Welcome to our Butterfly Page!

We're looking forward to sharing stories from our long-term care communities about their transformations into Butterfly communities!

The Butterfly Approach to Care, pioneered by Meaningful Care Matters, emphasizes the dignity of residents, as community members, their emotional health, and seeks to build a lifestyle around them which reflects their particular needs and personalities. What this means in each community may be different as each will be as unique as their community members. However, it could mean building daily routines around community members’ needs and interests, such as eating or bathing when it suits them. It could mean engaging them in daily tasks such as cooking and laundry. It could mean creating a living environment which more strongly resembles a private dwelling by painting rooms and hallways in vibrant colours, changing the doors on rooms to look more like those of a private residence, or even bringing in their personal furniture.

The model is particularly suited to persons with dementia as it allows them the freedom to be themselves and creates an environment which is familiar to them and the stages of their life which are most important to them.

Why use the symbol of the butterfly? They're diverse and colourful and evolve to their current state of beauty as they age, just as people do! They are also fragile, needing nourishment and a suitable environment, and yet when nurtured they can be resilient and persistent, living their lives with purpose and in constant movement.

While Jarlette Health Services has always delivered person-focused care, the Butterfly Approach will help us take this to a new level and lead to outcomes such as those in long-term care communities in other countries and parts of Canada where the model has been implemented. These include healthier and happier community members, lower use of supplements and certain kinds of medications, and greater emotional resiliency.

Since the Butterfly Approach involves a cultural transformation, training for team members and family members is important and we will undertake this in advance of and during each long-term care community's transformation.

We look forward to keeping you informed of the experiences of our residents, as community members, their family members and our team members!

Big News from Avalon Care Centre!

AVALON CARE CENTRE EMBARKS ON BUTTERFLY TRANSFORMATION

Butterfly Approach to Care being introduced at Jarlette Health Services-operated

long-term care communities

Orangeville, Ontario (July 6, 2022) - Avalon Care Centre, our long-term care community in Orangeville, is pleased to announce that in partnership with Meaningful Care Matters, it has begun a transformation to the Butterfly Approach to Care.

(To read more about this exciting announcement, visit our News & Events page!