You may have read the series of articles on long term care that appeared recently in The Hamilton Spectator and many other Metroland newspapers across Ontario. The series, titled Situation Critical, documented many serious issues facing the long term care sector and the families who rely on it for the care of their loved ones.

While Shalom Village was portrayed as “a progressive organization with a good reputation,” and cited as an example of what the future of care should look like, many valid points were raised about the government’s approach to regulating and funding long term care in Ontario.

One thing that would help is funding for increased staffing levels. Documentation and administrative requirements have steadily increased, with no offsetting funding to mitigate the costs. Nurses are spending more time on paperwork and less on providing care. Some of the new compliance measures are onerous with no clear relationship to quality improvement.

There is light ahead. Shalom Village is a lead partner in the Residents First quality improvement initiative introduced by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Residents First uses scientifically sound quality improvement practices and involves staff from all levels to develop standards and policies that will help us continue to provide the best care possible.

Here at Shalom Village we enjoy a good working relationship with the team at the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network (HNHB LHIN) who manage the healthcare system in our region. We have found them to be receptive to our concerns and willing to listen. They have met with our board of directors and have even held one of their own board meetings in our Ruth Sherman Centre.

We will continue to look for innovative ways to make Shalom Village “where you would like to be,” as a resident, an employee, a volunteer, or a donor, but we need help to do that. Long term care is a vital partner in the healthcare system, and there is so much more that we could do if the proper resources were in place.

"A wider sampling would have shown that innovative resident focused programs, such as those at Shalom Village in Hamilton, are now the sector’s benchmark."

~ OLTCA CEO Christine Bisanz, in The Hamilton Spectator

When you think of professions that embrace technology, Rabbi is probably not at the top of the list. Yet Rabbi Aaron Selevan finds that his iPhone, video camera and the internet are invaluable tools to help him in his role as a teacher and spiritual advisor.

KosherTube

Many of Rabbi Selevan’s lectures can be seen on-line at koshertube.com. He video-tapes lessons as he presents them at Adas Israel Synagogue, here at ShalomVillage or in Toronto as a member of Nishma's Circle of Scholars. Sometimes he records audio on his iPhone and posts them on-line as MP3s.

“I’m not really a techie type of person,” he admits, “but this technology is easy to use and allows me to reach many more people than I could otherwise”.

As the first words leave Rabbi Selevan’s lips, you know he is not from around here. Shalom Village’s spiritual leader grew up in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and his accent leaves no doubt about his origins.

After earning a Bachelor of Economics degree from New York’s Yeshiva University, he attended Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary where he received his Rabbinic ordination Yoreh Yoreh in 1987 and Yadin Yadin in 1990. He taught at YeshivaUniversity for seven years before coming to Hamilton in 1994 to teach at the Yeshiva School here.

Loves teaching

“Anyone can teach good kids” says Aaron, who has a soft spot for his more challenging students. “When I was young I didn’t take school seriously, so I can relate to those kids now.” He feels that his easy-going manner and his love of sports make him more approachable and help him establish rapport with people. “They think if I play sports I must be normal,” He says with a laugh.

At Shalom Village

The opportunity to build relationships with residents, family members and staff is one of the things he loves about his work at Shalom Village, where he assumed the role of Spiritual Leader in 2004. “It’s all about connections,” he says. “When you build trust people are receptive. The trick is to keep it on a social level while you sneak in a little education.”

In addition to leading Shalom Village in our observance of Jewish customs and holidays Rabbi Selevan helps residents and their families deal with palliative care issues at the end of life. Often families will ask him to conduct the funeral when a loved one passes because they are comforted by having someone who knew the person in life lead the service.

Rabbi Selevan provides pastoral care to residents of all faiths. He facilitates monthly non-denominational church services, coordinating with visiting clergy or sometimes leading the services himself. “People have a lot in common,” he observes. “We are all created in the image of G-D, we’re all human beings with the same challenges.”

Leadership

Rabbi Selevan also provides guidance to the team of coaches who manage Shalom Village. Each week, the coaches meeting begins with a discussion of the Parasha, or “portion” taken from one of the five books of the Torah. Even though many on the team are not Jewish, the allegory and the symbolism drawn from the stories contained in the Parashas never fails to ignite a powerful discussion about how the lessons discovered can be applied to our daily lives at Shalom Village.

It is a challenge for Rabbi Selevan to maintain balance in his life. His busy schedule keeps him away from his family more than he would like. “It’s not a nine-to-five job,” he notes. “I can get a call from a nurse or a family member needing assistance at any time.”

Those who have had a short conversation with Rabbi Selevan are in the minority. One point leads to another, and often a two hour class becomes a five hour discussion. He feels it is important to maintain a high level of learning. “I force myself to give a lot of classes,” he says. “I get as much satisfaction from the preparation as from the presentation.”

“Real love is teaching.”

Pat Ostapchuk was already a gold medalist before she set out for a weekend of dragon boat racing in Peterborough on June 11^th. She had earned that distinction in 2005 as part of the Canadian team competing at the World Dragon Boat Championships in Berlin.

As proud as Pat is of that achievement, her team’s first place finish at the International Dragon Boat Festival in Peterborough is meaningful to her in a different way. The 2,000-plus paddlers from around the world who competed in this event have more than dragon boating in common – they are all breast cancer survivors.

Therapeutic

While Pat had led an active lifestyle before she took up paddling, she did not consider herself athletic. She got involved with dragon boating 10 years ago as a therapeutic activity to help rebuild her strength after her own treatment for breast cancer. Pat found that she enjoyed the activity and the camaraderie of team-mates, and it was not long before she was competing at a high level.

Berlin 2005

Pat’s hard work paid off when she was selected to paddle on the Canadian team competing in Berlin in 2005, bringing home a gold medal for her efforts.

“It was incredible to be representing Canada at an international event,” says Pat proudly, “and to be competitive in a world of younger, stronger, "regular" men and women. When I raced on the national team no one knew I was a breast cancer survivor, we didn't tell them until the race was over.”

Peterborough 2010

The Peterborough race was also an international event with 73 teams representing countries from around the world, including Canada, Australia, South Africa, USA, New Zealand and Ivory Coast. The event was sanctioned by the International Dragon Boat Federation.

Pat paddles with Knot-a-Breast, a team of breast cancer survivors who race out of Hamilton. Pat says that they are serious about their sport. “We’ve always had a competitive team,” she says.

“Even though all the paddlers were breast cancer survivors, the times posted would not be out of place at the worlds,” according to Pat Morden, another avid dragon boater and member of Canada’s gold medal team at the World Championships in Prague in 2009.

Research project led to world-wide movement

Dragon boating has become popular with breast cancer survivors around the world ever since Canadian Dr. Don McKenzie conducted a research project to identify an exercise that would help women improve circulation and build upper body strength after treatment for breast cancer. He also wanted to find an activity that would be fun and encourage team building. No one could have foreseen that a simple research project at UBC would lead to an international movement involving thousands of women around the world.

“Women don’t need to fear being active after treatment,” says Pat. “In fact research has shown it is good for you."

Tony Brown was a double-threat at the Spring Revue presented recently by the Shalom Village Players. Not only did he portray game show host Garret Grand in the Fishing for Facts segment, he was the keyboard player for the Mellow Fellows, a three-piece jazz combo that entertained guests as they were arriving for the show.

Goldie Robbins is pictured here as an aggressive telemarketer in a hilarious skit she performed with Jim Kennelly.

The audience was treated to song, dance, poetry reading, skits and monologues featuring Shalom Village residents under the direction of Emanuela Dussin.