In the dementia unit at Toronto’s Belmont House nursing home, a resident beams as she shares her chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven.
She whipped together the butter, eggs and flour earlier that morning with Belmont’s housekeeper and, taste-test compliments accepted, the two women start potting plants for the outdoor courtyard.
Belmont House recreation coordinator Marianne Javier-Theophylactou massages a resident’s hand at the manicure spa in its Butterfly Model dementia unit.
In the Butterfly dementia household at Belmont House, Filomena Pimentel, the housekeeper, (in pink) works with a resident to water the plants.
Belmont House CEO Maria Elia, left. and the director of retirement Gail Walker, chat in front of the elevators in the Butterfly Model dementia unit.
As dementia rises in Canada, more seniors will potentially go missing. With more awareness, there’s hope that more searches can have happy endings.