Chinese long-term care homes in Toronto

Are you looking for long-term care for a senior of Chinese heritage? When we are looking for a long-term care home for loved ones, we want to find a home that will make the experience as comfortable and familiar. Choosing a long-term care home that offers care in Cantonese or Mandarin, or holds a Chinese Cultural Designation, can offer many benefits that can help your loved one feel at home.

Why pick a Chinese culturally designated home that supports your loved one’s culture?

Dementia

Food

People with Alzheimer’s and dementia may develop a poor appetite. The Alzheimer’s Association says this may be due to food being unfamiliar. By selecting a home that serves Chinese cuisine, you’ll help your loved one get access to foods they know and reduce chances of them developing a poor appetite. Senior administrator Stella Leung from Mon Sheong Long Term Care Centre said in a CBC news article that seniors will be more likely to eat foods they are familiar with which will improve their nutrition and health.

Language

Language barriers are difficult, and even more so with dementia. Seniors with dementia often forget second and third languages they learned later in life like English and fall back on their mother tongue. Picking a long-term care home that can speak your loved one’s Chinese dialect will help communicate so they can remain independent longer. Staff that can speak your loved one’s language allows seniors to communicate their needs properly and they can feel as comfortable as possible. Family members of those living in a culturally designated long-term care home feel that their loved ones are doing better off there than they would be if they lived in non-culturally designated long-term care homes.

General comfort

Placing your loved one in a Chinese long-term care home can also help them avoid issues like isolation, culture shock, and discrimination.

Unfortunately, there is also a price to pay for this. Chinese long-term care homes can often have longer than usual wait times with more people on the waitlists.

What do long term care homes with cultural designations offer?

Cultural Food Options

Long-term care homes that serve Chinese residents may have special menus or food options to cater to them. Homes may offer Chinese vegetables like bok choy(白菜) and dishes such as congee (稀饭), char siu/chāshāo (叉烧), and cheung fun/ chángfěn/ rice noodle roll (肠粉).

Cultural activities

It’s also nice to have your loved one have access to entertainment options catered towards Chinese culture that they will enjoy. Some of the activities may include:

• Calligraphy
• Chinese Opera
• Mahjong (麻将)
• Chinese Church Services

Chinese long-term care homes will also celebrate Chinese culture holidays like Chinese New Year. Holidays are a great opportunity to join your loved ones in their new home and build new traditions.

Language

Mandarin and Cantonese are the two most common Chinese dialects in long-term care in the Greater Toronto Area. Homes may or may not offer support for other dialects. We recommend that you phone potential home choices ahead of applying to see if they have staff that speak that dialect.

Chinese long-term care (nursing homes) in Toronto

Mon Sheong Home for the Aged (孟嘗安老院)

Located at 36 D’Arcy Street in Kensington-Chinatown, just south of the University of Toronto, Mon Sheong Home for the Aged is a non-profit nursing home that caters towards Chinese residents. All signs in the home are bilingual (Chinese-English) and Mon Sheong Home for the Aged has a built-in barber shop and physiotherapy room. The dialects offered at this home are Mandarin and Cantonese and Mon Sheong Home for the Aged offers memory care and has a dementia unit. Mon Sheong also offers a home in Scarborough at 2030 McNicoll Avenue.

Yee Hong (頤康) Long-term care centres

Yee Hong has 4 locations - 2 in Scarborough, 1 in Mississauga, and 1 in Markham. Yee Hong Long-term care centres are non-profit homes, and they cater to Chinese residents. The Yee Hong Long-term care centres are:

• Yee Hong Centre – Markham
• Yee Hong Centre – Mississauga
• Yee Hong Centre - Scarborough McNicoll
• Yee Hong Centre – Scarborough Finch

Yee Hong homes offer Chinese food menus & activities, as well as support in Cantonese and Mandarin, and they celebrate Chinese holidays.

Tendercare Living Centre

Located near the intersection of McNicoll Avenue and Victoria Park Avenue, Tendercare Living Centre is a for-profit long-term care home. Tendercare Living Centre allows its residents to order dishes through tablets and offers Chinese vegetables during meals such as Gai Lan/ jièlán (芥兰), Yóucài/Choy Sum (油菜/菜心) and Bok Choy (白菜). Other dishes include Bāozi/buns (包子), congee (稀饭), char siu/chāshāo (叉烧), mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐). White rice is offered at every lunch and dinner session.

Relevant activities include Mahjong, Buddhist services, Kung fu films, and Chinese church services. Languages offered here include Mandarin and Cantonese.

The Heritage Nursing Home

Not far from the lake, the Heritage Nursing Homeis a for-profit nursing home in Leslieville that offers a range of Chinese activities such as Mahjong, bingo in Chinese, and Cantonese opera as well as services from two Chinese churches. In addition, Heritage Nursing Home provides a menu specifically designed for Chinese residents. The languages offered here are Cantonese and Mandarin.

For more details check out The Heritage Nursing Home's page on Elderado.

Conclusion

Finding a home that looks and feels like the home a resident is moving from helps them to transition to their new surroundings. You can use Elderado to filter retirement homes and long-term care in Ontario by 22 languages and 21 cultural designations. It is important to note that not all staff in a home will be able to speak the language, but they will do their best match residents who are most comfortable speaking a language besides English with a care provider that can speak their language.