Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health and the Royal Canadian Legion in Goderich Have Announced an Exciting Collaboration
by Bob Montgomery
The Gateway Centre of excellence in Rural Health is pleased to announce an exciting partnership with the Goderich Legion Branch 109.
Amy Sturgeon is a Research Assistant with the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health and explains they are delivering two programs that target seniors in the Goderich area fifty-five years of age and older. She says the program is actually two programs merged into one. “Legion Learning is just connecting seniors and technology. Within Goderich we're seeing a lot of people moving in from the GTA so there's a disconnect from their families in the cities, so they can help them with facetime, among other things, to help them stay connected with their families.”
They've also found they can help with things like online banking, how to avoid being caught in a fraud or scam and other basic technology use.
The second part of the program is Legion Lounge and that will act as a social space and café for their senior community and will provide a variety of physical and cognitive-based games aimed at creating camaraderie and healthy competition while improving both physical and mental well-being. This space will include a driving simulator that will allow the user to engage in cognitive development by practising their driving skills and enhancing their reaction game and hand-eye coordination. The Legion Lounge will be open from one until four Monday to Friday and seniors can just walk in, there's no sign up required. The games include darts, pool, a golf pitching mat and many others, and the seniors do not have to be a member of the Legion to participate in either program.
More information can be found on the Goderich Legion Branch 109 website or Facebook page, and on the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health web page. The programs are made possible by the TD Ready Commitment Connected Communites and New Horizons Seniors Program funding.
Amy Sturgeon, Research Assistant at the Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health
