they go for more bold colour contrasts. Food is served on red plates to help stimulate the appetite. There will also be a need for outdoor space.
They hope to be able to announce the new building in the next month. It will be purchased and not rented. It will be 10,000 square feet; have overnight respite; be accessible; light and secured. With regard to timing, the planning was conducted in 2017. Construction will start in 2018 and completed in 2019 and will hopefully open in 2020. There were numerous questions and comments as many had personal stories on how they and their families had been impacted by dementia.
Melissa invited everyone to visit and tour the Oakville Day Care facility. George Vincent thanked Melissa for a timely, relevant and impactful presentation. He added that the club was looking to do something bold for its 100 anniversary in 2025, so this should be an area to consider. This will be something that the Club will continue to study and discuss.
The final activity of the evening was the 50-50 draw, which was won by George Farrow.
Meeting adjourned.
Grace was led by Mike, followed by the national anthem lead by Frank.
There were 27 people in attendance including three guests: Morgan Ropper; Hugh Pauwells (from Acclaim Health) and Melissa Cameron our guest speaker who was to be introduced later.
Wayne was responsible for happy bucks and fines. Happy bucks included Manny for his trip to Florida for his parents 60th Wedding anniversary; Rudy—just because; Hugh who was happy to be here; Frank for his 10th wedding anniversary; Mike for his daughter getting accepted for her M.A., and for having it paid for; George for attending the PETS leadership training (and advised that the entire board would be attending the April 14th session—Thanks); and, Mahandra for the Canadian Olympic Results!
Fines was handled differently than usual, with each table being asked to identify if a statement was True of Fake. Mike and Rudy answered correctly, and Ian was wrong, so his table all had to pay fines.
Announcements: Mike updated on two Community Service initiatives: i) A donation was made to the March of Dimes (kitchen at the apartments; ii) Judy is spearheading the April 21 Earth Day Tree Planting program—all three Oakville Clubs are participating. The goal is to plant 300 trees and there would be a site visit on Feb 28th. Golf will be held on September 17th at Turtle Creek (same course as last year). The Board has approved a donation to Halton Learning for $5,000 for 2 schools, and $900 to Oakwood for ukuleles. The club is on track for $17,000 in donations this year.
Kevin Shao was sworn in as the newest member, pinned by Frank. He had been sponsored by Len. Kevin was very pleased to join the club and said he looked forward to working with the committees, and would be offering his services.
George Farrow introduced the evening’s speaker, Melissa from Acclaim Health (Formerly the Victorian Order of Nurses). He advised that she was a former Rotary Exchange Student (from Bolton), who had her exchange in Brazil.
Melissa was very pleased to attend this evening’s meeting to talk about an exciting new Acclaim Health project in Oakville to address dementia challenges, particularly those relating to care givers. Anyone who has had to provide care for a dementia patient know how challenging, exhausting and frustrating it can be. The toll it takes can be like sinking into a black hole. They were developing an environment where the client can be themselves. They wanted to keep the family together for as long as possible, and have the patient live at home for as long as they can. To do this, it is necessary to provide more support for care givers. They will be providing care givers with a break---help care givers get a new lease on life for themselves and the entire family. A guiding premise was “Those we forget should not be forgotten.” They provide adult day care at the Sheridan College campus.
We will be seeing incredible change as demand increases as the population ages. There also needs to be changes in the way that care is provided. It is expected that there will be a 66% increase in dementia by 2031, and a 23% increase in Halton’s aging population.
At this time there is no overnight respite service in the Oakville area. They can only take people in a crisis situation. People have to go to Hamilton or Mississauga, and in some cases one has to plan a year in advance. Acclaim is trying to deal with this short term care need. They want to help the care giver keep going. They provided 30% increase in help to care givers. In addition to providing the care to the patient they are also grieving the loss of who the person was. Acclaim provides information, support and courses.
Acclaim suggests a different approach in dealing with dementia---go along with the person, don’t correct them---be in the moment with the person. This will help to reduce their frustration and anxiety. Include information on the person in the program to help them hang on to who they are for as long as possible. It’s a new way to treat dementia—engage them as opposed to the old way of just keeping them safe. For example, they have a “sparkle table” to engage the person and allow them to be active for as long as possible. It’s a Montessori approach to dealing with the patients.
Allow them to explore and have a more active and rewarding life. But, the waiting list is long and growing. It can take up to a year to get into the program. Consequently, Acclaim is working to develop and build a new state of the art Dementia Care Centre for Oakville, that would offer an expanded adult day program. It will be open 6 days a week, and people can come 2-3 times a week. The plan would be to have it open 7 days a week with expanded hours (7-7). Hugh added that Howard Berry, a former member of this club, needed this type of support. The new facility will provide overnight respite, approx. 1,095 nights per year. It will have 3-4 beds, and allow stays of up to 2 weeks. It would offer a seamless transition to the adult day program.
There is a need for more family care giver support. It will be designed for independence. Dementia is a series of losses, so things like the sparkle table help to keep people active and engaged. Many who suffer dementia like to pace or walk so need space to let them walk. The old way was to paint the rooms in soft colours but now they go for more bold colour contrasts. Food is served on red plates to help stimulate the appetite. There will also be a need for outdoor space.
They hope to be able to announce the new building in the next month. It will be purchased and not rented. It will be 10,000 square feet; have overnight respite; be accessible; light and secured. With regard to timing, the planning was conducted in 2017. Construction will start in 2018 and completed in 2019 and will hopefully open in 2020. There were numerous questions and comments as many had personal stories on how they and their families had been impacted by dementia.
Melissa invited everyone to visit and tour the Oakville Day Care facility. George Vincent thanked Melissa for a timely, relevant and impactful presentation. He added that the club was looking to do something bold for its 100 anniversary in 2025, so this should be an area to consider. This will be something that the Club will continue to study and discuss.
The final activity of the evening was the 50-50 draw, which was won by George Farrow.
Meeting adjourned.