GORE BAY—The Manitoulin Lodge Nursing Home in Gore Bay has welcomed a new team player to its staff. Chantelle Taylor joined the team at Manitoulin Lodge on January 11 as the new ‘resident and family services coordinator.’
“I’m really looking forward to working here at Manitoulin Lodge, we have a very good team here with a lot of energy,” Ms. Taylor told the Recorder. “And Jarlette Health Services is pretty creative and has a lot of great ideas moving forward.”
“I was born and raised in Little Current but moved away for school,” Ms. Taylor said. “We moved back to the Island about two and a half years ago,” she said, noting she had been working in the long term care field in Sudbury.
Ms. Taylor started her career as a graduate from Canadore College, obtaining her Social Service Worker degree in 2009 and since then has obtained her Bachelor of Social Work from Laurentian University, graduating in 2013. Ms. Taylor continues her educational studies and is currently working to obtain her Masters of Social Work from Laurentian University.
“Chantelle brings a valuable profile to Manitoulin Lodge,” said Lee Turley, administrator/admissions coordinator at Manitoulin Lodge. “She has been working as a social worker within the long term care sector, but also brings with her the experience of an Activation Aide and a Mental Health Clinician.” “Chantelle has a drive for innovation and change within the long term care sector and so with her energy and positive attitude, I am confident that she will be a dynamic fit for our team at Manitoulin Lodge,” said Mr. Turley.
As part of her role, Ms. Taylor will be the lead for rolling out a new program that Jarlette Health Services is undertaking, called dementiability, said Mr. Turley. “At Manitoulin Lodge we believe in creating an environment that focuses on abilities rather than impairment, and promotes success for our residents living with dementia. In essence, our staff put great effort into preparing and staging the environment around the individuals in our care to ensure that experiences are both meaningful and rewarding every day.”
“We believe that this approach to care allows seniors living with dementia to be as independent as possible for as long as possible. The ultimate outcome of abilities based care is to maximize quality of life in our long term care homes,” said Mr. Turley.
Ms. Taylor explained, “under the dementia disability program, it focuses on each individual’s strengths; a lot of it is basically the same as the Montessori program. When I was working at the Pioneer Manor in Sudbury that was used as well, working on cognition activities to help the individual use as much cognitive capacity as they can.”
“We welcome Chantelle and her experience to our team and look forward to her abilities of working with residents and families to improve the quality of care that we provide at Manitoulin Lodge,” said Mr. Turley. “To arrange a tour of our home or to learn more about our Long Stay, Short Stay, Interim, or Convalescent Care Program, please contact Chantelle at ctaylor@jarlette.com or by calling 705-282-2007.”
