Cynthia Lawrence, recreation therapist

Cynthia is one of the kindest individuals one will meet. There is no individual left out when Cynthia is working at Youville Home. She consistently strives to deliver a meaningful experience and care that is specific to the individual resident.

Cynthia is a huge advocate for the seniors that we serve. Not only does she keep up with current trends and education practices for dementia care, but she shares her learnings with her colleagues. After recently completing an educational program on dementia care, Cynthia took the initiative to cascade this new knowledge to her colleagues through the development of a binder to enable the team to create resident-specific care programs. With this program, she had to find items (props) that she could utilize for the reminiscence programming.

Due to COVID-19 and the lack of interactions residents normally enjoyed with their families, Cynthia identified that the residents were becoming isolated and withdrawn and had a decline in their health status. We serve the most vulnerable population, and some could not hear on the phone, see on an iPad, or hear when the family was close due to the face shields. Every day, Cynthia would look for creative ways to promote that connection and communication for the resident. She sought technology, coordinated Zoom calls, and purchased hearing devices so the family could talk into a speaker and have their voice magnified to help those who could not hear when wearing a facemask or talking through a window. There was no stone unturned for each resident that needed her support to communicate.