At Providence Care Hospital, care partners who are family and friends supporting clients living with dementia now have a refreshed and welcoming space on the Senior Mental Health unit, Parkside 2.
It’s all thanks to fourth-year bachelor of Behavioural Psychology student at St. Lawrence College, Emma Cordeau and her Providence Care Preceptor, Behavioural Technologist and Professional Practice Leader, Katrina Tremblay.
“Creating this space for care partners became my thesis,” explains Emma. “I quickly learned that behavioural interventions look different when you’re working with clients dealing with a diagnosis of dementia. My thinking shifted and I thought ‘how can I focus on the outside environment to help with behaviour?’ I quickly realized the biggest factor that could impact client behaviour is the mood of their care partner. If their care partner has a space where they can reset, de-stress and find calm, then that can improve the mood of the client.”
Parkside 2 at Providence Care Hospital is a secure unit serving the needs of individuals with distressing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Clients on Parkside 2 are usually at the stage of dementia where an individual/family member has stepped into the role of a substitute decision maker for their personal care and financial capacities.
Emma explains that care partners of individuals living with dementia dedicate an average of 26-30 hours per week of caregiving. Often care partners of individuals receiving care within the Senior’s Mental Health unit spend their entire day with the person they care for, making a dedicated caregiver room all the more essential.
“Caring for someone living with dementia comes with a lot of anticipatory grief,” says Katrina. “They may look like your husband/wife/relative and have brief lucid moments, but often they’re not fully present. You witness their decline, may experience misrecognition or complete forgetfulness, and sometimes face challenging behaviours during visits. It’s overwhelming and incredibly hard to be a care partner.”
Calm, peace, joy, and practicality are at the heart of the refreshed and relocated space. Overlooking Lake Ontario and Lake Ontario Park, the room is decorated with calm colours of pink and green along with client art. Care partners are able to enter and exit on their own through a safety lock and don’t need to rely on a staff member for help. Cabinets and the fridge have also been secured with combination locks with a sign detailing the code.
“Care partner autonomy was very important when we were planning these renovations,” explains Emma. “Nurses don’t have to unlock the door of this updated caregiver space, which gives them more time with clients and takes the feeling of being a burden off the care partner. They can come and put personal belongings in the cabinets or fridge – make themselves a coffee or warm up their lunch, and then put things back into the locked cabinet, so that if for whatever reason a client does wander in, they won’t hurt themselves.”
“Whole-person care at Providence Care extends to care partners,” says Katrina. “When they’re cared for well, it means the individuals in our care are cared for well.”
At times, clients on Parkside 2 can turn palliative. Providing space for the care partner during end-of-life care is essential.
“Dementia is a progressive disease, so unfortunately it leads to palliative care in some instances,” says Katrina. “We do talk to families about options and transfers but usually moving to another space with new staff will cause stress, so they opt to stay on the unit. Many care partners don’t leave their loved one’s bedside understandably, so providing a space where they can make a quick coffee without leaving the unit or giving them a private space to sit and grieve is important. The room is also another way we provide palliative support versus just a general caregiver room.”
The updated caregiver space opened in early December 2025 and was a labour of love for Emma. Not many students get to be a part of leaving behind a physical legacy, like a renovated space. Thanks to the support of Katrina and Program Manager Kassandra Wood and Director Kara Asselstine, Emma feels great about the impact it’s making.
“Care partners are giving me incredible feedback, and this work really let me lean into the idea that the only way you can take care of others is if you take care of yourself first.”
Emma is now in her last semester of school and looks forward to where the future will take her.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Providence Care for trusting me with a project that has such a meaningful impact. Being able to work with such a precious population has been a privilege, and this experience has only reinforced how important this field is to me. No matter where my career takes me, this work has confirmed that supporting people and making a genuine difference in their lives is what matters most.”
Providence Care also provides a range of care partner support outside the hospital setting through its Enhancing Care initiative. These include TEACH (Training, Education and Assistance for Caregiving at Home) and CARERS (Coaching, Advocacy, Respite, Education, Relationship, Simulation). Specialized hospice and grief support is also available, with respite services through the Adult Day Program, which help care partners reduce isolation and prevent burnout.
0 thoughts on “Improved care partner space supports those caring for clients living with dementia”
The Enhancing Care programs are thoughtful, forward thinking and SO necessary!
Whole person care is essential!
I plan to make our caregivers aware of this program