The pandemic has been tough on most Canadians, but adjusting to new behaviours and rules has been especially difficult for people with cognitive challenges.
“It felt initially like a big lump fell on top of me,” said Kate Buziak, describing her struggle to absorb all the safety precautions around COVID-19. “Oh my God, remember this, remember this. Then I just said take one step at a time.”
Buziak’s life changed forever in 1994 after a heart attack left her with brain damage. The former retail manager had to overcome permanent memory and mobility challenges.
The 56-year-old now resides in an independent living facility in downtown Toronto. Learning and remembering to wear a mask, to physically distance, and constantly wash her hands has taken her some time to master. Buziak admits she still struggles with it.
But it was also important, “Because I don’t want to die. Simple as that,” Buziak said.
“I have to tell myself, OK … six feet apart, six feet apart. I always tell myself that. At home there are markers at the dinner table. So that’s good,” Buziak said. “But it’s not easy.”
Kate Buziak, who suffers from memory issues due to a heart attack, keeps brightly coloured masks hanging right by her door so that she doesn’t forget to put one on when she goes out. (CBC)
It also hasn’t been easy for caregivers.
“I think my biggest worry was having people either not be able to do it or not understand, and then having [COVID-19] get into the residence,” said Heather McKay, the manager of Cota in Toronto which runs the facility where Buziak lives.
The community health nurse says so far they’ve managed to keep their four living facilities COVID-free, in part through patient and constant reminders to the residents.
“People with cognitive challenges have difficulties with memory. So anything that’s introduced that’s new to them takes a lot of repetition,” McKay said.
People with acquired brain injuries rely heavily on routine to thrive. McKay said the precautions required to prevent the spread of COVID-19, along with other pandemic-related changes to daily patterns, have upended all that.
“Monday I do this, Tuesday I do this, and [new things] don’t fit into their regular routine,” McKay said. “So when someone is used to getting up in the morning, brushing their teeth and they walk out the door, now it’s a number of extra steps. Like, do I have my mask on me? Do I have it on properly?”
Heather McKay, manager of the Cota facility in Toronto, describes how staff works with clients who have cognitive issues to help them remember what they need to do in order to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19. 0:19
A lot of the work of helping people learn those extra steps fell to supportive care workers like Laverne Blair.
“I think it’s better now, but at the beginning it was hard for some of them to comprehend that you need to wear a mask, because this is something that would help to protect not only you, but someone else, your peers,” Blair said.
It took weeks, and in some cases months, but Blair said it was important to equip people with the skills they needed to keep themselves and others safe.
“Knowing that the clients would get out into the community and be dealing with all the people was worrisome. And how would they adapt to what’s out there? I mean, when you’re inside, you can be a bit more protective. But when you’re out there, you’re exposed to different elements in the environment,” Blair said.
Cognitive care worker Laverne Blair says it took weeks, and in some cases months, to equip people in her care with the pandemic-related skills they need to keep themselves and others safe. (Ghazala Malik/CBC)
Inside the building where Buziak lives, tape runs along the floor of the few common areas to remind residents to give one another space. Signs are posted on seats and the walls in a dining area as a constant warning to distance.
Staff have also tailored memory prompts to each client’s needs: some do better with visual cues, others with verbal reminders.
Buziak works best with visual cues, so a bright collection of masks now hangs on a hook directly in her eyeline by her door. She stops, leans against her walker and selects one before heading out.
“So I can’t forget them, like, they’re everywhere. You have to put them where you will see it so you won’t forget it,” Buziak said.
The coronavirus also took a big bite out of Buziak’s social schedule. Her craft-making and cooking groups were all cancelled because of coronavirus, and family visits have been severely limited by the pandemic.
“For a while I felt not so much lonely, but disconnected. Out of the loop, not knowing what was going on. That’s difficult,” Buziak said.
Kate Buziak, who suffers from memory issues as a result of a heart attack, talks about how she’s coping with changes brought about by the pandemic that have affected her important daily routines. 0:25
To ward off loneliness, she’s trying to learn one more skill: Zoom. Logging on and remembering each step to start the conversation can be a little bumpy, but Buziak says it is worth it.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “When I see my mum or cousins, my heart goes beep beep.”
It’s been an uphill struggle, but Buziak says her new COVID-19 survival skills make her feel safe and confident enough to go outside again and run simple errands for herself.
It has also left her wondering why some people aren’t following the COVID-19 guidelines she has had to work so hard to master.
“When I leave I wash my hands, put on my mask and things like that. But I look around and I see people outside not wearing a mask. And that makes me wonder why people are not wearing a mask?” Buziak said.
“I want to say, ‘get a mask on.’ Seriously, it’s not rocket science.”
Kate Buziak, who has cognitive issues, talks about her frustration when she sees people who aren’t following the COVID-19 precautions she has had to work so hard to master. 0:21
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
