Blogger > Deron Hamel

The long-term care sector has large role to play in the greater health-care continuum, and having a Stakeholder News program is one way to share successful breakthroughs being made.

Nowhere was this truer than with a recent story of a resident’s recovery at Trillium Villa, a Steeves & Rozema-owned long-term care home in Sarnia.

When administrator Jennifer Allison called my desk in late November she said she had a remarkable story to share — one she wanted to use to help identify her home as a leader in restorative care.

It was the story of a resident named “Mrs. K.”

Mrs. K had moved into the home the month previous with a fractured arm. Unable to live independently because of her injury, she sought care from the Trillium Villa team.

But the 92-year-old Mrs. K had a plan; a plan to return home in within a month. And she was bound and determined to see it through to the end.

And Trillium Villa wanted to help Mrs. K actualize that vision.

With the help of the home’s front-line staff members, who utilized restorative-care interventions, Mrs. K achieved her goal and is once again living at home independently.

Today, there is a large segment of the elderly population that’s choosing to age at home, and Mrs. K’s story is an example of the direction the long-term care sector may well be heading: a rehabilitative model that helps people regain their independence while easing strain on the acute-care system.

And it’s a model worth promoting.

This is where Stakeholder News comes into play. Not only was the Trillium Villa team able to share Mrs. K’s story on the S&R Today site, the story was also posted on the Morning Report, the Ontario Long Term Care Association’s Stakeholder News web page.

With Mrs. K’s story shared on two websites, plus the exposure it has received through social media, people have taken notice.

Allison called me again recently to let me know the story has received some positive feedback from staff at Bluewater Health in Sarnia, as well as from a supplier, who introduced her to some of the rehabilitative-care services his organization offers.

Amazing what can stem from just one story, eh?