Patients of a long-term care home in Comox are celebrating their first Christmas.
Providence Living at the Views, Canada’s first public dementia village-like long-term home, aims to support seniors living with or without dementia, having opened its doors this July. This makes tomorrow their first ever Christmas.
Director of Site Operations Kelley Romeril says it’s been wonderful to see their residents, family and staff settling into the new building.
“Each household is really starting to become quite a home for the residents living there,” said Romeril.
“Everything started off crisp, new, clean and a bit the same, and as we have been living here for a few months now, each household has started taking a personality of their own with decor that the residents have chosen.”
Romeril says Christmas is a special time for most people, making it especially important for the residents to have a Christmas where they can reminisce about their memories, spend time with friends, family and other residents, and also share traditions that are meaningful to them.
In the lead-up to the big day, she says several things have happened for Providence during this season.
“We kicked off the season with the community reaching out, helping us sponsor Christmas trees for every single household,” said Romeril.
“We’ve had carolers come-in, our daycare partners brought Christmas cards, we’ve had school groups come in, Mosaic music had their piano concert here, and we culminated that with a couple of special things happening this week.”
On Monday, they celebrated Christmas on Main Street, where residents, staff, and visitors had hot chocolate, treats, and all-day entertainment. Today will see Christmas Eve candlelight service, followed by a traditional Christmas dinner where families can join their loved ones this Wednesday.
Romeril hopes through these celebrations, it creates moments of joy and gives the residents opportunities to feel like they belong and have purpose and meaning.
“Merry Christmas and thank you for your continued support.”
