Finding cultural balance at Sherwood Park Place
Monday, October 3, 2005 -- Craig Anderson
Maintaining cultural balance and sensitivity has been one of the unique ongoing challenges of building an organic community at Sherwood Park Place, says Mary Brazier, administrator.

When making considerations for the home’s layout in 2002, Mary specifically noted the rural areas surrounding the town of Maple, which have a large Italian population.

She deemed it necessary to create a wing in the home for its Italian residents, who make up over 50 percent of the home’s 80 residents. Currently, the Italian wing houses 32 residents. Italian residents who are cognitively unwell are in a mixed dementia unit.

Much of the rest of the home’s population are English Canadian. The cultural divide was most noticeable at mealtimes, so providing menu programming that was culturally appropriate became one of the home’s biggest issues, she says.

“I consider it our biggest accomplishment to date,” says Mary, of the two food committees – one headed by Italians and another by English Canadians - and subsequent delicate balance that has been achieved. For Mary, ensuring food similar to that once cooked at home is part of the resident-focused, home-like care Sherwood provides through its KIN (“keep it normal”) program.

“People so often give up quite a lot when they enter long term care, so it’s very important to cater to their needs as much as possible,” says Mary.

Even though the homes physical plant is divided according to ethnicity, says Mary, it reflects the desire of the Italian residents to develop their own unique community in the home.

“They have been able to build their own relationships,” says Mary, who adds that although there is a separate unit that most of the activity programming is mixed.

In the mixed dementia unit, she says, there is little acknowledgement of cultural differences.

“They actually blend very well in the dementia unit,” she says.

The KIN program is one facet of Sherwood Park’s (a Central Park Lodge home) larger ‘ALIVE’ program, a resident-centred philosophy and care practice. Along with restructuring the residency to suit cultural needs, Sherwood also employs pet therapy, holistic therapies, and unique home initiatives like the “Memory Box” program.

“Memory Boxes” are little display cases placed at the entry of each resident’s room. They serve a dual purpose, says Mary.

“First it helps residents remember their rooms, but most importantly it gives them a chance to place artifacts that reflect and celebrate their lives,” she says. “It also spruces up the hallways.”

Mary, an eight-year veteran in the field and former DOC/RN, has moved on to an administrative role in order to implement structural change.

“I moved into this so I could make a difference,” she says, despite readily acknowledging some of the frustrating aspects of the administrative position. Mary’s default anxiety reliever is to leave her office and spend time with residents.

“An old former colleague of mine used to remind us that ‘we are here to take care of the elderly,’ - you have to get out of the office and get into the home and interact with the residents. And if I can impact someone’s life than the pressures of the job are worth it.”