Book club broadens seniors’ horizons

New books are evoking old memories for seniors who grew up in a time when living on a farm was the norm.

e Victoria Order of Nurses’ adult day program has added titles about farm life, Princess Diana and Anne of Green Gables to its book club, focused on seniors with dementia as well as younger adults with intellectual disabilities.

“It’s a feel-good program that focuses on their abilities, so things that they can do, because all the time for seniors with dementia, the focus is on things that they cannot do anymore,” said Monique Natividad, adult day program co-ordinator for the VON.

She said the books contain simple words with big letters to help readers follow along. After 30 to 45 minutes of reading in the morning, book club members sit in a circle to discuss the book’s content, which could mean older people sharing their memories about growing up on a farm and caring for the animals.

Natividad said her senior clients would have read at home in the mornings before dementia and other age-related issues like failing eyesight a ected their reading and comprehension skills.

e seniors are just some of the 27 book club members, of whom about 18 attend at any one time.

ey join other clients with intellectual disabilities, many of whom have few options after they nish school. Natividad said about one third of her clients are under 60.

“ ere’s so few places in our town that are safe, warm and comforting for someone who has an intellectual disability, so the VON decided years ago to open the doors of the adult day program to young adults as well as just seniors,” said Natividad.

e VON’S adult day program runs at Johnson Manor in Truro on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

For more program information, please call Monique Natividad at 902-305-4798 or email her at Monique.natividad@von.ca. People can also visit http://von.ca/en/services for details on this and other VON programs.