“‘I see it, I see it happening here’ and that felt really good.”: How Osgoode Care Centre’s Eden Journey is Changing Culture

Resident living at Osgoode playing with a puppy

Osgoode Care Centre is located in beautiful and scenic Metcalfe, Ontario, in the rural south end of Ottawa. This long-term care (LTC) home welcomed the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care to visit and learn more about the culture change journey they’ve embarked on over the past eight years, prioritizing person-centred care and meeting the needs of residents living in their LTC home.

Our team had the pleasure of sitting down with Lori Norris-Dudley, President and CEO of Osgoode Care Centre, and Lindsay Passfield-Leu, Vice President, Clinical Programs and Quality at Osgoode Care Centre, to explore their journey.

Osgoode’s journey began in 2016 during a leadership retreat where they were introduced to the Eden Alternative and Dr. Bill Thomas (the Founder and visionary behind Eden). The Eden Alternative philosophy of care addresses the ‘three plagues’: loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. The ‘antidote’ to these plagues is to put ten principles focused on personhood (outlined by The Eden Alternative Framework®) into action. This philosophy resonated with Osgoode’s leadership, and with the support of a consultant, they embarked on their culture change journey. By 2017, Lori, Lindsay, and another colleague travelled to southwestern Ontario and took the Eden Alternative certification program.

A crucial initial step early in the journey was receiving the support of their Residents’ Council, Family Council, Board of Directors, and leadership team. After receiving their support, the home was able to begin implementing new programs, equipment, and features.

Eden is all about creating a ‘human habitat’, a home rich in life with plants, pets and children.

Osgoode is decorated with plants, home-like furniture and decor, and always has furry friends visiting. Lori added, “It’s just looking at what you would do if you were aging at home.”

Many of the residents living at Osgoode Care Centre lived in rural areas before moving into LTC, owning animals throughout their lives.

One PSW wanted to help these residents feel more at home, and organized a horse parade outside. The residents were able to go outside and spend the day petting and interacting with the horses.

Photo taken during horse parade at Osgoode Care Centre

Photo capturing impromptu water fight at Osgoode Care Centre

Each year, Osgoode takes on projects for its Growth Membership of the Eden Alternative. The Growth Membership projects are designed to support and empower individuals and organizations to implement the Eden Approach. The projects at Osgoode have focused on leadership and communication with an open-door policy. They’ve also focused on community and resident engagement by implementing more flexible and spontaneous recreation calendars. Spontaneous recreation calendars still have some set programs, recognizing that structure is an integral part of someone’s day, but with added blocks of unstructured time. Lindsay shared the story of a water fight that the recreation team members organized with some of the residents. She recalled, “as the staff were coming in [the residents] were bombarding them [with waterballoons] and I could hear them giggling outside the office.” 

While visiting the home, we observed one of these moments of unstructured time as a team member played an impromptu game of dominos with a resident in the sunroom.

As Lindsay explained, “It doesn’t have to be scheduled one-on-one game time, it’s just asking the resident what do you want to do?” This year, the Growth Member project Osgoode will be working on is personalizing resident rooms.

The policy and programming at Osgoode Care Centre is designed to meet the needs of all people who live at the LTC home.  Lori said, “You want to do what makes you feel good, you want to feel part of a community, you want to feel joy, gratefulness, you want to be able to contribute however you can – that’s the way it should be.” Team members use tools from DementiAbility™ as well as a Tovertafel™ interactive projector to engage residents in activities.

Lindsay shared, “It’s about getting to know who that person is and empowering the team members to support that. [It’s] respecting that person’s choice and getting team members to interact with them in a meaningful and dignified way.” The home also has a number of books and games, a garden, and areas where residents can help with daily tasks like folding towels.

Resident living at Osgoode cuddling a goat

Tovertafel™ interactive projector

Empowering team members and shifting mindsets to more flexible day options is something Osgoode has been prioritizing over the past several years. LTC has historically been very task-oriented. Osgoode has been supporting team members in a culture shift of flexibility and providing more personalized care. This culture shift comes from team members working together and supporting one another to be more innovative in providing care.

Lori shared, “I see a big change in team members – coming up with their own ideas on how to get to know each person and what fills their cup. Bringing it to the resident to make it a special moment. It’s heartwarming. That’s innovation.” Family members are also noticing these changes in the culture shift at the home. Lori told us, “One of our family members came to me and said “I see it, I see it happening here” and that felt really good.”