The home, a 156-bed residence in Kanata owned by long term care provider OMNI Health Care, wanted to make these situations as comfortable as possible.

“We do everything for the resident,” says Carolyn Della-Foresta, Life Enrichment Coordinator, “but the families often sit there for a long time.”

So Della-Foresta developed the “Palliative Care Family Comfort Cart,” a complimentary cart that offers family members in vigil numerous comforts – music, pillows, blankets, magazines, treats and other sundry items.

The cart, which has been used for two months and by six families, has been well-received, says Della-Foresta.

“They’ve been thrilled by it,” she says.

The cart was also well-received by surveyors from the CCSAH, who conducted an accreditation survey of the home last week.

The surveyors, says Della-Foresta, “thought the cart was a great idea.”

The surveyors suggested adding additional items to the cart for grand-children, says Della-Foresta.

The cart was the brainchild of Della-Foresta and Susan Bell, the home’s Assistant Director of Care; a joint effort between the programming department and the nursing department. The home saved up more than two hundred dollars to develop the cart, which is plastic and multi-tiered.

Della-Foresta says she often takes the cart in as an icebreaker when she speaks to the family, and along with nurses strives to offer as much solace to families as possible.

Providing comfort for family dovetails with home’s desire to ensure that the resident has a dignified passing.

“We want to make sure that the resident is dying in the most dignified and comfortable manner possible,” she says. “It’s the last thing we do for the family.”