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‘Baby station’ in memory-care cottage
allows residents the chance to give care

March 27th, 2019

One of the principle tenants of the Eden philosophy is that giving care as well as receiving it is an antidote to helplessness. Residents in memory care at Points West Living Lloydminster now have a new way they can give care, in the Blue Jay cottage’s ‘baby station’.

It started with a difficult day

Recreation Therapist, Karly MacDonald says she got the idea when she was visiting with a resident who was having a difficult day. “The lady didn’t want to get fully dressed or take her medication,” Karly says, “Then I noticed there was a doll on her dresser.”

Karly took the doll up, cuddled and cooed over it, “as if it were a real baby.” The resident quickly took an interest in the doll. “She rocked her and told her how beautiful she was. Soon she wanted to get dressed to go and show off her baby doll.”

Everyone admired the baby doll

“I helped her swaddle the baby doll and we left the suite. We merged down the hallway and every resident we met stopped to say how lovely and adorable the baby was,” says Karly. “This created such a positive experience for all of the residents we met that I decided it would be a good idea to create a ‘baby station’ in the cottage.”

Baby station set up

“I found many baby items at the second-hand store and re-created this nursery station on a $41 budget,” Karly says. “After creating this space the residents took great joy and interest and had a reminiscing session where we talked about things we had when our babies were small, and all the things babies have today. We viewed the infant sleepers located on the side of the bassinet and all marveled that at one time our children were that small.”

“Resident Arnie Pittao observed, ‘How time slips away from us while we are so busy’,” adds Karly. “Alex St. Jean (in photo above) rocked the baby, and you couldn’t take the smile off his face. This was a very blissful moment for our residents, and for me.”

Photo: Alex St. Jean, resident of Points West Living Lloydminster’s Blue Jay cottage rocks the baby doll at the cottage’s new ‘baby station’.

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