Legion Buys a Bed

by Margaret Chegwin

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Royal Canadian Legion Wetaskiwin Branch #86 contributed to the Good Shepherd Lutheran Home “Buy-A-Bed Campaign” when Roy Foster presented a cheque for $2700 to Rachele Nelson, Fund Development Coordinator for the Good Samaritan Society, and Pamela Spracklin-Purdy, Assisted Living Coordinator for the Good Shepherd Lutheran Home. As the Good Shepherd Lutheran Home transitions to providing care at Supportive Living Level Four, it needs a number of electric beds which give increased comfort, convenience and safety for both residents and workers.

The Good Shepherd emphasizes that everyone now living in it will remain there, will be able to age in place, but new residents will come in when requiring Level Four care.

Care for seniors has been defined at four levels. Levels One and Two are provided in lodges for those who are relatively independent. Level Three requires that support be available at all times, 24/7. Level Four requires that an LPN be present at all times, 24/7. A higher level of support requiring that an RN be present 24/7 is seen in the Long Term Care associated with hospitals. For the Good Shepherd Lutheran Home, the transition to Supportive Living Level Four marks a considerable increase in the degree of care offered. The change is being made in response to a recognized need within the Wetaskiwin community.

The electric beds, with their comfort and ease of use, are becoming the standard in health care and provide distinct advantages for both residents and care givers. They allow these mentally alert residents to adjust their beds at a touch of a button for reading, watching television, drinking, eating, or sleeping. This ability to readily change position also helps to prevent skin irritations and bedsores. The Good Shepherd has had some mechanical beds which adjust with cranks, so residents cannot adjust them and workers risk injury from the repetitive, strenuous cranking. One of the greatest advantages of the electric beds is the increased sense of independence and control over their own lives which they give the residents. Each bed costs $2700.

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Home, now operated by The Good Samaritan Society, “provides care, comfort, a sense of belonging, and the feeling of home to 64 residents.” I believe that the 10 years which my mother spent in the Good Shepherd were the most contented 10 years of her life, and if Supportive Living Level Four had been available at the Good Shepherd at that time, she could have enjoyed another three years of its tender care. The electric beds will contribute to even greater comfort and ease of care in this excellent home, so the “Buy-A-Bed Campaign” is certainly a worthy cause well deserving the support of this community.

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