Some days, Barbarba Klak's only reason to get out of bed is her daycare program at the Sturgeon hospital.
On those days, she gets dressed in the morning, waits for the handibus to pick her up and spends the day with her friends, taking walks, making crafts and sharing a meal.
"I've been 17 years without anything," she says. "It helps me get up in the morning. Just generally talking with people, that makes you open up."
Twenty years ago, Klak suffered a seizure from a brain aneurysm.
The aneurysm paralyzed her right side (she still has trouble moving her arm) and took her ability to speak. She spent a month in hospital but it took years before she learned to walk and talk again.
But she never returned to her old self, still suffering from memory loss and concentration issues. There are good days and bad days, she says. But without her support group, there would be many more bad days.
"It has helped me tremendously," she says.
Day Support Program
There are numerous seniors that live isolated in communities across the country, says Michele Jessop, manager for CHOICE programs and Day Programs with Alberta Health Services.
Because of physical or cognitive needs that require supervision, they cannot get out to typical senior programs. And many of their relatives are busy during the day, unable to spend enough time with them, she says.
"I think having a disability always makes it a little harder to connect," says Jessop. "We have people that have different barriers but there are certainly always some barriers for someone with a disability to integrate in the community."
To help, AHS created the Adult Day Support Program. The program has existed for over 20 years and consists of a dementia and a rehabilitation group.
Clients attend the program once or twice weekly for $8 a day. It provides them with recreation and leisure activities, support services, basic personal care, meals and some physical and occupational therapy.
But more importantly, it offers a place where people can meet, says Jessop.
"The program tries to keep them engaged and active," she says. "People's self is certainly more maintained when they are physically and mentally active."
There are now 20 programs available in the region but those are likely to grow in coming years, she adds. As demographics project a rise in the senior population across Canada, more people will depend on such services.
Personal impact
Flipping through the pages of a photo album, Barbara Klak reminisces.
She remembers the year her family celebrated a big reunion, she remembers the time she baked pies with her friends, and she remembers giving Santa Claus a kiss on the cheek at last year's Christmas party.
But she doesn't always remember the names and faces of the people in the photos. Then she closes her eyes, sighs and concentrates.
"No, I can't remember," she says.
Klak says things were okay for many years because her husband, George, supported her. George was selling Christmas lights and took Klak on sales tours across Alberta and Saskatchewan.
"I was really functional because I was tree decorating and I was working in a program with him," she says.
Then George died and Klak was left to look after herself.
She joined a neighbourhood group and took part in more therapy sessions.
But while she understands people well, her speech impairment leaves her struggling for words. It takes time to organize her thoughts, she says. That makes conversation with strangers difficult. She felt isolated, she says.
It wasn't until she joined the day care program that she felt part of the community again, and regained a sense of pride in herself, she says.
Not only can she see her friends twice a week but the program holds fundraisers a couple of times a year. Last time, they baked 756 pies. She sold a record 115 of them, she says.
She cannot visit her friends from the program on the weekend, because she doesn't "want to infringe upon them and call them up."
But that's okay now, she says.
Because "I have 115 people that I can sell pies to," she says.
For more information on the program contact AHS Day Program Intake at 780-496-1300.
