A trip to the Day Hospital at St. Joseph's in Estevan was made even more interesting thanks to recent acquisitions made possible through funds forwarded by United Way Estevan.
"We would never be able to purchase most of these items without the additional support," said Marian Huber, director of the program that sees 10 to 14 seniors attend on a daily basis.
"We've been able to replace some well worn musical instruments and we've purchased some large piece, colourful jig saw puzzles that are perfect for aging eyes and a lot of other items that we like to refer to as 'brain pushers,'" said Huber.
A newly purchased drummel drill for foot care was also a big addition, said nurse Stephani Bourassa, who works with the program and clients a couple of days each week.
There is a modest fee of $8.55 per visit, with the 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. schedule including a whole series of activities and lunch.
"We can offer these people some care and attention that they would probably have to wait for before. We get some lab work done, nutrition consultations completed, physio-therapy treatments, motor skill development all kinds of things. That allows clients to stay in their home or in their independent living suites longer," said Huber.
The United Way provided $5,000 for the day hospital program last year, said Laura Bjarnason, the UW administrator who visited the site last week to view and work with many of the newly acquired devices such as the sensory boards that are popular with the visiting clients.
"If we get continued funding, we might be able to purchase a blood pressure machine that special care aides and recreation staff will be able to deploy and administer without a nurse having to be in attendance," said Huber.
One client, Jean Dukart, said she was impressed with the additional services provided, including the foot-care as well as the recreational items.
The clients appreciate the medication checks and all the other aforementioned services. Most clients arrange a one-day per week schedule or about four visits a month. The program currently caters to about 45 clients, said Huber.
Staff consists of one recreation director, two special care aides and one nurse. It receives basic funds through the hospital's general operations budget but the add-on services are what makes the program so popular, which only comes about through the United Way donations.
"We purchase certain styled books that are great for memory stimulation, and we have materials for sensory memories as well. Some of these items are huge in terms of retaining fine motor skills," Huber added.
"So much of the stuff they had before was so well used it was worn right down, it needed replacement," said Bjarnason.
Transportation to and from the program is most often provided by SMILE Services vans, another recipient of UW funds.
"In the adult day program we are able to do a lot of identifying of potential problems, which is a key element of what we do here and, of course, there is a confidentiality aspect to all of it too, for the respect of the clients and staff. That's part of it too. There are many directions for the day program," Huber said.
