Adult Day Program a life-changer for Uxbridge woman

When Margaret Steadman was referred to Community Care Durham’s Adult Day Program last year, her daughter, Dawn Ferguson was doubtful her mother would like it.

She was wrong.

Not only does Steadman like it, she thrives being part of it! “It was just amazing to see,” said Ferguson.

Steadman, 90, has Alzheimer’s disease and was an active participant in the Uxbridge ADP program prior to COVID-19. Ferguson said it was always a delight to see her mom’s face light up like a “teenage school girl” when she dropped her off at the program.

On the days her mother went to ADP, Ferguson said she was a completely different person.

“The girls (CCD coordinators) delivered a sense of wellbeing for her. They gave her a sense of purpose and made her feel needed.”

When COVID-19 shuttered the in-person ADP program, the option to move online was something Steadman could not take advantage of. As a result, she missed her ADP programming.

“It was a real game changer for her when she couldn’t go (to the Adult Day Program),” said Ferguson.

The relief of hearing CCD is piloting an in-person Uxbridge ADP in October was felt by both mother and daughter and Ferguson quickly registered her mother for the pilot. The activities Steadman participates in again, the singing, exercises, and crafts, not to mention the interaction with her friends and coordinators, is helping her a lot, Ferguson explained.

“This is her only happy time,” she said.

Ferguson said she hopes the in-person ADP continues as it has benefited her family so much. She said she’d like to put her mother in more ADP if she could. “She needs something like this and the girls are so good to her. She loves it,” said Ferguson.