Robust community healthcare means people can live safely at home for longer.

► $24,000 per year for 5 years ($120,000)
Where: Community Health Services, Island Health

Need: A specialized, local program offered by the Comox Valley Geriatric Specialty Services team delivers evidence-based, non-pharmacologic interventions for people with mild-moderate dementia and their spouses/caregivers. The program follows a standard protocol of person-centered activities that incorporate reminiscence therapy, multi-sensory stimulation, and implicit learning using themes such as food, maps, sounds and childhood. The emphasis is on learning to improve focus, language, and communication skills, and delay cognitive decline. For both program participants and caregivers, the program is helping to create connection and support so that no one feels they are facing a diagnosis of dementia, or the care of their loved one, on their own. As the population of older adults continues to grow and new referral numbers are significantly increasing year over year, there is a pressing need to sustainably grow this program in the Comox Valley.

Donor funding can help support program sustainability and growth in the following ways:

• increase the number of concurrent cohorts to address the growing waitlist and provide timely service

• provide transportation options for isolated clients so they are able to access the program

• fund further facilitator training

• fund a program manager

• further develop the caregiver support aspect of the program by hiring someone to facilitate activities that run concurrently while the participants living with dementia are in their session

• purchasing program supplies

► $25,000
Where: Community Health Services, Island Health

Need: The Safe Housing Fund is a new fund for Community Health Services in support of vulnerable people in our community, such as the elderly, individuals with mobility limitations, or people with mental health challenges, who require healthcare support in their homes. Creating care plans for these individuals requires a home visit by a healthcare worker and sometimes staff discover a house is no longer safe for a patient to live in. This fund will help with deep cleaning, accessibility renovations, or repairs that are necessary to re-establish a safe home for the patient so they can receive care in the comfort of their own home. This fund will also provide temporary accommodation when a patient is ready for discharge from the hospital but cannot return home because modification is in process, or because they live on one of the surrounding Islands or in another remote location and need to remain close to the hospital for out-patient care. Donations to this fund provide a huge sense of relief for patients in knowing they have help with house modifications, a temporary place to stay, and eventually the comfort of their own home. The fund also provides peace-of-mind for healthcare workers who provide at-home care and can reduce the duration of hospital stays, freeing up hospital resources.

► $10,500
Where: Community Health Services, Island Health

Need: These workshops will offer approximately 150 home support professionals and hospital transition teams (approximately 23 staff) opportunity to build resiliency skills, supporting personal care, connection, and communication with one another and within their care responsibilities. The special training serves to reduce stress responses and increase individual and collective resiliency and efficacy.

Where: Community Health Services, Island Health

Need: Allows healthcare professionals who work in community to provide some of their most vulnerable patients with comfort items and basic necessities.