Welcome to Sherbrooke is a podcast that takes you inside Sherbrooke Community Centre; a long term care home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where 263 residents live and which follows the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care.

My name is Eric Anderson and I’m the Communications Leader for Sherbrooke.

In this episode, we feature a very special guest to only our Sherbrooke community but the Eden community around the world, Dr. Bill Thomas.

Dr. Thomas is the co-founder, along with his wife Jude, of the Eden Alternative philosophy. He is a physician, professor, entrepreuner, a playwright and someone who loves wearing bunnyhugs.

He has visited Sherbrooke in the past and is a strong believer in the culture we have built. For our organization, he continues to push our organization to provide the best in well-being for residents.

A few weeks ago, four members of Sherbrooke’s Leadership team, myself included, attended the Eden International Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was an opportunity for people from around the world to get together and share their successes and the challenges they are facing in long term care.

Dr. Thomas and his wife attended the conference and we had this big idea of seeing if he would be a guest on our podcast because it’s fun to dream big!

Kim Schmidt, who is our CEO and presented at the conference, was able to steal 10 minutes of Dr. Thomas’ time after the first day of the conference wrapped up to ask him some questions.

Kim did a wonderful job of interviewing Dr. Thomas and we are excited to share that conversation with you now.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and a big thank you to Dr. Bill Thomas for carving out time out of his busy schedule to speak with Kim for the podcast. You can listen to the ‘Welcome to Sherbrooke’ podcast wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Welcome to Sherbrooke is a podcast that takes you inside Sherbrooke Community Centre; a long term care home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where 263 residents live and which follows the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care.

In this episode, we find a comfortable couch, decorated with lovely pillows, to sit down with Trudy Fisher and Patricia Roe to discover why creating an inviting, stimulating and comfortable environment is important to the well-being of residents.

There are 10 Principles within the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care. Principal number two is what we focus on in this episode. It states that a caring, inclusive and vibrant community enables all of us, regardless of age or ability, to experience well-being.

When it comes to designing a community through the lens of the Eden Alternative philosophy, few do it better than Trudy Fisher and Patricia Roe. Trudy managed our Tumbleweed Gift Shop for many years until retiring last year. Patricia was Sherbrooke's Communications Leader until her retirement in 2016. They made our community better through their passion for providing well-being to residents, and even in their retirement, you can find them today creating displays and working with residents and staff to make Sherbrooke feel like home.

Trudy and Patricia talk about why making a long term care home feel like home is so important to residents and how they work with residents to ensure their needs are being met.

As you will quickly notice, Trudy and Patricia are dear friends and really don't need anyone asking them questions. They just love talking with each-other!

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Welcome to Sherbrooke. You can listen and follow Welcome to Sherbrooke wherever you find your podcasts and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Welcome to Sherbrooke is a podcast that takes you inside Sherbrooke Community Centre; a long term care home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where 263 residents live and which follows the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care.

In this episode, we explore the many benefits of live music in a long term care home and specifically through a staple of our Sherbrooke community, “Friday at 3.”

This unique musical gathering is spearheaded by Wes Froese who is a member of our recreation team. Wes is an incredible musician and entertainer who connects with residents throughout our community. Every Friday at 3pm in Sherbrooke’s Tawaw Centre, Wes plays an hour long concert before a packed audience of residents, family members, staff and volunteers.

Within the Eden Alternative philosophy, there are seven domains of well-being. These domains are at the core of the philosophy and can be seen and experienced every day at Sherbrooke. One of the domains is connectedness and you will discover how Friday at 3 fosters connections throughout Sherbrooke in this episode.

You will hear from Wes Froese in this episode, along with Sherbrooke residents, staff and volunteers, who explain why this weekly gathering has become such an important part of our community. You will also hear some fantastic music that will put you in the front row of the Tawaw Centre!

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada