The Pines Resident & Family Portal

The highlighted parking lots (below) at The Pines will be swept this Thursday morning, May 9th, starting at 8:00 am. The visitor parking will be impacted for a short time. Please park in the angled parking spots on the road if you arrive and the team is working on the visitor parking area.

If you have any questions, please contact me at ext. 4804

Thank you for your cooperation,

Steve Files

Environmental Manager

Resident Barbeque days will begin May 30^th and continue into the fall every 2 weeks. Please watch for the schedule to be posted in the resident home areas. We look forward to beautiful days outside.

Personal protective equipment is important to help protect yourself and others. Please take a look at the information above and the video below. Please contact John Iskander, IPAC lead at ext. 4752 if you have any questions.

Video of Putting on Personal Protective Equipment

Our team will be providing consenting eligible residents with COVID-19 booster vaccines and Tetanus/Diphtheria boosters in the next several weeks. Watch for a call from the nursing team regarding consent if your loved one is not able to consent for themselves. See the information below from the Ontario.ca website on COVID-19 booster and the Public Health Fact Sheet regarding the Tetanus/Diphtheria vaccine.

When you should get your next dose- COVID-19 Vaccine

It is recommended that individuals who are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 receive an additional dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

It is recommended that you receive an additional dose this spring if you are:

• aged 65 years and older
• a resident of a long-term care home or other congregate living setting for seniors
• aged 6 months and older and are moderately to severely immunocompromised (due to an underlying condition or treatment)
• aged 55 years and older and identify as First Nations, Inuit, or Metis or their non-Indigenous household member and are aged 55 years and older

This additional vaccine dose can provide added protection that may have decreased over time for those at increased risk.

Individuals outside of these groups may choose to receive an additional dose if it is recommended from a health care provider OR they are starting or completing a primary series.

All other individuals are not currently recommended to receive a COVID-19 vaccine dose this spring and should wait until further recommendations are available closer to fall 2024.

Eligible individuals may receive a COVID-19 vaccine if it has been six months since their previous dose or confirmed COVID-19 infection.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-vaccines#section-0

Caregivers play an imperative role in supporting the health and well-being of residents living in long-term care homes. Research highlights that benefits include:

• Improved quality of care and resident outcomes
• Improved working conditions for care providers
• Reductions in overall costs

Our new one-hour bilingual eLearning course, Caregivers as Partners in Long-Term Care, enhances your team’s knowledge and understanding of how to include, support, and empower caregivers as partners.

https://clri-ltc.ca/resource/caregivers-as-partners-in-long-term-care-elearning-course/

The Ontario CLRI at Bruyère and the Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO) co-designed this interactive course with residents, caregivers, LTC team members, and leaders. Aligned with the Fixing Long-Term Care Act and Health Standards Organization’s National Long-Term Care Services Standard, this course has been informed by recent research.

This course is available at no cost on the Ontario CLRI’s eLearning Hub, OCO’s eLearning Hub and coming soon to Surge Learning!

https://clri-ltc.ca/resource/caregivers-as-partners-in-long-term-care-elearning-course/

The Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care (CLRI) at Bruyère would like to acknowledge the partnership and collaboration of the Ontario Caregiver Organization in adapting the Partners in Care eLearning Course for the long-term care sector.

From Public Health Ontario

https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/About/News/2023/01/Respiratory-Etiquette#:~:text=Respiratory%20etiquette%20is%20a%20simple,or%20elbow%2C%20not%20your%20hands.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, everyday infection prevention measures have been placed in the spotlight as important ways to help prevent the spread of the virus. Respiratory etiquette is one of these prevention measures.

What is respiratory etiquette?

Respiratory etiquette is a fancy way of describing the simple everyday actions everyone can take to limit their risk of spreading respiratory viruses. These personal practices primarily consist of covering your coughs and sneezes, regular and thorough hand cleaning, and staying home and keeping to yourself when you are sick.

Respiratory etiquette is a simple yet effective way to prevent illness, and is comprised of a few easy steps:

• Cover your cough and sneeze. Turn your head away from others and cover your mouth and nose with a tissue. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hands. Discard tissues immediately after use into the nearest garbage can.
• Practice effective hand hygiene. Thoroughly clean your hands with either soap and water or alcohol based hand rub regularly, especially after coughing or sneezing.
• Wear a mask to protect others. When you are sick, wearing a mask can help to prevent the spread of germs and viruses that make us ill.
• Environmental cleaning. Some important ways to help prevent the spread of germs are cleaning and disinfecting high touch surfaces and general cleaning of shared spaces.

Importance of respiratory etiquette

According to Statistics Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, respiratory infections such as influenza and COVID-19 are ranked among the top 10 leading causes of death in Canada. Nationally, respiratory infections such as influenza cause 12,220 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths from annually. In 2020, COVID-19 became the third leading cause of death in Canada, accounting for 5.3% of deaths. Many respiratory infections can be prevented with the implementation of infection prevention and control measures, and everyday practices including respiratory etiquette.

We all have a role to play in preventing the spread of germs and viruses to keep both ourselves and our communities safe and healthy.

For more infection control and prevention tips, visit our website (see the link above).

We will be hosting a Bake Sale in the Country Kitchen on Friday, May 17th, 2024 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. We welcome donations of baked goods toward the sale. All proceeds are donated to the Pines Residents' Council. If you would like to donate or have questions. Please connect with Christina Rochette, ext. 4824

We celebrated our volunteers last week at the home. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or know someone who is. Please reach out to, Christina Rochette at ext. 4824

Join Us on Wednesday, May 1st for P.J. Day at the Pines. Residents and staff will be wearing their comfy P.J.s and we hope to see you cozy as well.