January is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month

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More than 85,000 British Columbians are living with Alzheimer’s disease and each of their stories is unique. Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s – either for yourself, or for a loved one – is a life-changing event and the journey with the disease can feel overwhelming and disorienting.

If you have questions about Alzheimer’s or other dementias a great first step is contacting the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada’s First Link Dementia Hotline. The hotline is open Monday to Friday and available in six languages.

They can help with:

  • General information about dementia.
  • Getting the diagnosis.
  • Progression of the disease, including its effect on communication and behaviour.
  • Personal planning.
  • Maintaining independence.
  • Providing care and support.
  • Resources available in your community, including support groups and upcoming education workshops.
  • Information about making your organization or community dementia friendly.

You can reach the helpline at the following numbers:

  • English:1-800-936-6033 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
  • Cantonese and Mandarin:1-833-674-5007 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
  • Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu:1-833-674-5003 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

You can read more about the hotline on the Alzheimer’s Society website here:
https://alzheimer.ca/bc/en/help-support/find-support-bc/first-link-dementia-helpline

 

COVID-19 Update: Terrace East Off of Enhanced Monitoring

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Terrace East

We are officially off enhanced precautions at Terrace East. All activities can resume as before.

  • Staff are not required to wear mask in common areas.
  • No need for visitor screening/ mask mandate.
  • Group activities may resume as before.

Thank you to TE team for all your hard work for the past two weeks. Please continue to be diligent in hand washing and following all other infection control measures.

COVID-19 Update: Terrace East Assisted Living on Enhanced Monitoring – Terrace West also affected

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Due to increased cases of COVID-19 in the Terrace East Assisted Living Apartment, Public Health has placed the building on Enhanced Monitoring. Please see the memo below for detailed information regarding dining, recreation activities, mask wearing and visiting. As the Terrace West Independent Living Apartment is connected to Terrace East, residents in this apartment will also be impacted. A separate memo for Terrace West residents is also included below.

 

MEMO

Date:               June 3, 2024
To:                   Terrace East Residents
Re:                   Enhanced Monitoring – Update re: COVID-19 Cases
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Terrace East,

Unfortunately, I am writing to inform you have we have several cases of COVID-19 in Terrace East. Additionally, some staff and Terrace West residents are symptomatic. Please inform care staff if you aren’t feeling well.

Public health has placed Terrace East on Enhanced Monitoring. Effective immediately, the following protocols are in place:

  • Dining Room is closed – staff will be delivering meals to each suite.
  • Morning break snacks are available for pick-up only from the dining room (please pick up your snacks and enjoy them in your suite).
  • In-person Recreation Activities are cancelled – watch channel 10. (We are postponing our Men’s Breakfast – stay tuned for the new date.)
  • If you have symptoms (fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body ache, headache, new loss of taste/smell, sore throat, congestion/runny nose, diarrhea/nausea/vomiting), we will place a cart by your door with personal protective equipment for anyone entering your suite.
  • If you are sick, please stay in your suite unless you are on your way out of the building (and please wear a mask).
  • Staff are required to wear masks.
  • Visitors will be screened at the door and asked to wear a mask (please remind your visitors not to come visit if they are sick).

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will get through this together. As a reminder, showing care and concern for each other is our overarching approach. Let’s do our part in stopping the spread.

Leonard Klassen, Manager of Community Enrichment

 

MEMO

Date:               June 3, 2024
To:                   Terrace West Residents
Re:                   Update re: COVID-19 Cases in Terrace East – Impacting Terrace West
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Terrace West,

Public health has placed Terrace East on Enhanced Monitoring due to increasing numbers of residents with COVID-19 and has put screening and mask requirements in place for Terrace East. As a result of that, we are closing the dining room and stopping in-person recreation activities for both Terrace East and Terrace West.

Effective immediately, staff will be delivering your meals to your suite.

Morning break snacks will be available for pick-up in the Terrace West bistro.

I’d like to remind you that there are some activities available on channel 10. The bistro area remains open. Please note that we are postponing the Men’s Breakfast – stay tuned for the new date.

If you are sick, we are asking that you stay in your suite unless you are on your way in/out of the building, and we’d appreciate if you’d wear a mask in this situation. Symptoms to watch for include fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle/body ache, headache, new loss of taste/smell, sore throat, congestion/runny nose, diarrhea/nausea/vomiting.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will get through this together. As a reminder, showing care and concern for each other is our overarching approach. Let’s do our part in stopping the spread.

Leonard Klassen, Manager of Community Enrichment



For family and friends, further updates will be communicated under the ‘Visiting Updates’ section on our homepage HERE.

You may also want to take a few minutes to refamiliarize yourself with our covid, flu or cold protocols for visitors HERE.

Thank you for playing your part in keeping our residents and staff safe!

COVID, FLU OR COLD – Protocols for Visitors

MEMO: Terrace East Residents Only – Upgraded Pendant System

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The following memo was provided to Terrace East Residents on Thursday, May 16th regarding their upgraded pendant system:

MEMO

Date:               May 16, 2024
To:                   Terrace East Residents
Re:                   Upgraded Pendant System
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Terrace East,

This memo is official notice that we will be accessing your suite for the purposes of upgrading our pendant response system. This project is expected to start on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 and could take until the end of June to complete. The technicians expect to need about 15-30 minutes in your suite to complete this work.

The following things will be done in each suite:

  1. The in-wall communication unit in the bedroom will be replaced.
  2. Your current pendant will be replaced with a new one.

I am excited to announce that the new system has much better capabilities and will ensure a much safer environment at Terrace East. The pendants will now work anywhere in the building, not just in your own suite. Yes, this includes hallways, lounges, dining room, stairwells, the underground parkade, and even a small perimeter outside the building.

Our staff will continue to respond to pendant calls as they currently do. They are aware of these upgrades and will continue to provide the regular response service throughout this project.

Smitha Varghese (Manager of AL) and myself are grateful for the capital approval for this upgrade as we will much better be able to serve you as our Terrace East residents.

 

Leonard Klassen,

Manager of Community Enrichment

BC Hydro Power Outage November 10 2023

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BC Hydro will be conducting a planned power outage on Friday, November 10th from 10am to 12pm. This is so that they can do some equipment maintenance.

The outage will affect the Primrose Gardens, Terrace East and Terrace West buildings. The emergency generators will provide power to one elevator in each building and essential power including hallway heating and some kitchen power. Residential apartments will be without power, heat and light during this time.

Lunch will still be served in each dinin room at the usual time. Residents should start coming down to lunch early as there will be longer lines at the elevator. Please be patient and do not attempt to take the stairs if that is not a usual activity for you. Residents are welcome to come down to the lobby if their apartment is uncomfortable during this time.

Concerts in Care – Oct 25th

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The next Concert in Care is Oct 25 at 10:30in the Menno Hospital chapel featuring Domagoj Ivanovic on violin and Karen Lee-Morlang on piano. All are welcome to join us.

Temporary Changes to Dining for Terrace East Residents

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2nd Update March 27: The dining room will remain closed to Terrace East residents for Monday and Tuesday March 27 & 28th. The number of cases is trending down and we hope to be back in the dining room soon.

Due to the spread of GI (similar to stomach flu) in Terrace East we have made a couple of temporary changes:

  • The dining room is temporarily closed to Terrace East residents. Meals and morning break will be delivered to each  apartment for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (March 15 – 17).
    We hope to be back in the dining room on Saturday.
  • Terrace West residents will still eat in the dining room.
  • Morning break for Terrace West residents has been moved to the Terrace West bistro area.

We are NOT in lockdown. All residents who are feeling well can move about the building, go outside, and run errands.  Residents who are feeling sick are asked to please stay home until you feel better. Terrace East residents who start to experience symptoms (vomiting and/or diarrhea) should press their pendant so care staff can assist them.

All residents can still have visitors. If you are coming into the Terrace East building please be aware that GI is highly contagious and be extra careful if you or someone in your household is immunocompromised.

Recreation activities are being split by building. Terrace West residents will get updates in the lunch time announcements each day. For Terrace East most recreation activities are paused except for bingo which will still happen at 1:15 on Thursday. Terrace East bingo players will meet in the first floor lounge. Terrace West will play in the Terrace West bistro.

There are no changes for Primrose Gardens or the Pavilion at this time.

Income Tax Preparation for Apartment Residents

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We are pleased to provide income tax preparation services completed by a volunteer accountant, working in conjunction with the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP). The CVITP partners with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to provide volunteers who prepare tax returns for those who have a modest income and a simple tax solution.

Eligibility:

  • Individuals with income up to $35,000
  • Couples with income up to $45,000
  • Simple tax solution

To access this service please see Claire or Angela at reception to get a form. Return the completed form to reception no later than April 14th.  Reception will set up a phone appointment for you with the accountant.

Appointments will be by phone on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons throughout March and April. There are a couple of in-person appointments available as well.

For family members:

Family members are welcome to be on the call with the resident if they choose. For family members who have a current POA agreement, you can choose to take the call instead of the resident with permission from the resident. Please contact Claire 604-851-4004 to arrange this.

Memo: Expanded Options for Visitors to Assisted Living Only

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The BC Ministry of Health has expanded the visitation rules for Assisted Living residents to allow one unvaccinated essential visitor per resident. This change does not apply to long term care (Menno Home or Menno Hospital) at this time.

All requests for essential visitors to Terrace East must be approved by Trish Giesbrecht. Once approved, the visitors will be placed on a list so the visitation hosts know they can come into the building.

All unvaccinated visitors must:

  • Wear a mask at all times while inside the building.
  • Take a COVID rapid test at every visit.
  • Only visit in the resident’s apartment. Please do not visit in lounges, the dining room, the lobby or the bistro.

In addition, pharmacy and grocery delivery drivers will no longer need to be vaccinated and will be able to bring your delivery right up to your apartment door.

If you would like to request an essential visitor for Terrace East please see Claire at Reception or call 604-851-4004.

If you have questions about unvaccinated visitors to Menno Home or Menno Hospital please call Garry Janzen 604-851-1332.

Resident Satisfaction Survey Results 2022 – Independent & Assisted Living Apartments at Menno Place

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