Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Canada’s first publicly funded long-term care home based on the concepts of a dementia village is celebrating Seniors Week by having kittens – literally but not figuratively, thank goodness. A recently formed partnership between Providence Living at The Views and cat rescue organization, CATS (Cat Advocates Teaching & Saving Society), delivered on Thursday a group of kittens who spent the afternoon with seniors residing at the home.
It’s a win-win for residents and baby felines. The residents will have frequent visits with kittens as part of the Home for Us (H4U) care model that strives to make life as home-like as possible for them. In turn, the kitten-to-human interactions will help socialize the baby cats who were rescued by the bigger CATS.
The CATS partnership with Providence Living at The Views in Comox arose from a personal connection. The son of one of the residents is involved with CATS and saw first-hand what a pet visit meant to his mother there. He wanted to share that experience with other residents and helped initiate the beginning of a beautiful partnership.
Even Dr. Dolittle would be impressed
This is not Providence Living at The Views’ first foray into furry friends. During the spring, long-term care home staff and residents welcomed baby chicks and ducks from a local hobby farm, and goats from a staff member’s farm and music teacher’s home. Therapy dogs from St. John Ambulance Canada are a regular presence at Providence Living at The Views as well as several family pets who pop by weekly.
Staff members bringing pets to work has been an ongoing activity at Providence Living at The Views. And residents have relished an opportunity to day-trip to a local therapeutic horse farm where they made friends with some larger mammals. This summer, residents will also get to meet some miniature horses.
Home for Us care model encourages pet connections
Pet visits align with the made-in-BC Home for Us care model in place at Providence Living at The Views, which will be adopted by other Providence Living long-term care homes. The care model’s emphasis is on supporting seniors with meaning and purpose and providing opportunities for joy and a day well-lived. Pet visits meet a vital need for comfort and happiness for many of the residents.
The future is furry and bright for upcoming Providence Living builds
Kelley Romeril, Providence Living’s director of site operations, says that pet visits will, in some capacity, be part of every Providence Living build, including the new long-term care home that broke ground in Prince George last month.
“We will continue to foster relationships with community partners to support these types of opportunities and will make it a priority to find similar partnerships in other Providence Living communities,” said Romeril.
