Supporting independence for seniors — CMOW launches new health and wellness program

May 23, 2014 · 0 Comments

Caledon Meals on Wheels (CMOW) will officially launch its new Health, Wellness and Community Connection Program for Seniors tomorrow (Friday).
The launch will be at 11:30 a.m. at CMOW’s Palgrave community program at Palgrave United Church. Dufferin-Caledon MP David Tilson, Mayor Marolyn Morrison, Councillors Richard Whitehead and Nick DeBoer, Peel Living and Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) representatives will be in attendance to celebrate the occasion along with program participants.
The program, funded by the Central West LHIN, is part of the province’s Action Plan for Health Care, and has been put in place to help decrease senior isolation, improve client access and transition to community and health services and improve health and well-being through social-recreational-educational programming. The program has been operating weekly throughout Caledon seniors’ buildings, at the Bythia apartments in Orangeville and in the Snelgrove Place seniors’ building in Brampton since January, and it has already touched the lives of more than 239 seniors, becoming a centre of activity and something that residents look forward to participating in every week.
“The program has become a true community within a community — a place where building tenants and our senior community members find and build friendships, get connected to local agencies, learn about topics that concern them, become more mobile and improve their quality of life,” said CMOW’s Executive Director Christine Sevigny. “The new program has been so successful in the buildings that we’ve expanding them into local communities that do not have regular access to senior programs, such as Palgrave and Terra Cotta, and we hope to expand it into other local communities as well.”
From just a short time period, January to March, program participants have reported that they are happier, more active — both physically and mentally — and they feel more connected to their community and local residents. Although CMOW has always offered programs and services throughout the seniors’ buildings and throughout the community, the new Health, Wellness and Community Connection Program for Seniors program’s diverse curriculum and weekly regularity has attracted a diverse audience and encouraged a broader range of residents to participate, getting more seniors connected to their communities and helping them maintain their independence for as long as possible.