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Tue, 27 Jun 2006
Jun 27, 2006, 12:01
[top/family_news/life_stories]
Stroke Rehabilitation Team Engages Caregivers in Rehabilitation Process
by Christine Moon
Karen Almas’ life changed in an instant on December 4, 2005, when she collapsed serving coffee behind the counter of the Newcomer’s Café at Philpott Memorial Church. What her husband, Paul, did not realize immediately as he followed his wife’s ambulance to Hamilton General Hospital, was how much his life was also about to change.
It turned out that Karen, a vibrant and seemingly healthy woman in the prime of life, had suffered a stroke. The stroke left her with a number of deficits, including limited control of her left side. It also left her and Paul wondering how they would deal with the consequences of this life-altering experience and prepare themselves for a future they were bound and determined to face together.
They looked to medical staff at the General for information about Karen’s prognosis, and found much comfort in their family, friends, Karen’s colleagues at Firestone and particularly their deep faith in God.
 |
| Taking care - Karen and Paul Almas are happy to be back together at home. Karen suffered a stroke last December and both she and Paul have received a lot of support from Hamilton Health Sciences’ Stroke Team as they continue the process of recovery. |
Less than a month after her stroke, Karen was making good progress and was transferred to the Chedoke Hospital for post-acute rehabilitation. While the Stroke Team at Chedoke began working with Karen, they also worked with Paul to provide him with specific information about the type of stroke Karen had including its impact on her ability to perform in everyday situations.
Equipping family caregivers with the knowledge and resources they need in order to take care of people close to them who are victims of stroke is a key aspect of rehabilitation for the Stroke Team at Chedoke. In fact, involving family caregivers in the rehabilitation process is an important contributor to the caregiver’s satisfaction with rehabilitation, according to a two-year research study by Dr. Marian Belciug, Clinical Neuropsychologist with the Rehabilitation Program.
Dr. Belciug’s research focused on the relationship between the caregiver’s learning experiences with the Stroke Team and his or her subsequent perceptions of rehabilitation. Results clearly indicated that caregivers who participate in educational experiences with the Stroke Team are very satisfied with the patient’s rehabilitation progress; feel well prepared to assist in the recovery; and expect their loved ones to have a high quality of life following discharge from the rehabilitation program.
“The fact that family caregivers feel prepared to assist the patients to overcome their difficulties and expect the patient’s quality of life to be high, are strong motivators for caregivers to assume their caregiving role,” said Dr. Belciug. “The caregiver’s preparedness-one of the prerequisites for their motivation-is something that we can influence.”
Dr. Belciug added that members of the Stroke Team never feel they have accomplished their clinical mandate if family caregivers are not ready to assist their loved ones in the rehabilitation process.
“Our entire team agrees that we have been able to be resourceful in our approach thanks in large part, to the support we receive from Brenda St. Amant, the Clinical Manager, and Christine Anderson, the Director of the Rehabilitation and Orthopedic Program,” he said.
For Karen and Paul, the Stroke Team’s emphasis on ensuring that the patients and their family caregivers feel comfortable with their learning experiences helped strengthen their determination to work together on rehabilitation.
“We both need to be comfortable, and the staff told me immediately that Paul is welcome to come to my physiotherapy and other appointments to learn what’s going on,” said Karen.
Team members worked with the couple to show them a number of exercises and manoeuvres such as simply getting safely into a chair. They supplemented this information with details about available community resources and other community supports.
“We’ve met a lot of people who really like what they do,” said Paul of the staff at Chedoke Hospital and Hamilton General Hospital. “The level of communication has been very good and the willingness of staff to dedicate uninterrupted time to helping us understand the nature and demands of our new world has been absolutely impressive. We have felt like we have been the focus of caring friends at both the General and Chedoke.”
Karen was discharge from Chedoke in early March and continues to make remarkable progress. She is able to walk with a cane and is slowly regaining mobility in her left side. She is also learning to accept some of her limitations; however, that doesn’t mean she plans to live with them. Through persistence and determination she has been able to relearn many of the skills she thought she’d lost, including the ability to make an apple pie from scratch and type with one hand. She is also determined to return to her job at the Firestone Institute.
For his part, Paul is also learning and relearning. He’s had to learn how to balance his job while being involved in Karen’s rehabilitation. And while both he and Karen can smile and laugh about some of the new challenges they are facing, they understand the magnitude of the experience and know it will continue to shape their future.
“The implications reach into all corners of our world,” said Paul, however; they will continue to meet challenges together.
And if Karen has her way, it won’t be long before she can wrap both arms around her husband and hug him like she used to - however long it takes.
This story originally appeared in Seasons, a quarterly publication from Hamilton Health Sciences. Used by permission.
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Thu, 02 Feb 2006
Feb 02, 2006, 15:08
[top/family_news/church]
Looking at 2006
By David Harvey
It is exciting to see people use their gifts to glorify God and serve others. We have several new leaders that we would like you to pray for. Five new elders have joined the board in the last year, three for the first time. We now have chairmen for three of our main committees (Personnel – Malcolm Sears, Missions – John Harvey, and Properties and Facilities – James Dean).
The elders and staff held their first retreat of the new board in November and reviewed our purpose statement, ministry plan, and spent time getting to know one another and praying together. We welcomed the new elders and spouses and decided we needed to meet together as an elder/staff community every month for the next six months to grow in unity, and to build a caring community. Please pray for us that we will encourage one another, and become better shepherds/mentors of the congregation.
The elders would liked to discuss with the congregation the position of a pastor of adult ministries in an upcoming town hall meeting on the seventh of February. Please pray that God will continue to provide the resources for this critical position.
We have also reviewed our need for a pastor of children’s ministry and we believe that we need to continue to move forward with this position as well. We already have money for a part time position and we wonder if we could make that a full time position in the future to increase our possibilities of finding a person for this role. Recently, we were hopeful that we had a person to take the position but unfortunately he decided not to accept it. Please pray for our children’s workers and the children’s ministry.
We have developed some strategies for performance review, and a number of our leaders have completed the process. They received feedback from several people, reviewed their ministry/job descriptions & set goals for the coming year. It has been a valuable and exciting process as we have practiced the “one anothers,” helping and encouraging each other in our spiritual growth.
It is a great privilege to share ministry with such a committed, faithful and resourceful congregation that seeks to serve God with all its heart.
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Tue, 24 Jan 2006
Jan 24, 2006, 11:09
[top/family_news/events/valentines]
Valentines 2006
In February every year, Philpott puts on a fantastic event called, “Hamilton’s Best Valentine’s Show.” We have a large number of talented musicians in our congregation, so this is a chance to show our stuff, and have a blast doing it.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Valentines party, you might be suprised at what you find Friday or Saturday night. It’s not a typical church service, made up of standing and sitting and standing, or long, awkward, silent moments, or embarrassing performances. In fact, it’s not really a church night at all, except for a short 5 minute message from our pastor at the end.
Rather, it’s a night to give something back to our community. It’s a night to welcome friends, neighbours, co-workers, and to introduce them to our congregation.
This year our theme is ‘Great Canadian Love Songs,’ and you’ll see and hear impersonations of fabulous artists like Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane, the Guess Who, Kim Mitchell, Rush, Paul Anka, Sarah McLachlan, Gordon Lightfoot, Blue Rodeo, Ann Murray, Steppenwolf, Corey Hart, and a dozen more!
Comedy, choreographed routines, rockin’ music, tasty deserts, and an atomosphere of fun will make this a night you’ll remember. Please join us!
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Fri, 16 Sep 2005
Sep 16, 2005, 14:38
[top/family_news]
About Sean Adams
My name is Sean Adams and I am in my third and final year of my M.Div degree at McMaster Divinity College with a focus on New Testament and Greek.
I am really excited about the opportunity to minister at PMC this year. I am going to be working with Val Harvey towards the refinement of the Small Group program, both in Oxygen and within the larger church.
Being a past member of PMC, I am looking forward to seeing how the church has developed in its call to minister to those in Hamilton and to be challenged in how I minister to others. I anticipate an excellent time and look forward to the opportunity of meeting new people and being challenged in my thinking of ministry.
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Sep 16, 2005, 14:38
[top/family_news]
Sept 2005 Announcements
Men’s Retreat: Sept 23 to 25, at Teen Ranch, Orangeville. “Mastering Mediocrity”. Speaker is David Adams from Grindstone Creek. Contact Larry MacDonald.
Seniors: Friday September 30th – Lunch together at the Mandarin Restaurant. Cost is $11. Sign-up on the seniors’ bulletin or contact Dawna Vyse.
Small Groups: Want to join a small group? Talk to Val Harvey at the Small Groups Table across from the nursery after the service.
40 Days of Mercy Launch: October 16th, 2005. H2O Clean-Up Day: Saturday October 22nd, 2005
ESL Classes: every Tuesday night starting September 20th, 2005. We are looking for teachers and someone who can help with childcare. Contact Leny van der Mark.
Living Rock: A great way to serve our downtown community! Help with the Living Rock Youth parenting program on Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings – childcare, mentoring young moms or providing snacks. Contact Christine Vaughan if you are willing to help out!!
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Sep 16, 2005, 14:38
[top/family_news]
About Adam Brown
My name is Adam Brown and I am in the middle of a Masters of Divinity degree at
McMaster Divinity College. I did my undergraduate degree in Political Science at
the University of Ottawa, after which time I had the tremendous opportunity to
work on and around Parliament Hill for a couple of years. After the installation
of our current Prime Minister, I returned to my home hamlet of Coldstream, where
I was the fourth generation in my family to purchase property and the third
generation to sell concrete products for city infrastructure and rural drainage.
After eight months of successfully redirecting water and sewage through our
products, however, I felt called to Hamilton to pursue training for ministry.
God miraculously opened door after door for me, eventually bringing me to
seminary and to Philpott as an intern. This year I am pleased and excited to say
that I have another internship with Philpott as the oXyGEN Coordinator.
oXyGEN is in a very thrilling spiritual and practical space right now. We are
gearing up to expand 8 broad ministries for people in the oXyGEN and larger
Philpott communities. Our mission for this year draws on Micah 6:8 (to act
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God) and on John 15:4-5 (to
bear fruit in the lives of individuals and in the life of the community through
God’s grace and gifting).
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