Aging In Place - Welcome

Art by Greg Lannan of Toronto

The topics of aging, dying and grieving are very important ones for us at L'Arche and for our society as a whole. We want to continue to provide care that is person-centered, of high quality, builds on strengths and focuses on relationships throughout all of people's lives.

Aging

Many of the people with disabilities we have welcomed at L'Arche are now older, and some of the core members at L'Arche may experience the changes associated with aging earlier than is normal. We have much to learn about normal aging and about various forms of dementia, and we are being invited to enter into this learning.

Dying

We have already learned a lot in L'Arche while accompanying people who were dying. We need to find ways of supporting people to continue living their lives as fully as possible until they die. There is much we can offer the person who is dying and those close to them during this dying process, if we are prepared.

Grieving

Over the years we have supported people when they have experienced losses of family and friends. It seems it is time to be more intentional and informed about how we do that.

People with intellectual disabilities, like all of us, can continue to grow and to share the gifts of who they are during these more challenging times of their lives. We need to support this growth and to advocate for quality care for people at this vulnerable time in their lives.

On this site there will be available both internal L'Arche resources and external resources to help us as we support people to live and continue to grow as they age, die or grieve.

Internal Resources

Available on this site will be such things as Vision Statements, Pictorial tools to use with people with intellectual disabilities to help them in Choosing an Attorney for Personal Care or in Planning a Celebration of Life. This will be a place where communities will be able to share the work they are doing with others in these areas.

External Resources

Available here will be information on and links to articles, booklets and other publications that explain for people with disabilities subjects such as dementia and aging. For instance, useful materials from the Scottish Down Syndrome Society and the Ontario Partnership on Aging and Developmental Disabilities are made available. These are only the beginning of what we hope will become a very useful resource list. These external resources will help us to be more competent and confident in addressing these issues

Communication Resources

In time, we can use this forum to communicate more easily and to create other documents together. The following Communication Resources are available in the Members' section, along with information on how to use them: Person-to- person chat "messengers," Small-group chat panels, Internet telephone, Working together on-line; Using our L'Arche forums; L'Arche logo downloads; Help and FAQs.

Taken with permission from L'Arche Canada. 
All Content Copyright © 2006 L'Arche Canada.  All rights reserved.