A bi-weekly update for Baycrest staff, families, clients and volunteers
October 8, 2014 — VOL. 10 NO. 16
Building an artistic community
This summer, art therapists Andrea Savoie (centre)
and Merav Gilboa (not pictured) facilitated new art
therapy programs in the Apotex. In the project, “Our
Neighbourhood,” the participants imagined, created
and collectively built a miniature model of a residential
neighbourhood and surrounding community. In addition
to creating miniature homes, Moselle Berger (left)
created a fruit market while Charlotte Lisner (right)
created a corner coffee shop.
Get involved
in United Way
Week
“These art therapy programs offered residents the
opportunity to creatively represent their inner worlds,
ideas and experiences within a therapeutic and creative
environment,” says Savoie.
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Contribute to
the story of “A
Community That
Cares”
3
Celebrating
Sukkot, the
Festival of
Booths
Stop by the Water Cooler, ground floor, Apotex Centre, to
see the exhibits, on display through mid-October.
New study finds older adults who volunteer
are happier, healthier
O
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Baycrest is an academic
health sciences centre
fully affiliated with the
University of Toronto
lder adults who stay active by
volunteering are getting more out of
it than just an altruistic feeling – they
are receiving a health boost!
older who were involved in formal
volunteering roles.
“Our goal was to obtain a more
comprehensive view of the current
state of knowledge on the benefits of
A new study, led by Nicole Anderson,
volunteering among older adults,” says
senior scientist at the Rotman Research
Institute (RRI) and in collaboration with Dr. Anderson. “We discovered a number
of trends in the results that paint a
scientists from Canadian and American
compelling picture of volunteering as
academic centres examined 73 studies
an important lifestyle component for
published over the last 45 years. The
maintaining health and well-being in
studies focused on adults aged 50 and
later years.”
...continued on page 2
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Innovations in aging
Baycrest Matters is published every second Wednesday by the Marketing and Communications Department. Send your
feedback or submissions to Steph Parrott, editor, at [email protected] or call 416-785-2500 ext. 5724. All
submissions will be edited for style, grammar, readability and length. The deadline for submissions is two Wednesdays
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Baycrest Matters
A bi-weekly update for Baycrest staff, families, clients and volunteers
October 8, 2014 — VOL. 10 NO. 16
New study finds older adults who volunteer are happier, healthier ...continued from page 1
Among the key findings:
• Volunteering is associated with reductions in
symptoms of depression, better overall health,
fewer functional limitations, and greater
longevity.
• Health benefits may depend on a moderate level
of volunteering. There appears to be a tipping
point after which greater benefits no longer
accrue. The “sweet spot” appears to be at about
100 annual hours, or 2-3 hours per week.
• More vulnerable seniors (i.e. those with chronic
health conditions) may benefit the most from
volunteering.
• Feeling appreciated or needed as a volunteer
appears to amplify the relationship between
volunteering and psychosocial wellbeing.
“Taken together, these results suggest that
volunteering is associated with health improvements
and increased physical activity – changes that one
would expect to offer protection against a variety
of health conditions,” says Dr. Anderson.
The study, published online in Psychological
Bulletin, is just the beginning of Dr. Anderson’s
work on research about older adults and
volunteering. Dr. Anderson and her international
research team, along with 33 older adult volunteers,
comprise the “BRAVO” team (Baycrest Research
About Volunteering among Older Adults). BRAVO
has a second study in preparation for publication in
the next few years that examines the psychosocial,
physical and cognitive benefits associated with
post-retirement volunteering. The team has been
studying a group of volunteers, aged 50-plus, at
Baycrest over the past five years.
Get involved in United Way Week
It’s October and that means it’s time to get your team together
in support of a worthy cause. United Way Week returns
October 27 to 30 with a goal of raising $20,000.
How to contribute:
• Make a one-time donation or start a payroll deduction
– Even a dollar each pay goes a long way. Complete a
form at the Volunteer Services office or donate online
(instructions will be posted on the intranet). You choose
where your donation goes.
This is an opportunity to support social service agencies
including our own Community Day Centre for Seniors, The
Joseph E. and Minnie Wagman Centre and Seniors Counselling
and Referral Service.
• Create a gift basket for our silent auction. Twelve teams
participated last year, raising more than $900. Let’s
double the baskets and the dollars this year! Register
your team with Tehila Tewel at [email protected] and
deliver your gift basket to Volunteer Services by October
22. The team whose basket gets the highest bid in the
auction will win a prize!
Last year, $300,000 United Way dollars helped to provide more
than 3,500 older adults and seniors at Baycrest with:
• 1,900 counselling sessions
• 2,300 recreational activity sessions
• 46,000 meals and snacks
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Baycrest Matters
A bi-weekly update for Baycrest staff, families, clients and volunteers
October 8, 2014 — VOL. 10 NO. 16
Contribute to the story of “A Community That Cares”
The Morris and Sally Justein Heritage Museum is assembling a new
exhibit entitled A Community That Cares, A History of Health and
Medicine in Jewish Toronto. Members of the Baycrest community are
invited to contribute artifacts, photographs and stories.
Dr. Michael Gordon, director of Medical Ethics and Medical Program
director, Palliative Care, is pictured here with one of the artifacts that
will be on display — a microscope dating back to 1930 that has a special
connection to Baycrest. It belonged to Dr. Wulf Grobin, a physician here
from 1958, until his death in 2001. During his time here, Dr. Grobin led a
30-year study demonstrating that diet, exercise and weight control can
reduce the need for diabetic medications in the elderly.
“This microscope, which was left to Baycrest for safe-keeping, is only
a very small part of Dr. Grobin’s legacy to medicine, and to the Jewish
community of Toronto and Israel, which was always very close to his
heart. He was a great man.” says Dr. Gordon.
The exhibit is set to open in the spring of 2015. To submit an artifact,
photo or story, contact Cassandra Zita at [email protected] or
ext. 5622.
Celebrating Sukkot, the Festival of Booths
Five days after Yom Kippur, the holy day of Sukkot begins. This
year the eve of Sukkot falls on Wednesday, October 8, and
continues on October 9 and 10.
In the Torah, Sukkot is called the “Festival of Booths” (or
Tabernacles), and the “Festival of Ingathering” of the fall harvest.
The Sukkah, built outdoors adjacent to one’s home, means booth
or hut and refers to the temporary shelter in which the Israelites
lived while wandering across the desert and also in which
farmers would dwell during the harvest. Sukkot is both a harvest
festival and one of the holidays commemorating the liberation of
the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.
Events for Sukkot
Traditional services in Wortsman Hall
Thursday, October 9, 9 a.m.
Friday, October 10, 9 a.m.
At Baycrest, The Max and Sala Walerstein Family Sukkah is built
each year in the west courtyard of the Apotex Centre, Jewish
Home for the Aged. A community Sukkah is also built in the
courtyard of the W.A. Café. Family members, staff, and the
community can eat a kosher lunch in the community Sukkah.
Liberal services in the Winter Garden Court
Thursday, October 9, 2 p.m.
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Baycrest Matters
A bi-weekly update for Baycrest staff, families, clients and volunteers
October 8, 2014 — VOL. 10 NO. 16
Staff announcements
Congratulations to Dr. Shayna Rosenbaum, associate scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, on her
appointment as a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada.
The College is Canada’s first national system of multidisciplinary recognition for the emerging generation of
Canadian intellectual leadership.
Save the date for the Baycrest Excellence in
Care and Education Poster Day
Learn about innovation and collaboration in research and
education, that enhances quality of care across Baycrest.
More than 50 posters will be presented by Baycrest staff.
All staff are invited to attend. Registration is not required.
Guest presentation:
Why not now? A vision for clinical and educational excellence
for care of older adults
Tuesday, October 28th, 2014
Presented by Dr. Katherin McGilton, PhD
associate professor, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing,
University of Toronto
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Loftus Hall
Winter Garden Court
The people around us: A staff feature
Gilda Waltman
Meet Gilda Waltman, one of the
friendly faces of Baycrest. Gilda is a
clinical educator with the Informatics
section of eHealth. She enjoys her
work and says her “number one
passion at heart is the care of our
seniors.” Gilda began working at
Baycrest as an occupational therapist
nearly 30 years ago, but her history
here goes back even further; she
volunteered serving tea at the old
Jewish Home for the
Aged when she was just 10.
Her four children often teased her
about her lack of computer skills, so
about 10 years ago, she set a new
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professional goal – to become more
tech savvy. She was appointed a lead
during the switch to electronic health
records, and since that time, has
worked to “translate clinical language
into computer language.”
In her spare time, Gilda enjoys walking
along The Beltline Trail and practicing
yoga. She also adores spending time
with her four grandchildren.
Where to find her: Say hello to Gilda
when she is out and about at Baycrest
or in the training lab in the hospital
basement.
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