Senior Living on Vancouver Island

Deciding where to retire is a hard decision. The bustling, busy big cities may begin to feel overwhelming, but moving somewhere mundane would be a bore. Sherwood House in Duncan BC gives the best of both worlds. The city of Duncan in the heart of the Cowichan Valley is a serene town near the ocean in southern Vancouver Island hosting a vibrant atmosphere for retirement living. 

Retirement Living in Cowichan Valley

Sherwood House is surrounded by lush gardens and situated right beside a beautiful green forest, providing calming nature from the comfort of home. Duncan takes pride in their vast green spaces throughout the city, which are lovely to visit and an excellent area for our residents to get fresh air and socialize. 

Aside from its tranquil natural environment, Duncan has a vibrant and exciting downtown area, which is a short (and flat) walk from Sherwood House. Duncan also offers public transportation services and residents can easily hop on a bus and find something new to explore. Duncan is a unique little town with an array of eclectic shops filled with everything you could want. Although we offer tasty home cooked meals in house, going out to eat is special and exciting. Downtown Duncan hosts a variety of cuisines, from those with adventurous tastes to picky eaters, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. 

Retiring on Vancouver Island
Retirement on Vancouver Island is all about enjoying everything life has to offer and even on rainy days when you want to stay cozy inside, we have all you need at Sherwood House. Share a cup of coffee and play a board game with friends. End the day off with our in house happy hour and a hearty meal. Independent living is all about living your retirement, your way. Retirement life on Vancouver Island has it all and we always love to see new faces in our tight-knit community, take a look at our virtual tour to see if Sherwood House is for you or your loved ones.

Benefits of Dog Therapy at Sherwood House

Black dog looking at camera wearing a white bandana

At Sherwood House in Duncan BC, we value the joy and love that pets bring into our lives. As we age, it is more difficult to take care of pets of our own, but we still want our residents to be able to connect and spend time with our furry friends. This is why we schedule an ongoing Dog Therapy program for the residents of our community. These Pet therapy sessions are not only fun, but are also beneficial to our residents’ health and wellbeing. 

Woman in chair sitting beside black dog

Benefits of Pet Therapy 

Pet therapy is a great form of compassionate care that has been popularized over the years, primarily on school campuses and across communities. The research on pet therapy’s effect on our aging population is remarkable. Pet therapy has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety.  By providing connection and comfort through animals, pet therapy is extremely beneficial for feelings of stress and anxiety. Some studies even show positive results on mental functioning through pet therapy. Playing with animals is also a fun way to increase mobility as we age. 

Our Dog Therapy Program 

Our Dog Therapy program has been a big hit in our tight-knit community. Every Friday morning, residents are invited to come to play with our Saint John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog. She is a lovely Labrador, Border Collie mix who absolutely loves people and greets everyone as they walk by. Her friendly and calm demeanour never fails to put a smile on residents’ faces. Our amazing activity coordinator, Ardelle decided to combine dog therapy with a friendship circle group to create an engaging activity for everyone. Residents enjoy a cup of coffee while they chat and enjoy visiting time with the dog.

 After so many years of Covid isolation, socialization is more important than ever, and we value the need for connectedness. We love this activity so much and look forward to carrying on the fun!

Woman leaning down to pet black dog

Choosing To Stay Young At Sherwood House

Residents dancing to live music

In our independent living community here at Sherwood House in Duncan, BC, we don’t think of ourselves as old folks. Our dedicated and caring staff don’t call our community members old folks. They are residents who live here, not old folks. Our residents are artists, writers, photographers and learners, exploring and learning new things throughout life. Aging is inevitable, but growing old is a choice. Here at Sherwood, we take care of the day-to-day chores, like cooking, cleaning and more, so time can be spent doing what we love. 

Our resident, Janet Lancey wrote a beautiful piece about the label old. In Janet’s words, “age is not a number, and it has nothing to do with appearance or status. It is Indeed how you choose to lead your life”.  

Do you think of old folks when you hear about Zumba dance? Not usually, but here at Sherwood, we make Zumba a regular activity. If Dance isn’t your thing, no problem. Janet emphasizes the importance of grasping opportunities to keep growing learning, and helping others gain better lives. Here at Sherwood, this is extremely important to us. We host an array of activities for each and every resident’s interest and ability. From book clubs to exercise classes to creative craft days, we encourage residents to grow skills and spark joy. 

Janet explains that no matter her age, she wants to be around people who choose to stay interested in life. We encourage our residents to live spirited, fun-filled lives. Entertainment is one of our specialties and our activity coordinator always has something fun planned! Our charismatic living community understands the value of social engagement. 

We want you to feel at home, and we plan social regular events like games nights, birthday parties, live music events and more! “Even as our aging bodies betray us, and we can no longer be physically strong, we can still be vibrant and full of life” Janet states, “old isn’t my age, and I choose to stay young”. At Sherwood, we understand the challenges that come with aging, but our caring staff and dedicated community ensure that these challenges do not come in between the enjoyment of our lives.

Spring At Sherwood House!

As we move into the warmer days of June, we look back on what a special time we had in May, here at Sherwood House in Duncan, BC. As always, we had fun activities scheduled every day for residents to enjoy. Social events like Bingo are hosted in our tight-knit community, and exercise programs, from Zoomba to chair exercises are offered to residents of every ability. 

We held some extra special events last month, specifically our Mother’s Day celebration. Which featured a movie and popcorn event, followed by a lovely dinner for residents and their families to enjoy. A big thank you to our residents, families and staff for making this event so memorable. The fun didn’t stop there, we also hosted musical performances from local groups. Residents always have great fun dancing to live music. 

Looking forward to this upcoming month of June, we are especially excited to celebrate our families again on Father’s day with a special dinner. As the sunshine starts to come out, we look forward to being able to spend more time on our patio with one another for ice cream socials and outdoor games. The 39 days of Summer free concerts in Cowichan are just down the road from Sherwood House, and residents are invited to enjoy free live music concerts with other community members. 

Lastly, we are pleased to introduce our two new team members. We are excited to have our new activity coordinator, Ardelle and new manager, Daunene on our team. Residents and staff are always excited to have fresh faces around our community!