This is a bi-weekly newsle�er designed to create connec�ons across the Long-TermCare and Assisted Living sector at Vancouver Coastal Health. It is an opportunity toshare best prac�ce and innova�ons, celebrate successes and get to know what ourcolleagues are doing at VCH, and beyond, to create the best possible experience forresidents, families and staff at our homes. We want to build our COMMUNITY, soplease share this newsle�er widely and send us your stories!

The residents and staff of CedarviewLodge were able to join together in acelebra�on of PhilippineIndependence Day with a colourfuldisplay of folk dances, costumes andmusic. Josie (Care Aide) hasbeen working at Cedarview Lodge for28 years and took the lead tocoordinate a special performance forthe residents.

In previous years, Josie has been ableto bring children to Cedarview Lodge

to perform Filipino cultural dances, but this year - due to the pandemic - she could notdo this, and had to get crea�ve! So instead, Josie harnessed the talent of CedarviewLodge staff - nurses, care aides, housekeepers, food service, and recrea�on staff fromthe Philippines and other na�onali�es and cultures all prac�ced the dances togetherand then gave a wonderful performance in front of the residents and other staff.

There were different types of dances from different regions in the Philippines and itwas a fun, joyful, colourful performance against a beau�ful bright backdrop. It was agreat opportunity and an honour to share this annual celebra�on with residents andthose staff who make up such a large propor�on of our care team. Many residents gotup and danced with the staff and when the event was finished, one resident said “Thisis a great place to live”.

~ Cedarview Lodge Team

Meet Patricia (PJ) Jappy-Loker, Director of Long-Term Care & Seniors, North Shoreand Sea to Sky

PJ is currently the Senior Clinical Manager at Berkley Care Centrebut will be stepping into her new role of Director of Long-TermCare & Seniors for the North Shore and Sea to Sky star�ng July 9th.A nurse by background, PJ has a Baccalaureate of Science inNursing from the University of Toronto and a Masters in HealthStudies from Athabasca University. She worked in a variety ofmanagement posi�ons in Fraser Health prior to joining VCH andhelped develop and implement a social model of care while there.In her spare �me, PJ is an avid sports fan, so if you want to strikeup a conversa�on you might want to start with rugby union facts and stats, Packerstrivia or men�on anything to do with soccer!

Extrarodinary Efforts in Extreme Heat. As if a pandemic wasn't enough todeal with, the extreme heat this past week added another layer of challengefor residents and staff in long-term care. Staff went to extraordinary lengths tohelp people stay cool - from rummaging through dona�on closets to find pantsto turn into shorts, bringing in tank tops and other cooler clothing from homefor residents to wear, popsicle crea�ons, cooling zones and moving residents tocooler areas. These are just some of the stories that we heard about thatexemplify the true team efforts that were made to keep residents safe. Kudosand thank you to the dedicated (and crea�ve) staff in long-term care who wentabove and beyond to manage the extreme heat crisis whilst in the middle of apandemic crisis.

Age is No Limit to Crea�vity. Residents and staff at Providence HealthCare's St. Vincent's Langara wrote a song to honour the organiza�on's frontlinehealth workers. Led by their music therapists, they came up with the lyrics, setit to a melody, created artwork for it and recorded and edited the music! Theresult is this amazing music video, �tled Don't Give up the Ship - a �tlesuggested by resident Joyce Kruger. This video is just another reminder of thetalent and passion that exists within the homes.

Here is the link to the full ar�cle about how this song came to be and all of thepeople involved: h�ps://bit.ly/36auW9m

Here is a link to the music video: h�ps://bit.ly/2UTlxk0

Berkley Celebrates Pride! Berkley Care Centre in North Vancouver celebrated Pridemonth with their own Pride week! Presented and endorsed by the resident council,

the home celebrated with decora�ons, educa�on, displays and theme days. Here are some photos of their event.

Alone we can do so li�le; together we can do so much. This quotefrom Helen Keller describes the spirit of the very first VCH Long-Term CareCommunity of Prac�ce mee�ng. 139 people represen�ng 28 homes across all3 Communi�es of Care a�ended the gathering. It was a truly interdisciplinaryevent, with par�cipants ranging from care aides, nurses, physicians, recrea�onstaff, die��ans, social workers, occupa�onal therapists, physiotherapists,volunteer coordinators, spiritual care prac��oners, food services staff and afamily member (to name a few). Within the theme of "Caring for ourCommunity," the mee�ng consisted of a presenta�on on understanding andaddressing health care provider stress related to suppor�ng LTC residentsthroughout the dying process, followed by breakout discussions wherepar�cipants got to meet colleagues from other homes and discuss ways to takecare of ourselves. A big thank you to Kit Chan, Karen Po� and Anne LeClerc forsharing their research. An equally big thank you also goes to LUSH forproviding individual self-care packages to everyone who a�ended the mee�ng.

For those who missed the mee�ng, a recording of the presenta�on will bemade available shortly. Stay tuned to this space for more details. A�ached tothis newsle�er are the brainstorming notes from the mee�ng.

Mark you calendars! The next Community of Prac�ce gathering will be held onJuly 20th at 2 p.m. (3rd Tuesday of every month at 2 p.m.) and the topic willbe: Caring for gender and sexual minori�es. Zoom details will be sent out at alater date.

Bringing Music into Homes and Hearts. The BC Care Providers Associa�onannounced the launch of the Symphony for Seniors program. In partnershipwith Health Arts Society (BC), this is a virtual concert program that builds uponthe previous Concerts in Care series. While Concerts in Care held live musicperformances in care homes, Symphony for Seniors delivers a virtual musicprogram where seniors across BC can watch pre-recorded concerts on demand.The concept of this program was developed in response to visita�onrestric�ons and limits to recrea�onal programming that impacted care homesduring the COVID-19 pandemic. BC's long-term care, assisted living andindependent living operators are eligible to apply for the program star�ng June22, 2021 un�l January 2022 at: h�ps://form.jo�orm.com/211616804683255

LTC+ Ac�ng on Pandemic Learning Together. The BC Pa�ent Safety andQuality Council's June LTC+ Coaching Session topic was Mental Health &Wellness - Let's Start With Psychological Safety. You can access the recordedwebinar and relevant resources here: h�ps://bcpsqc.ca/resource/ltc-june-coaching-session/

These coaching sessions are scheduled on the last Monday of every month andwill run un�l December 2021. The goal is to provide just-in-�me, facilitatedconversa�ons and peer-to-peer learning where the Council will share relevantand best prac�ce informa�on to support your journey.

Even 4 hours a Day Won't Cut It: Why Transforming Long-Term CareNeeds to Start with Empathy: For those who missed this webinar, arecording is available here: h�ps://youtu.be/iA0s6-6FjQY

In this webinar, Moira Welsh (author of Happily Ever Older) and Dr. Samir Sinha(who is currently leading the development of new Na�onal Long-Term CareStandards) discussed examples of excellence in long-term care from around theworld.

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