Resident mobile after two months of OMNI care
Friday September 21, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Only two months after coming to Rosebridge Manor, Martin Stubbs has gone from being immobile to getting around with a walker.

But moving around with a walker isn’t good enough for 62-year-old Stubbs.

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

Stubbs came to the Jasper long-term care home from a hospital in Oshawa in July. His condition was so serious he was flown into Jasper on a stretcher, unable to sit upright.

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

The progress Stubbs has made has even surprised some of the staff at Rosebridge.

“We were really not sure how well he was going to do,” because his prognosis was not good, says life enrichment co-ordinator Kathy Barr.

But what made a big difference in Stubbs’ recovery, says Barr, is the outpour of support he has received from staff members.

Stubbs echoes her sentiments.

“As far as I’m concerned, everybody here has been really, really excellent with lots of patience and lots of help,” he says.

Barr says that when residents come to Rosebridge with mobility issues, staff will focus on their abilities with the help of a physiotherapist.

Staff members will then set up a program to seek out opportunities to get the person walking, whether it be to the washroom, to the dining area or their room.

When staff members do this for residents, Barr says they begin to feel more independence, which motivates them even more.

This is true with Stubbs, says Barr.

“He’s now getting busy with activities,” she says.

If you ask Stubbs what the key has been to his recovery, he’ll tell you it’s all in his attitude. He also emphasizes the importance of setting personal goals and sticking to them.

“What you should have is the will to do what you want to do,” he says. “And I think that’s why . . . I have progressed as much as I have.”