Important to run activities that twig memories: restorative care co-ordinator
Friday September 14, 2007 -- Natalie Miller
From making their own butter to kneading the dough for homemade bread, residents stepped back in time recently at a Haileybury long-term care home.

It was during a breakfast club run by restorative care co-ordinator the idea for a pioneer-themed event arose.

Residents of Temiskaming Lodge began reminiscing about churning butter and making bread, says Khristina Robinson. She was inspired to run a series of pioneer-themed activities. Robinson borrowed some artifacts from the museum and arranged for a person who makes birch-bark canoes to visit.

The home’s administrator, Francine Gosselin, brought in her recipe for homemade bread and the residents got busy making homemade bread and fresh butter. The smell of the bread baking triggered taste buds and rekindled memories, says Robinson.

“It got them talking about the olden days,” she says.

“Especially with this clientele, they remember back then. They can remember, in detail, what they did 50 or 60 years ago.”

Robinson says it makes sense to gear programming around what residents can remember.

“It gives them confidence,” she says. Even within the home’s breakfast club, when residents make their own toast or poached eggs, it gives them a sense of purpose, she says.

With the pioneer-themed events, residents were involved in measuring and other prep work and sampling the efforts of their labour.