Deborah Bakti
When Ty was living in long-term care, most of the staff and residents didn’t know Ty cooked for a celebrity chef! It started with introverted me stepping WAY out of my comfort zone one day after church service. There he was – Graham Kerr (aka The Galloping Gourmet) standing with his wife Treena, and before…
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For the first time in my life, I lawn bowled! When I was in my twenties, I’d drive by the Seniors Centre and see the ‘old folks’ lawn bowling. I had the common misconception that lawn bowling was for old, retired people. I’m five weeks into my relocation and starting to get my bearings. I’m…
Read MoreI’m in my first month of a major life transition. I decided to move from the city I spent three quarters of my life (starting at age six) to another province that I had visited just a few times. I went all in, moving my stuff (most of which is still in storage), and drove…
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“Difficult families are just another cost of doing business in seniors’ care. There’s not much we can do about it. We just have to deal with it” If you work in seniors’ care and have thought or said some version of this, you have something I like to call The Limiting Belief. Let me…
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I can still remember the pain in the pit in my stomach while I wheeled Ty into his new home – the long term care facility where he would live for the rest of his life. I felt nervous, worried and scared, and what I didn’t realize at the time, what most other families feel…
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If you’ve attended one of my workshops you’ve seen this formula: “Disappointment = Expectations – Reality“ It’s that simple. When expectations and reality don’t line up, disappointment happens. I had this experience when I was a family member, with an advantage most don’t have. I worked IN the seniors’ care business for 11…
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Have you ever heard or said something like this? “Let’s face it. There are some residents’ families that just aren’t ever going to be happy. It’s our job to make them as happy as we can. And if that means going above and beyond what we normally do, then so be it.” Wait. What??? Yes,…
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On a recent call with LTC Administrators, this story was shared. One of the homes has given copies of Now What? to families who have been a part of their home community for a while. They’re hearing that families are taking their time reading it because “It’s such an emotional read.” As she explained, it’s been…
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During a Now What? Workshop, one of the messages in the chat was this: “I think the Now What? book would also be great with “outsiders” like friends and families.” I often have friends comment and say ‘Oh you work in long term care” like it’s a negative thing. Because of all the misconceptions the…
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I have been in a battle with a certain furniture company since I bought a new sectional in February 2020. A couple months with my new comfy couch, I noticed how my favorite place to sit was starting to slope. Through the initial pandemic phase, service/repair visits were on hold. And my couch continued to…
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