Pleasantville - a seniors’ rest home has perhaps the most ideal location in Bermuda. It sits directly opposite the main gate of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Operating as a rest home for the past three years matron/administrator, Julia Dears admits the close proximity to the hospital and many doctor’s offices has been handy both for her staff and residents.

Pleasantville is a converted family home. Currently eight women live there while three come in for day care. The facility is licensed to accommodate more than that. Eleven people can live there and a further seven can be day care patients.

Mrs. Dears said that owing to the layout of the home, it would not be suitable to house both men and women. There are not enough bathroom facilities.

“We have one bathroom and one shower,” she said, “a living room, dining room, kitchen and four bedrooms.”

There is also a three-bedroom apartment underneath but the ramp to enter is at a 70-degree angle, too steep for most seniors to navigate alone, she said.

Although considered a small outfit, the home employs 14 people. “We provide total care 24 hours a day,” said Mrs. Dears.

“To achieve this there must be staff on duty around the clock.

“I have the schedules arranged in such a way that they overlap,” she said. In this way sudden changes in the personal schedules of people do not leave the residents vulnerable.

There are four nurses, one orderly, three geriatric aides, four general aides and two people who do the general domestic work. Being a small property Mrs. Dears said job descriptions are not rigid and that she and her staff find a way to do everything.

Morning activity starts at the home bright and early. “The first person of the day comes on at 5.30 in the morning and she starts getting the women bathed,” said Mrs. Dears.

By 7.30 a.m. bath time is usually completed and the women are in the dining room having their breakfast.

Four of the residents are completely dependent and must not only be bathed but fed and taken to the bathroom also. “They do not walk at all and are completely dependent on us even for their personal hygiene,” Mrs. Dears said. This can be heavy work but Mrs. Dears said all staff is trained in the proper techniques of lifting. “We are taught good body mechanics,” she said. “If two people are on duty we can manage all the lifting.”

Additionally Mrs. Dears has her son, Mark Williams, on staff as an orderly. An Emergency Medical Technician at KEMH he has both the medical background and physical strength to lift residents.

In a typical day after residents have their breakfast they are toileted. “This also is a form of exercise for them,” Mrs. Dears said.

Following this staff usually give the residents water to drink. “We have to remember to keep them hydrated. It is very important,” she said.

The rest of the day is filled with activities including medical appointments like chemotherapy treatments, testing and doctors visits.

Ladies not having any medical appointments tend to read the newspaper and discuss current events.

According to Mrs. Dears they have strong views on topics like the closing of the indigent clinic and the political climate.

“They get very anxious and worried and sometimes when they ask us about the future of these things we have to try and redirect their attention,” she said. “We have to get them to focus on other things to calm down.”

The women also go on outings like teas at other rest homes or rides on the Project Ride bus.

Mrs. Dears said it’s helpful that her staff have cars and often take the ladies on outings to places like Windreach.

Still she admits that many more activities could be packed into their days. “I would love to have people come in and even just play board games,” she said.

“We do have students from Bermuda High School who come every year as part of their community service,” she said.

“They do anything you ask them to but I am anxious to get someone in with a guitar or violin.”