Long-term care changed lives, say residents
Monday October 29, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Some residents of Ontario long-term care homes are thanking long-term care for improving their health and well-being. In some cases, these residents note that long-term care picked up where hospitals left off when it comes to providing care.

Meet Martin Stubbs, a resident at Rosebridge Manor.

In July, Stubbs, 62, was suffering from such severe mobility impairment he had to be air-lifted on a stretcher from an Oshawa hospital to the Jasper long-term care home.

“I was in bad, bad shape,” Stubbs recalls. “I don’t think they could’ve done anything with me (at the hospital).”

Shortly after arriving, Rosebridge’s staff arranged for him to begin physiotherapy. After four months of rigorous effort from his physiotherapist, staff members and especially his strong determination, Stubbs is now moving around on his own with the aide of a walker.

“My goal right now is to be walking without any aide by Christmas, and I think I will be,” he says.

After injuring his hip in a fall last February, Muskoka Landing resident Ted Dillon began receiving physiotherapy upon arriving at the Huntsville long-term care home in March.

Dillon’s injury was serious enough that he required a wheelchair for mobility. However, after receiving treatment from a physiotherapist for the past seven months, Dillon is now on his feet, getting around with a walker.

Adding to his recovery, says Dillon, is the fact he has been self-motivated and determined to reach his next goal — walking on his own without any help.

“I’m stubborn,” he chuckles.

Donna Latimer benefited from long-term care so much that her health improved to the point she no longer required care from the staff at Carveth Care Centre.

Latimer walked out of the Gananoque long-term care home Sept. 29 after three years of residency. Not only did Latimer’s condition improve thanks to long-term care, but she and the home’s staff say her outlook on life also changed during her time as a resident.

She’s a totally turned around person,” says Donna Gibson, who works in the home’s activation department. “The value of (her stay at Carveth) is that she (went) from being a very quiet person to an outgoing person with confidence.”