For Devanshi Joshi, meaningful engagement with her elders is as natural as anything in life. Like a majority of families in India, hers was multigenerational and she grew up with her grandparents as part of the household.
When she settled in Guelph in early 2023, she began working as a housekeeper with an agency that would sometimes do shifts at The Village of Riverside Glen, and she was immediately struck by the concept of a Village of elders with whom she could connect.
“I can connect with the residents so much,” she says, noting that she shares a commonality with residents who are also apart from loved ones. “I'm staying away from my family right now. I'm just alone here and at a certain point, our residents, they are also away from their family. I kind of connect so much with them and I know how they might be feeling without their family.”
Though family is at home on the other side of the world, Devanshi immediately felt comfortable at Riverside Glen, in large part because of her connections with residents.
Her heart is as grand as her work ethic, which guided her through different opportunities at Riverside Glen, even as she studies to gain her pharmacist credentials in Ontario so she can practice once again in the profession she held in India.
She’s currently a medication-certified personal care aide, and she’s also part of the current cohort of Innovation Catalysts – direct care partners from across Schlegel Villages developing innovative ideas to improve Village Life for residents. Devanshi and her 2025 counterparts are seeking ways to enhance opportunities for meaningful and active engagement among team members and residents, which is naturally close to Devanshi’s heart.
The process by which the catalysts are digging into areas of challenge and enablers of success is called design thinking, which slows people down as they address a particular question and dig for answers. Don’t go right to the solution, Devanshi explains, but instead fully and methodically examine the challenge you want to address.
“What I love about it so much is that although we (the catalysts) are all from different Villages . . . (we share) the same passion in that we just don't want to work, but we want to do something extra for our residents,” Devanshi says. “I can feel it, that everybody is so passionate to contribute.”
Devanshi’s focus is on helping her fellow team members find the commonalities with residents as they connect so they can both benefit from a reciprocal relationship, and thus find more meaning in each moment of engagement.
Meaningful engagement is essential for creating a thriving community, Devanshi illustrates. It requires team members to actively participate in interactions that are enjoyable for both themselves and the residents. By fostering such opportunities, team members can help build relationships that enhance the quality of life for residents and for themselves, while reducing feelings of isolation, and creating a more vibrant and connected community.
