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c22 economist suntribune august 26 1987 volunteer shortage onetoone care ideal for lovestarved elderly by sandy hazell an encouraging word a spon taneous hug a listening ear these are some of the ways caregivers express their special love for chronic care patients encouraging their will to live working as a team nurses aids adjuvents activity craft and life enrichment directors all strive to help fragile seniors enjoy life despite their pain besides meeting their basic human needs caregivers keep the elderly physically active socially involved mentally stimulated and spiritually en riched theres always more to be done than you have time for but its important to show tender loving care to patients says laura wallace parttime charge nurse at bestview health care centre while giving medication and treatment to the 50 residents she chats with them as much as i can stopping along the hallway to give them spon taneous hugs deal with death during her 19 years at best- view she has learned to deal with death its emotionally dif ficult but its helpful knowing they have spiritual care with regular pastors she says most families are very supportive very loyal visiting frequently shuffled from one doctor to another over the years 75- yearold rena has yet to be accurately diagnosed for symp- toms of parkinsons and alzheimers diseases thomas greenough 79 spends each afternoon with his wife at bestview although they cannot converse we know and understand each other after 55 years im richly blessed that i can see her every day one of the things i value is the heart quality of people who deal with the patients here he says nurses on duty have this feeling for older people which i like quite a few seem to love my wife this is more important than anything while she is resting he gets a lot of satisfaction from re pairing wheelchairs to drawing cartoons for the residents on the bulletin board eleven years ago eileen bor- dash was invited to assist the seniors at bestview for christmas i didnt cope very well she admits candidly i had never seen that many sick unhealthy seniors but i also recognized i had to do something about it felt inadequate for four years she did volun teer work at the home taking residents bowling once a week i still had those feelings of inadequacy i was not able to talk about it i was totally de vastated i stopped coming be cause i couldnt deal with it during her three month abs ence one thing kept coming to her mind about the heavy care patients i had to overcome their physical condition and learn to cope with it i knew they still needed love and respect after praying for direction an opportunity arose for her to become activity director at bestview i feel you cant stop growing in this position to better the needs of the elderly said mrs bordash now life enrichment director she is personally re sponsible for the physical emo tional social and spiritual needs of the chronically ill elderly she also plans and imple ments activities and is responsi ble for recruiting and training volunteers bible class crafts bingo sing alongs bowling and exercise are among the prog rams assisted by volunteers without volunteers there wouldnt be ongoing prog rams she said norma goldring crafts direc tor of markhaven relies on 15 volunteers who try and keep seniors occupied at the inter- residential home poor vision as seniors are coming into the home at a later stage in life with arthritis strokes or poor vi sion it is hard to find jobs theyre able to cope with but we manage somehow aging is hard to deal with a person has to really like their job to work here she said you prepare yourself the best you can for death anything you v can do to give people a better life you try to do it gladys rech activity direc tor at markhaven said one of my favorite things is to keep seniors minds active with spell ing bees quizzes and fun with words after working at the home for 17 years she does become attached to some of the resi dents sometimes it bothers me very much when they die i can empathize with them they have given up everything they feel lost lonely and their inde pendence is gone adjuvent lynn bartlett works with special care groups sti mulating them physically and physiologically i know they feel old and use less but i try and look beyond that i try to find the best things in them to give them things they are physically able to do to make them feel better about themselves a member of markhavens pastoral committee mrs bart lett realizes the importance of their spiritual needs especially flora sullivan 88 receives a hug from bestview health care centre charge nurse laura wallace at the local nursing home residents emotional and spiritual wellbeing are as important as their physical condition employees wish they could spend more time on a onetoone basis with each resident but and it impossible without greater volun teer forces sandy hazell thomas greenough 79 serves a cup of hot chocolate to his wife rena 75 a resident of bestview health care centre mrs greenough shows symptoms of parkinsons and alzheimers diseases but has yet to be properly diagnosed mr greenough says he values the compassion of the nursing staff sandy hazell as they come to the end of their lives build relationships you build relationships with them they learn they can trust you even though the physical separation is hard you know theyre better off especially if they have complete faith in jesus christ joanne cleaver fulltime charge nurse at bethany lodge doesnt find it difficult when someone dies in the chronic care section of the home i miss them they are old and have lived a full life i dont really grieve them they are in a lot of pain i don t want them to be in pain its easier for me to see them go knowing they are in a better place after this people who have lived on their own all their lives and dont want to come to the home find it harder to adjust some are in such a confused mental state its difficult for them to understand when they move into the new surroundings most appreciate even just a word of encouragement as well as cope with our tasks we try and give tender loving care its difficult caroline wiseman 26 thought it was hard at first to cope with death in the heavy care ward of union villa like grandparents now with seven years of ex perience as a nurses aid you know what theyve been through you get used to it y darlene brown 23 who also started seven years ago as a nurses aid feels the residents are like grandparents peo ple who dont have families de pend on you more to talk to residents often share hugs kisses and occasionally give her chocolate bars working in teams of two nurses aids tend to the everyday needs of 15 resi dents washing dressing bathing all the patients working together they lift the fragile seniors out of chairs baths and beds i feel like im always bother ing them for something said ms brown who wheels them everywhere to meals adjuvent doctors hairdressers as part of their regimented schedule they are also responsible for a wandering list and noting changes in their eating habits bowels or refusing medication i just love it said mary smith also a nurses aid at un ion villa the residents con stantly need tender loving care so often you have to give them that extra hug its fun referring fondly to them as sweethearts she feels the re sidents could use students just to come in and talk sometimes we get so busy we dont get a chance to talk this is julie tandys second summer as a fulltime training student helping the adjuvent exercis ing the residents taking them for walks in the rose garden and doing their nails are her favorite jobs forgotten people i really love it these people really need somebody theyre forgotten and need a friend said the 18 year old you have to be a certain type of person who wants to do it work with chronic care seniors it re quires dedication patience and understanding you cant just jump into it a graduate of markham dis trict high school julie will be attending george brown col lege this fall and plans to work with seniors when she gradu ates to others comtemplating working with seniors she advises ifyourelierejusttodoajob dont do it you have to be part of them they like to be hugged and shown that you care and understand you have to have lots of patience but most of all you have to have heart