Therapeutic Recreation contributes to resident health
Christmas cake, mincemeat pies, tarts, fruit preserves, puddings and candy…to hear Dorothy Loucks list off her baking and confection specialties will make your mouth water as your mind conjures up images of the perfect Christmas dessert table.
As a wife and mother, Dorothy shared her baking talents with her husband, daughters, and family making sure that Christmas and all other special occasions were memorable, and very tasty. Today, as a resident of St. Joseph’s Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care, Dorothy still has the opportunity to share her talents as part of the weekly baking program.
Mount Hope is home to nearly 400 people. Ranging in age from 30 to 106 years, residents include those who are technologically dependent, those with mental and or physical challenges, and the elderly. Care is tailored to individual needs, with the goal of maintaining independence, choice and personal wellness.
The baking program, that Dorothy enjoys so much, is just one of a number of different therapeutic recreation activities taking place at Mount Hope. From craft programs, breakfast club, knitting club, and green thumb they all take place in a central location called the Craft Room. This space is really the hub of the resident’s recreational activities.
The importance of the Craft Room and its many programs to the overall well-being of residents can’t be overstated.
What residents achieve in the craft room – from the baking program to art – gives their lives meaning. By choosing to participate in the program it allows for feelings of empowerment, autonomy, mastery and the ability to take an active role in some of their life choices.
The room provides a gathering place for residents, staff and volunteers to get together.Residents can participate in activities and express themselves through a variety of activities, and experience a change in atmosphere from their rooms. For those residents needing a quiet place to meet with friends or families – the craft room is the destination of choice. It has become their home away from home.
Just like many of the rooms in our own homes, the Craft Room is in need of major renovations. It requires an accessible kitchen with more counter space, a food preparation sink, and new storage compartments increasing safety, separate accessible work spaces for crafts, baking and for individual projects such as puzzles thereby providing more space for several programs to take place at one time.
Unquestionably Therapeutic Recreation contributes to the overall health and well being of residents. It’s the special “Kodak moments” that really speak to its impact on the soul of each of the residents.
“When you see the twinkle in their eye, or the smile that comes across their face when they are really in the moment –engaged in an activity, that’s when you know that it is worth it,” says Katherine Matheson, at Mount Hope. Your donation through the Season of Celebration campaign will help to fund the renovations needed for the Craft Room.
