CANADA: Biographies Personalize Geriatric Care

MONTREAL, CANADA (CBC News.CA), November 3, 2005: A seniors' home in Montreal is putting together biographies of its residents with dementia to help preserve their dignity. The second floor of the Maimonides Geriatric Centre is home to seniors in advanced stages of Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. The seniors depend on staff for all daily activities, such as feeding and bathing. Nurses, nurse aides and orderlies do their best to offer compassionate care, but they often have no knowledge about what the residents were once like. "All we know about these people is that they come here at the age of 75, 80, 85," said George Lavia, an orderly. "You go to their rooms. They cannot talk to you, they cannot help you do anything." To fill in the gaps, Maimonides's staff is putting together a series of audio-visual presentations tracing the residents' life stories. Families provide the photos and information and then volunteer Frances Perelle produces the biographies on a computer. The premiere biography features Klara Mauthner, a journalist, translator and cookbook author. Photos and music reflect her childhood, and how she survived the Holocaust that killed her brother and her first and second marriage. "It's really touching to see the kind of life she lived, what she went through," said Marcia Shakes Elfallah, a nurse at the centre. Knowing a patient's past helps staff better understand their needs and personalize care, the nurses said. ©2005 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation