Meet Jenessa Dunkle, therapy aide, Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital

Jenessa Dunkle, therapy aide, puts her creativity to good use producing events year-round for residents at Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital, a Covenant Health facility in Castor, Alberta.

With the help of the recreation team and volunteers throughout the community, Jenessa successfully organizes multi-sensory and interactive themed activities that both stimulate and inspire residents to try new things or take a walk down memory lane.

Jenessa credits her team’s support, along with the support of the surrounding community and volunteers, with making her visions and “crazy ideas” come to life. Her passion for her profession, and strong partnerships with her team and the community, have led to her being nominated for and receiving Covenant’s 2024 Mission Award for Collaboration.

 It was out-of-the-box thinking that inspired Jenessa to produce Twisted Tales, a project where residents got to test their acting skills. The concept of acting and seeing themselves on screen touched residents, many of whom hadn’t acted since their school days. And many family members didn’t know their loved ones could act. The project was such a success that one movie turned into two, and now they are organizing a fourth, says Jenessa.

“It started with a 30-minute movie and a premiere party where family members could join the residents and watch it, which turned into a sequel, then a third movie, and now there's a fourth movie set to film.

“I love being able to bring my ideas to fruition and seeing the residents' surprise and enjoyment. A lot of people think that their life is over when they come to long-term care, and often their attention is focused on what they can no longer do.”