"Having a Home at Bethany Collegeside"

Continuing my mom’s story about her coming to reside at Bethany Collegeside in late summer 2025. The most prominent improvement in her day to day living is the amount of attention she receives from all the staff and Bethany. The fact that every member she interacts with knows her name. The amazing OT (Occupational Therapy) and PT (Physiotherapy) departments that encourage her participation in the varied and numerous activities they organize for the residents; making sure they have staff and/or volunteers available to transfer the residents to and from those activities. The onsite teaching and practical application Bethany Collegeside provides Red Deer Polytechnic healthcare students thereby enhancing the daily care of the residents. Having an assigned doctor the residents can form a trusting lasting relationship with instead of rotating physicians that can be confusing for both residents and family.  Bethany’s practice of scheduled toileting when possible helps alleviate the stress of waiting for staff to attend to such a personal but necessary need. It hasn’t always been perfect as when the staff gets called away in the middle of a toilet visit to help another resident because a resident doesn’t enjoy being left on a hard toilet seat for even 5 minutes let alone 10 minutes, but the staff has always been receptive to concerns  around such issues and worked to improve the situation. The biggest issues my mom voices to us involve food and not being able to leave her  area without supervision. With regard to the food, its the bland taste, not enough options or not getting the option chosen. A simple thing like having your “toast” actually toasted can become a big issue for a senior, especially one that has come into the senior care environment so late in life.  

The dietician at Bethany has been very responsive to my mom’s specific requests/concerns and trying to accommodate so many residents different food requirements is a huge undertaking which we can appreciate but not one my mom is prepared to accept. Sorting out food issues out will be a work in progress. The other issue, being allowed to get out and around the faculty on her own is very important to her sense of independence especially on the weekends when there aren’t any activities ever scheduled and the weekend staffing numbers don’t allow for on demand transfer of residents in and out of their areas. We were very pleased with how quickly a plan was put in place for my mom to have a short supervised “outing” with an HCA (Health Care Aide) at least once during the day over the weekend, they have even coordinated the outing to include another resident so she has extra company. I am sure that toileting, food and isolation are probably the busiest issues facing most continuing care facilities but it’s my wife’s and my observation and experience that Bethany Collegeside strives to make the lives of their residents better not just by words but through action. The nursing staff is very observant and attentive to my mom’s health needs (foot care, arthritis and back pain mostly) and she gives them glowing reviews all the time. My mom will never feel her life is perfect as that feeling is forever tied to the home she had to leave but having her reside at Bethany Collegeside has been a vast improvement to what her life situation has been for the past few years, and for that we are grateful.