Yee Hong Newsletter

Over the past year, we have continued to face the challenge of operating our senior centres in the midst of a pandemic. Yet, we have not only met our standards for quality of service, but even surpassed them. We have hosted numerous events, both new and old, as well as broken previous fundraising records. From our “Break the Loneliness” A1 Radiothon to our annual Golf Classic event, we have worked hard to show our seniors how much they mean to us. Seeing their happy faces truly makes this all worth it.

This is all possible because of people like you – our biggest cheerleaders with whom we share a common mission in taking care of our seniors. We are deeply grateful for your support, thank you.

However, the fight isn’t over. When we launched our Love Gives Capital Campaign, we set a goal to raise $80 million to start the construction of 3 new centres and we still have a long way to go. Although the seniors in the photos above have all enjoyed the outstanding community at Yee Hong, there are still many more on waiting lists that may be struggling in their homes.

We look forward to your continued support to Yee Hong. Together, we can make a difference so that more seniors can enjoy our services.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season from all of us at Yee Hong.

Christmas is in the air! The residents at Yee Hong’s McNicoll Centre have been busy making decorations to spruce up the home for the upcoming holiday season. They have also been making cards for the children in our pen pal program and writing letters of thanks to our staff to share their best wishes.

In the upcoming weeks we will celebrate with carolling, a Christmas service, hot chocolate and gingerbread, a Christmas party and of course we invited Santa to visit as well! The McNicoll Yee Hong family wishes everyone a safe and happy holidays.

Yee Hong is always innovating and we’re committed to provide a healthy home for residents and a safe working environment for staff. That includes cleaning and disinfection.

As an example, we adjust the solution and increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces such has elevator buttons, hand rails and door handles during typical “flu” seasons. Over the years, we have limited the number and severity of outbreaks that occur in our homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to expand and improve our best practices in the area of cleaning and disinfection by participating in a pilot to install copper or copper alloy on high-touch surfaces.

Copper coatings are proven to have an antimicrobial effect and Yee Hong is adding this additional tool to strengthen our Infection Prevention and Control program.

This project has been generously funded by Lundin Mining and technical and scientific expertise has been provided by Coalition for Healthcare Acquired Infection Reduction (CHAIR – a not-for-profit group of industry and health-care professionals working to reduce healthcare acquired infections).

Over the next few weeks, we will install copper covers on door handles in the main entrances, offices and resident rooms on the second floor, change the resident washroom door handles and nursing office area cabinet/drawer door handles to copper coated ones and replace the public and staff washroom toilet seats with copper coated ones. These items were identified as high-touch surfaces that multiple people will touch during a normal day.

While we will maintain our cleaning and disinfection procedures, the copper coatings will ensure that those surfaces will remain sanitary in between disinfection cycles.

A scientist from CHAIR will conduct a study on the effectiveness of the application of copper by examining the microbial load on these surfaces before and after the application of the copper.

Yee Hong is grateful to Lundin Mining and to CHAIR for the expertise and technical skill our partners bring to this health and safety project.

Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. For some, it coincides with harvest and New Year celebrations. Diwali is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil, and light over darkness.

In November, the Activation staff at the Markham Centre did henna art on residents’ hands which they enjoyed. Some residents dressed in traditional clothes. On Diwali, usually people wear traditional kurtas, sarees and Punjabi suits.

Also on Diwali people like to listen to some loud music and dance. So we have played Hindi songs that everyone enjoyed. Some residents said the songs reminded them of childhood and home.

On Diwali, people like to decorate their homes. We decorated the Activity Room walls with handmade Diwali decorations, paper-made diyas with artificial candles and a big rangoli design on white board. The residents enjoyed the decoration and took pictures. Some residents wanted diyas to take to their rooms.

In the evening the residents enjoyed samosas, sweets and faluda drink. Usually on Diwali, people like to make a variety of sweets to share with their neighbors. Likewise, residents had the opportunity to eat and chat with each other, sharing old memories. We enjoyed our Diwali celebration together.

Sharing is connecting and through connection we feel love. The holidays are around the corner and the season of sharing food and laughter is upon us. A resident at Yee Hong McNicoll, Kenneth Fong, has kindly shared his recipe for steak. Give this recipe a try this holiday season and share the love!

Happy National Seniors Day! Each year, October 1st is set aside to recognize the important contributions of Canadian seniors. Remember to appreciate the older people in your life who guided and paved the way for you – who are you thankful for today?

For the entire month of October, a team from Yee Hong Foundation will be participating in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon to help raise money for senior care awareness and research and support. You don’t have to run in the actual race to show your support, but you can help by donating and cheering on the Yee Hong team: www.yeehong.com/marathon.

Please also support our annual Dragon Raffle if you haven’t yet purchased a ticket. You’ll fall in love with the all-new Audi A3 Komfort Sedan, and for just $20, you could take it home too!

The third week in October is designated as National Infection Control Week in Canada and the United States. Since 1988, we take time to highlight infection control efforts in Canadian hospitals, long-term care facilities and in the community.

Infection Control Week is an annual event. We educate staff and the community about the importance of infection prevention and we promote the important work of infection control professionals. This is a serious topic but we make it fun to raise visibility.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the lives of millions around the world, bringing the science of infection control into our daily lives. We have the incredible task to UNITE AND CONQUER this pandemic, and that is the theme for this year’s event. Healthcare workers have been doing an outstanding job working around the clock to ensure people affected by the virus are supported, and the whole community is coming together to flatten the curve. We can accomplish anything if we UNITE AND CONQUER!

Yee Hong will join the national celebration. Each Centre will congratulate its staff for incorporating infection prevention and control practices into their work habits and home routines to keep our seniors and each other safe.

The Finch Centre is training a new recruit at the COVID-19 screening desk.

This Fall, Pepper the social screening robot, developed at the Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory (ASBLab) in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, will conduct daily screening for employees on their way in to work a scheduled shift. Pepper will engage in its first screening assignment at Yee Hong, to begin shortly.

Pepper will take temperature readings, ask the standard COVID-19 screening questionnaire and also ask employees to put on a mask. The robot can also confirm if the mask is put on correctly, and will wish employees a great day as they head in.

Pepper’s work is a research trial made possible by Yee Hong’s partnership with the ASBLab, directed by Professor Goldie Nejat. PhD student Cristina Getson has been developing Pepper’s functionality and testing it on-site so that it can join the Finch Centre. Funding support for this project is through the AGE-WELL Inc. national network.

COVID-19 screening with the robot is contactless. The robot cannot become infected with the virus and the screening area is designed to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination. Pepper will also help with line-ups at busy times: queues are common early in the morning and at the shift change in the afternoon, when dozens of employees enter the building at the same time.

Human screeners stationed beside the robot remain in charge of the process, and will continue to screen all visitors. Everyone entering a Yee Hong Centre, including staff, contractors, residents and their guests, will continue to be checked for COVID-19 symptoms and exposure.

Yee Hong residents paint in water colours to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
 

Resident: Brian Koo

Residents: Pui Chan Wong Luk and May Woon Leung

Activation Worker: Julianna Fok

In a world of digital communication, writing letters is not a common activity anymore. For our seniors, putting pen to paper is how they used to communicate. The familiarity of receiving hand-written letters is a comfort for our seniors and a way for them to connect with the community.

This past summer, Yee Hong McNicoll started an intergenerational pen pal program with the children at Markham Christian Community Church. The children of the church sent individual letters to us and our residents responded as a group. In addition to writing, hand drawn pictures and hand-made cards were exchanged as well. Some residents even wrote their own page-long responses to the children.

The purpose of this program is to foster communication, social interaction, artistic exchange and have a chance to learn from and connect across generations. Intergenerational activity is known to have many benefits, such as, giving older adults a sense of purpose, reducing isolation, increase in creativity, improved brain function, emotional bonding and feeling a sense of purpose and engagement.

Although some residents were hesitant at first, many warmed up to the idea and contribute to the group responses. We have had some very enthusiastic replies from both ends and many of our seniors hope to one day be able to meet the children.

While we are saying goodbye to summer, Mid-Autumn Festival or Mooncake Festival is around the corner. The tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival includes family gathering and sharing mooncakes together.

Mooncake is a rich pastry typically filled with sweet-bean, yolk, meat or lotus-seed paste. To celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival this year, the Activation Team has a variety of special events for the seniors. This includes helping residents create their own mooncakes, watching the mid-autumn gala from China or enjoying sweet potato soup dessert!

Throughout the pandemic, we stayed vigilant putting safety first. We understand that during this special occasion, family members may take residents out for a short term absence. We hope residents and family members have a healthy, happy and safe Mid-Autumn Festival. The health and safety of the residents and clients, their families and the well-being of our staff members is our priority.

Early warm Mid-Autumn Festival’s greetings from Yee Hong. We are delighted to share with you the joy of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.

September 21, 2021, is the 15th of the 8th month in the Chinese Lunar calendar, making it this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival. It is the time for family reunions with feasts, moon cakes and moon gazing. If you are planning to gift your family and friends moon cakes, you have an alternative. You can gift your close ones Dragon Raffle tickets instead! What could be better than receiving a gift and donating at the same time?

Proceeds from the raffle will help Yee Hong offer better long term care services for seniors and fund our Capital Campaign to build three new long term care centres. Each ticket is special to us and our community. Visit www.DragonRaffle.com to purchase tickets and for more information.