A woven path: Klaske Smit's journey with person-centred care

Meet Klaske Smit, a 98-year-old Dutch Canadian woman who some call “Katie”. Born in the Netherlands, she immigrated in 1952 and has lived most of her life in Canada. She worked with disabled children at the Shriners Hospital and operated a farm with her late husband. Klaske is also a textile artist and established her own weaving business, which she is very proud of to this day. She even wove a coat for Ottawa’s own Jean Pigott. Klaske enjoys spending time with her family and has a son and daughter, four grandchildren and one great grandchild. One of her many hobbies includes walking, and up to the age of 95 she would walk an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon every day. In 2023, Klaske moved to the Peter D. Clark long-term care (LTC) home after a serious fall. Her need for care and support made it impossible for her to live on her own. Her daughter, Pamela Smit, said it was a tough transition at first, but not long after, the person-centred care program was being implemented on her mom’s floor and she began to notice changes. “Person-centred care is really about staff just understanding mom and knowing what's important to her, what's not important to her, and when she is or is not interested in doing something,” Pamela shared. Walking and weaving are two of Klaske’s greatest passions, and through person-centred care, Pamela was able to work with staff to ensure those passions continued to flourish while living at the home. “Walking is in her blood, and staff were initially tentative about her walking on her own. I think everybody just needed to learn that we needed to accept a little bit of risk, and that mom needed to be able to walk when she wanted to walk,” Pamela said. Klaske is a familiar presence in the halls of Peter D. Clark, and everyone keeps an eye out so that she is as safe as possible. “Mom also really wanted to have her weaving in her room but there's only so much storage space,” explained Pamela. “There were some extra dressers in the hallway so I asked one of the nurses if we could move one into her room. It was done within five minutes. The next day I brought the weaving in, and mom just had this sense of relief. She can now show people what she has made.” Klaske is a very active participant in programs at Peter D. Clark: she does work outs with the physio team and participates in exercise class, knits one-on-one with staff, attends music programs, small and large tea parties, bingo, art classes, and more. She takes naps in between, when her busy schedule allows. She seems to enjoy herself very much and when asked about the staff and her experience at the home, Klaske said: “They take good care of me.” “The person-centred care program is an example of just understanding the person and making adjustments to the care to what is important,” Pamela noted. “As a daughter, as somebody who's coordinated my mom and dad's care for years, I am deeply grateful to now be working in a team with other people, making sure that mom's needs are met in terms of care, but also just support.” Klaske is just one of many residents at Peter D. Clark receiving care under the person-centred care program. The program will continue to see staff and families working together to tailor care for each resident based on their individual needs, improving the quality of life of all residents. For more information on Ottawa’s long-term care homes and details on person-centred care, visit the City’s long-term care webpage.  For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca, call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401) or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.