Posts Tagged ‘long-term care’

Since 2003, some 300 members of The Royal Canadian Legion from coast to coast to coast have answered the call and interviewed veterans in long-term care facilities at the request of Veterans Affairs Canada. In fact, each year more than 4,500 veterans residing in some 800 facilities are visited by Legion-trained surveyors. During these visits, veterans are invited to comment on the quality of care they are receiving. These completed questionnaires are then sent to VAC for information and, if necessary, followup. Currently, there are approximately 150 Legion surveyors who are available for tasking throughout the country. However, certain regions remain underserved. [...]

Working to ensure the well-being of veterans in long-term care facilities requires ongoing vigilance. Across the country there are thousands of Legionnaires dedicated to this role. They are the volunteers who take the time to regularly visit veterans. In order to assist them and the families of veterans, The Royal Canadian Legion’s Veterans, Service and Seniors Committee developed the Legion Family Guidelines for Long Term Care. Copies of the guidelines can be obtained by writing to the Director of the Dominion Command Service Bureau, 86 Aird Place, Kanata, ON, K2L 0A1. Here is an abbreviated vision of what you’ll find: Safety and [...]

Every day for two years Francis Christian, a dedicated member of Vimy Branch in Halifax, N.S., made his way to the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building for a very special visit to one of its residents. Christian was there—seven days a week—to make sure a former RCMP colleague got at least one good meal a day when he was no longer able to feed himself. “I’d known him for 50 years,” though their relationship blossomed in his friend’s final days, says Christian, now 85. “I went in every day to spoon-feed him.” Two years ago, he was called in for the [...]

Just about every day in this country—in big cities and in small towns—there are thousands of small, but important visits taking place in long-term care facilities. These casual get-togethers between Legionnaires and the war veterans who reside in these places don’t attract a lot of attention. In fact, they usually pass unnoticed by the general public, but each visit makes a huge difference. In this issue of Legion Magazine we salute the volunteers who make it part of their week or, remarkably, part of their daily routine to drop in and spend a bit of quality time with men and women [...]