NEWSLETTER

April 2018

Nutrition: Bits and Bites Healthy Aging For The Brain

Canadians are living longer and are living better. Healthy lifestyle habits can help promote brain health and prevent chronic diseases. Making healthy lifestyle choices is important for your well-being as you get older. Eating well, being physically active, managing your stress and keeping your brain active are great ways to keep your brain healthy. A healthy brain also improves your ability to enjoy your life while helping reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.Enjoy a variety of foods to keep your brain and body healthy. Canada’s Food Guide has specific recommendations for people 51 years of age or older. These recommendations maintain and support brain health.

For older adults, this means:

  • 7 servings of vegetables and fruit – Make a rainbow of colours on your plate, emphasizing green like avocado and broccoli, orange and yellow like squash, cantaloupe and peppers, and red like red grapes and tomatoes every day. Don’t forget your blues and purples like blueberries and cabbage or whites and browns like bananas and cauliflower to make this colourful picture complete.
  • 6-7 servings of grains – These are an essential food group for the brain! Grains are rich in carbohydrates. Our brains use carbohydrates for energy. Choose whole grain varieties more often like whole wheat whole grain bread, barley, oats or quinoa. Grains are excellent sources of essential vitamins and nutrients.
  • 3 servings of milk and alternatives – Choose lower-fat varieties by comparing the nutrition information between products. There are low-fat milk (skim, 1% and 2%), soy beverage, yogurts and cheeses available.
  • 2-3 servings of meat and alternatives – Include beans, lentils and tofu more often. Select lean fish like salmon, and meats like chicken and turkey without the skin.

A nutritious diet is important at every life stage, and especially as you get older. Making healthy food choices is not only good for your overall health but also important to support brain health. 

ACTIVITIES FOR THIS MONTH

  • Tuesday, April 10th ArtsWay Concert at 2:15 pm in the Garden Room followed by Tea Time in the Lodge.
  • Monday, April 16th Combined Children and Lynn Valley Choir Concert at 2:30 pm in the Garden Room.
  • Lodge Monthly Birthday Party will be on Thursday, April 19th at 2:15 pm in the Lodge Activity Room.  Music by Michael Holland.

Manor Birthday Parties: 

Manor 1st Floor will be on Tuesday, April 17th at 1:30 pm.
Manor 2nd Floor will be on Wednesday, April 18th at 2:30 pm
Manor 3rd and 4th Floors will be on Thursday, April 26th at 2:00 pm. Music with Peter Campbell.
Tuesday, April 24th Roaring Zo’s Entertaining Shows at 2:15 pm in the Lodge Dining Room.

HOUSEKEEPING/LAUNDRY:

We would like to again remind our Lodge residents & their families, not to place pictures, etc. on top of the light valances above the bed, or on top of wardrobes. With earthquakes occurring regularly around the world and since we live in an earthquake zone ourselves, we are acutely aware of those things which could cause serious injury, if (when) we were ever to have one here. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding safety in the facility, please do not hesitate to let us know.

ADMINISTRATION 

New Director of Care:   We are pleased to inform you that our new Director of Care, Betty Wills, RN, will be starting her position here at Lynn Valley Care Centre on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. She comes to us from Edmonton and has many years of experience in Long Term Care, including working as a surveyor with Accreditation Canada. Betty is looking forward to getting to know all of us, residents, staff and family members. Welcome, Betty!

New Pharmacy:  As many of you already know, our new pharmacy Medical Pharmacies Group Ltd. (MPGL) started to provide Lynn Valley Care Centre with their services on March 1, 2018. We all continue to work together to make the transition as smooth as possible.

CARECORP Seniors Services As of April 1st, we will have a new contractor for our Foodservice, Activity and Maintenance staff. We are pleased that 92% of our staff have been rehired (some staff chose not to apply) so we will continue to see many familiar faces.

FOOD SERVICE 

The Easter Bunny makes an early appearance this year, which seem fitting, given the cold wintery March we’ve had! Hopefully, we’ll have some typical spring weather in April to help those blossoms & daffodils pop into action.

Our next special meal will be Easter Dinner, Sunday, April 1st, which will feature Roast Lamb, with Strawberry Rhubarb Pie for dessert. Of course, we will be serving Hot Crossed Buns on Good Friday, as well as for Easter Sunday Breakfast for all of you who enjoy those traditional Easter goodies.

We would like to remind everyone that there is a fridge located on each floor, both in the Lodge & Manor. They are stocked daily with juice & hi-cal drink, etc. These items are available to all residents; just ask one of the staff to assist you if required.

These fridges can also be used to store resident’s personal food items that need refrigeration. All food stored for personal use should be labeled with the resident’s name and the date it was first put in the fridge. Weekly checks will be made to ensure that food is properly labeled. Any outdated food (dairy products, etc.) or items not dated will be thrown out if there is any doubt as to its safety.

The same applies for those Residents who have fridges in their rooms. Please ensure that items are stored safely and dated. Items found in Resident fridges will be discarded, if there is any doubt as to its safety (ie: out-dated or undated items)

As a final note, we would like to reassure our residents & families that we have an emergency plan in place for the Food Service Department, which includes an adequate supply of food & water for a minimum 5 day period. The main kitchen coolers & freezer are on emergency backup power as well, which will also help greatly to ensure an adequate supply of food. We also have BBQ’s and separate outdoor gas burners, which we have actually used on a couple of occasions in power outages. As power outages do occur from time to time, they provide great opportunities for us to test our emergency plan and make changes based on experience.

The Food Service Staff wish you all a Very Happy Easter!

INFECTION CONTROL

Once again we thank you for helping Lynn Valley Care Centre remain free from influenza and gastroenteritis. Unfortunately, this is the time of year that colds and the flu are prevalent in the community and we do not want the residents to be in contact with these germs.

Please DO NOT VISIT if you have any cold, influenza or stomach flu symptoms. Please be extra vigilant and report to the nurse if you or anyone in your family is experiencing symptoms. We want to ensure you are infection free before coming to visit.

If you have gastroenteritis (symptoms include vomiting and/or diarrhea) we recommend that you refrain from visiting for at least 48 hours after symptoms are over.

If you have influenza (symptoms are more severe and including cough, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches and general fatigue) please stay away until symptoms resolve or for 5 days onset of symptoms, whichever is sooner.

Remember to WASH YOUR HANDS well and often. Soap and water are always best, but in a pinch, the hand sanitizers work well. And, if you notice that the hand sanitizer is empty, please let a staff person know.

Thank you for participating in our infection control program.

Telephone Directory

  • (604) 982-3719 Reception
  • (604) 982-3703 Lodge Nursing Station
  • (604) 982-3704 Lodge Nursing Station
  • (604) 982-3716 Manor 1st Floor Nursing Station
  • (604) 982-3701 Manor 2nd Floor Nursing Station
  • (604) 982-3711 Manor 3rd Floor Nursing Station
  • (604) 982-3725 Manor 4th Floor
  • (604) 982-3706 Accounting
  • (604) 982-3700 Director of Care
  • (604) 982-3712 Assistant Director of Care
  • (604) 982-3790 Dietitian
  • (604) 982-3713 Director of Activities
  • (604) 982-3714 Director of Support Services
  • (604) 982-3707 Assistant Administrator
  • (604) 982-3710 Administrator