Category Archives: Connect With Others

Meaningful Life: 8 Lessons From Our Elders on Leading a Quality Life

  By lonp | February 27, 2013 - 11:18 am |
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by: Anthony Cirillo -  CCAL board member and healthcare consultant and aging expert

rowdy seniorsThere is a Taco Bell Super Bowl commercial in which a bunch of elderly folks get rowdy while the song “We Are Young” by a band called Fun plays in Spanish. It’s irreverent, but it is fun! The English lyrics read:

Tonight / We are young / So let’s set the world on fire / We can burn brighter / Than the sun.

On most days you probably don’t feel like you can set the world on fire. But caregiving doesn’t have to be a bad experience. Caregiving is an opportunity to give back and have a closer personal relationship with the person to whom you provide care.

Over 20 years of performing for elders in nursing homes and assisted living communities, I’ve learned a number of life lessons. One woman who was blind and in a wheelchair had a better quality of life — in a place we associate with death — than many I know on the “outside.”

I have observed eight traits of elders living a quality life that can teach us all something. In fact, I turned these lessons into a keynote presentation called “The Meaning of Life,” which I give for caregiving groups and long-term care professionals.

  1. Have purpose.   Ruth Anne, a resident in a Charlotte nursing home, was president of the resident’s council, delivered mail, and never kept still. When I interviewed her for my book, Who Moved My Dentures?, she said she prayed to God every day for her purpose. I mean, wow! Do you know your purpose in life? If so, great — but understand that it will evolve and change over time, so watch out for the signs. You will not be a caregiver forever.
  2. Stay active.   Why is my 91-year-old mom still getting around and driving my sister crazy? She went dancing three times a week up until her mid-eighties. My equally spry mother-in-law is in her early eighties, walks every day, and takes no medications. Put time aside on your calendar for fitness.
  3. Laugh every day.   The residents I have the most fun with are those who kid around with me, like Esther, my designated heckler. Bring humor into your life and workplace. Listen to comedy. Watch something humorous. Buy a book on stand-up comedy. Open yourself up to fun.
  4. Learn something new.   One of the groups I write about in my book calls itself The Raging Grannies, a protest group of elders who use song parodies. They involve other residents by having them help with costumes and songs. It keeps them young because their minds are constantly stimulated. As Jim Rohn said, “Formal education will get you a job. Self-education will get you rich.”
  5. Nurture friendships.   The strong friendships that develop in assisted living communities are amazing. Seniors find that the social aspect of the community is life-sustaining. There are many studies on the value of friendship and socialization. If you are shy and reserved, try to step out of your comfort zone and talk to and meet new people. Be a good listener. Estranged from someone? Life is too short. Make amends.
  6. Have a great attitude.   My friend Jean, a CCRC resident who has long passed, when first introduced to her new living arrangement saw it not with pain but with possibilities. This shy, widowed housewife embraced community life and came to all of my performances. The importance of a positive attitude has been beaten to death. But know this: Your attitude reflects on you, and you — yes you — have your own personal brand of attributes that others will use to define you.
  7. Be grateful and
  8. Be loving.   We’ll put the last two together. The seniors I hang out with have unconditional love for people. But what really strikes me is how grateful they are for everything. Try this: Every day, be grateful for three things in your life. Keep a journal documenting one positive thing that has happened to you that day. Miracles are everywhere. When you are grateful, they show up.

Your health and well-being are important. Don’t sacrifice them as you care for a loved one. Pay attention to what you can learn from all of this. Your caregiving is a journey, and the rewards are the lessons you learn from paying attention to that journey.

Coming Soon to Senior Living – the Consumer Electronics Show

  By lonp | February 5, 2013 - 9:51 am |
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by Jack York, CEO, It’s Never Too Late

Remember being 10 years old, heading to Disneyland, (I grew up in Southern California so that’s my frame of reference – plug in your own favorite amusement park), feeling your heart race as you waited in line to get on the Matterhorn?  As you get into your 50’s its hard to replicate those shots of exuberance and guilt free adrenaline, one way to approach that exhilaration for technology consumers is to head to the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.

The show is a cacophony of technology innovations, solutions and guesses as to the future.  And its insanely huge!  I’m sure a lot of readers are familiar with the larger senior living provider conferences like Leading Age, AHCA and ALFA –  in a good year upwards of 8,000 people will attend those shows.  Try this on for size, at CES there are over 153,000 attendees and 3100 exhibitors!  The overall floor space takes over approximately the size of 37 football fields – yikes!    The techno guru of our company, Michael Gardner, spent 4 days at the show and had a pedometer strapped on to count his steps, final answer for his effort was 98979 steps (49.5 miles).

The show touches everything.  All kinds of insane new car designs (be alert for driverless cars!), innovations in audio and video technology, crazy robotics, new types of sensors for the home,  virtual interactive gaming devices, preparing for the digital home of the future.  And as you wander from booth to booth you meet everyone from the savvy sophisticated executives from world class conglomerates (Samsung, Sony, Phillips, Ford, etc) to the fledging entrepreneurs from remote places in China trying to change the world with their one idea.  It’s a Kiplingesque integration of marketing sophistication side by side with the hucksters you meet at a state fair.  The fact that its in Vegas only adds to the absurdity of the experience, whatever decadence you choose to partake in on the show floor is matched by the decadence of your choosing at 3 am on the Vegas strip!

My shtick is always leaning towards finding how this paradise of technology and innovation can meander its way into senior living, and aging in general.  Part of the solutions are obvious, and the marketplace is catching up with the need.  Integrating sensors into clothing to monitor vitals, smart homes of the future that learn an individual’s needs and send the appropriate signals wirelessly to other devices, integrating health and wellness into a person’s smart phone, etc, etc.  It is exciting to see that common sense type of mindset beginning to work its way into the mainstream technology landscape.  I always enjoy, however, finding nuggets of technology that 100% contribute to the quality of the older person’s (or disabled person’s) quality of life.

Two things I fell in love with, and we’ll integrate into our own product pending testing results, are inexpensive, engaging, life changing devices.  The first is a baseball cap, yes, a baseball cap!  What’s so special about it?  You put the hat on, and a small, undetectable wireless speaker embedded in the hat rests alongside your skull.  Just wear your hat, and the sound from your phone or PC is conducted directly into your inner ear through vibration. Our CIO, Lili Dwight, has not had hearing in one of her ears for almost ten years and she texted me from DIA last week (with her hat on) saying for the first time in the last decade she could listen to music stereophonically.   And the guy hawking it was awesome – Mike Freeman, the product developer. (www.maxvirtual.com).  He was wildly exuberant, hands flailing away left and right as he tried to revolutionize the world one ear at a time.   The other device was a musical instrument called Beamz, it’s a 3 pronged instrument about the size of a 20” monitor where when you put your hands between the prongs of the device you break a laser beam that plays a specific musical instrument.  A musical neophyte like me can be transformed into a concert pianist or a jazz guitarist depending on the background music you can seamlessly select.  And it runs right off of your PC.  What I love about it from our company’s perspective is that it is just as appropriate for a person far down the dementia path as it is for someone fiercely independent at 93, no skill necessary to apply!

I like to have my ideas verified by industry experts, so the week after CES I took both of these devices with me to the headquarters of Brookdale Senior Living in Tennessee.  To my delight, they got it!  Their associates  enjoyed playing with the musical instrument, and fundamentally saw the benefit of the hat for the thousands of residents they serve with varying degrees of hearing loss.  Their executives care about this stuff!  You should hear one of the their executive VP’s  (Todd Kaestner) talk in detail about ambient decibels and background noises  and how that can impact a residents quality of life – I can’t keep up!  It’s the perfect storm to find organizations that look at technology as something above and beyond medical records and pill dispensing.

Another thing I like about CES is the mindset of commercialization and the appropriate price points.  Over the years I’ve attending dozens of conferences dealing with various types of adaptive technology and software / hardware solutions.  The problem is the price points, it’s great to see technologies that can change people’s lives but if no one can afford them what’s the point.  It’s a tough line to walk but the very definition of “consumer” electronics means you’re trying to reach the masses, that means the price points matter.  The baseball cap, for example, will cost about $50 – $60 dollars.  Think about that for next year’s Christmas gift for Grandpa!

So my recommendation for any of you technophiles, or even technophobes, is to get CES on your bucket list.  It’s a no lose proposition.  You’ll find things that benefit yourself, benefit the elders many of your serve, benefit people you love, whether it be your grandkids or your mother in law.  And you can instantly become hip to your own kids.  Next year I’m bringing my 20 year old son JP and my 18 year old son Nathan with me to the event, they’ll be able to explain to me all of the things I can’t figure out.   The world is changing whether we like it or not, CES is a way to hop on the train and see which way the world is turning.  All that’s required to attend is a few hundred dollars of cash and your imagination.

Redefining the Culture of Aging in the 21st Century

  By lonp | January 9, 2013 - 8:09 am |
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by: Bruce Devereux,Recreation & Volunteer Manager
Good Samaritan Christenson Village

For too long, residential care facilities for the elderly have been seen only as a place people go when they’re too frail or unwell to live on their own, and there’s a sense of sadness around their loss of independence and need to move to a more “institutional” environment.

Tthe Good Samaritan Society would like to change this perception—and create a new culture of aging that celebrates and nurtures the capacities of the elderly instead of focusing on what they have lost.

That’s why they recently collaborated with Sunshine Coast musician Steve Wright on the “Across the Lines” project. Over the course of several workshops, Wright brought iPads and iPhones along with musical instruments into Christenson Village and encouraged participating residents to engage in creative play. Participants especially enjoyed using the iPad and exploring several different music-making iPad applications to create sound patterns.

Wright and Devereux recorded their creative play and incorporated it into the “Across the Lines” CD, a largely improvised collection of tracks featuring music by a band consisting of local musicians Norman Boyd, Ian McLatchie, Serena Eades, and Barry Taylor, as well as Wright himself.

Devereux says the Across the Lines workshops were a huge success with the Christenson Village residents.

“It was all about exploring the process of creativity,” he says. “Steve moved people away from the idea that you can’t create music if you’re not a musician and showed them that they can still create sound and participate in the making of music that way.”

Irene Brougham, 83, one of Christenson Village’s Assisted Living residents, agrees.

“It was so innovative and exciting for us,” she says. “The way it reached people… I was involved in one of the workshops and the residents there were so enthusiastic. It just opened up a whole new world.”

Irene believes that this kind of creative engagement with instruments and technology provides the older adult with an exciting new outlet for self-expression. “There are no errors—no way to do it ‘wrong,’” she says. “And the joy of creating helps them forget their aches and pains.”

“Plus, they engage with each other more as they give feedback to those who are doing the creating,” Devereux adds.

Irene says the elderly participants were astonished by the capabilities of the new technology.

“It’s almost a make believe world for us,” she says. “It’s like getting a present and you don’t know what’s inside it. It’s full of surprises… The TV is so passive. This is a whole new game. There’s nothing stale about it.”

At the time of this interview, Irene was eagerly awaiting the arrival of her own new iPad

Devereux says that the “Across the Lines” project is part of a tidal change that he sees happening in the world of residential care. “There’s a real shift going on, a feeling that something has to change in the design of residential care,” he says. “People are seeing the potential of a care facility as a place to create. It’s not just a place full of people who are unwell.”

He hopes that more care facilities take a fresh look at the culture of aging and introduce more creative activities to their residents. “No matter what your ability levels are, you still have that capacity to create – and to get excited about it,” he says. “It’s not just creating, it’s learning. Even if you have dementia and can’t remember things, you can still enjoy the learning process and feel that excitement, that sense of accomplishment.”

The “Across the Lines “ project happened because of the generous support of the Good Samaritan Society, Sunshine Coast Foundation, and Bill Beaton. The CD is available for purchase in stores on the Sunshine Coast as well as online at CD Baby at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/acrossthelinesacommunity and on iTunes.

Engaging Aging Creatively

  By lonp | October 29, 2012 - 1:05 pm |
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by: Claudia Blumenstock, President & CEO, Copernicus, Inc.

There is an imperceptible trend weaving its way through the lives of older adults. A subtle fading of experiences that bring meaning and purpose to one’s life is taking place. As physical and cognitive skills decline, the thoughts of many older people and their caregivers turn to the highest quality of medical and support services. With this as an appropriate main focus, engaging aging with meaningful living and joyful experiences often plays a smaller role in the “care” model. These life experiences, however, define and sustain us and provide the hope and optimism that nurtures one’s spirit. (more…)

The way in which we provide “care” is shifting. We are whole human beings who require sustenance in all aspects of our lives. The goal of creative engagement is to solidify purposeful activities and reconnect people with what they like to do no matter what physical or cognitive decline is being experienced. Flexible delivery structures that bend with each person’s capabilities and are provided in individual or group settings sustain enriched living.

Let’s explore some examples. “The Serper Method,™”  is an intervention that supports memory, conversational skills, and social skills for persons with cognitive loss, speech limitations and/or dementia using an interactive workbook/computer program.  Participants build upon their cognitive abilities as they engage in moderately challenging, interesting and relevant learning activities. This program is designed for minimum frustration and the activities reinforce social strategies, enhance conversation and stimulate discussion.

The “Cypress Alternative” at Cypress Palms Assisted Living in Largo, Florida has partnered with the Parkinson’s Association to offer a three-pronged approach to enhancing the lives of residents with Parkinson’s Disease. Education of staff occurs using a 9-module training program called The Parkinson Care Series, provided by the Association. The program is tailored to each staff person’s role in the provision of care. Exercise and Wellness offers targeted group exercise and social programs twice-a-week to fit the needs of each Parkinsonian. Some residents take-it-on by riding a recumbent bike around the campus! Support is provided through monthly group meetings to help cope with the day-to-day challenges of Parkinson’s Disease. Residents gain a sense of achievement and control over life changes.

Engaging Aging supports a new trend that is emerging as we explore ways to meaningfully enrich the lives of older adults. The possibilities can be endless if we strive to balance creativity, collaboration and out-of-the box thinking with excellent support systems to “care” for the whole older adult.

“Hello In There”

  By lonp | October 23, 2012 - 10:07 am |
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By: John Prine, a member of the Country Music Song Writers’ Hall of Fame, now 66, he wrote this poignant song when he was 25 years old.  Fourty- one years and 25 albums later, he is still performing.

 

This video goes to the heart of the reality of aging.  Click on URL to view the video. (more…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RfwGkplB_sY

 

Surplus Safety: A Symposium To Redefine Risk

  By lonp | October 16, 2012 - 4:42 pm |
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by: Carmen Bowman - owner of the consulting, training and public speaking business Edu-Catering: Catering Education for Compliance and Culture Change, turning her former role of regulator to educator. Carmen was a Colorado state surveyor for nine years and is a former policy analyst with CMS.  Reprinted from The Green House Project Blog, Oct. 15, 2012

Drs. Judah Ronch, Dean of the Erickson School of Aging, and Dr. William Thomas, founder of the Eden Alternative and Green House Project, have coined a new term and developed a new concept called surplus safety. Instead of risk meaning the possibility that only something bad might happen, they teach that the real definition of risk is the possibility of an unanticipated outcome. (more…)

They further explain that there are two kinds of risk, upside and downside. Downside risk is an outcome that is worse than expected and upside risk is an outcome that is better than expected. They point out that our obsession with downside risk unfortunately leads to the taking away of any chance of upside risk for those living in long term care environments and that we prevent outcomes better than expected (upside risk) because we our obsessed with minimizing the risk of a worse outcome.

Dr. Thomas as a physician and Dr. Ronch as a psychologist point out that no other part of the human life cycle allows this removal of upside risk. For instance, we do not restrain toddlers as they try to learn to walk because they might fall. Not too many people talk about our development and growth at an older age but thankfully they do. Each advocates that our human development includes a balance of both upside risk and down side risk.

The current landscape of safety where the current conception of risk includes only downside risk – in which harm may come to elders if they attempt certain activities such as getting out of bed – has resulted in very restrictive policies and practices, such as bed and chair alarms. Many safety measures, such as alarms, are designed with only downside risk management in mind i.e. preventing falls. However, the upside risk of preserving one’s ability to continue walking and to keep their balance and strength are not evaluated. Nor is the other downside risk of losing these abilities talked about. Nor is the quality of life considered according to the person of being immobilized by an alarm or agitated or isolated. Therefore, there is a strong need to look at upside risk management in addition to the traditional focus of managing downside risk

Patients at the Crossroads

  By lonp | October 1, 2012 - 12:12 pm |
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by Samueli Institute in partnership with Annie Appleseed Project, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CCAL, Creative Health Care Management, Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing, and VA Health Care.

The current policy and practice focus on patient-centered care (PCC) accentuates a growing concern that Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) processes, protocols and policies have not been developed based on patient priorities or with sufficient patient input. The many models of care that claim to be patient-centered (such as Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Integrative Medicine (IM)) were developed as discipline or context specific models. Where are the synergies between EBM, IM and patient-centered models of care? Are patient priorities and desired outcomes the driving force in their development and decision-making? To be patient-centered, health care processes must successfully place patient prioritized evidence and outcomes as the key drivers of practice, education, research and policy. (more…)

However discipline or institutional specific priorities (not patient priorities) are often the drivers of practice, education, research and policy. How do we assure that patient input and control is integral to the type of evidence that research produces? How can we assess whether patient needs and individual circumstances are being met in practice? How do we assure that patient caring and healing is part of medical care delivery, not just treatments that profit the system? How do we integrate evidence-based complementary medicine practices into the structure and process of care? What do we do when patient needs and preferences conflict with current evidence-based recommendations? Which take priority? This symposium will seek to address these and other questions that are at the crossroads of PCC, EBM, and IM and provide a forum for patient and family input at every step.

Samueli Institute and its partners have organized a conference to be held Nov. 8th and 9th at The Hilton in Old Town Alexandria, VA to examine Reconciling Patient-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Practice and Integrative Medicine.  To register for the conference go to www.SamueliInstitute.org/crossroads.

Make Your Home Safer to Prevent Falls

  By lonp | September 4, 2012 - 4:24 pm |
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by:  Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC, President Fast Forward Consulting

Would you allow your child to wander outside alone, in the dark, without supervision? The answer to this question is inevitably “no.” However, for some if this question was replaced with “parent” the answer immediately changes to “yes.” But as parents get older, they may need protection too, even from things that seem the norm.

As we age, simple tasks that never seemed challenging or frightening can suddenly become a difficult part of our day. In fact, the chance of a senior citizen becoming physically or cognitively impaired in their live is 2 out of every 3! So it is vital that their homes are safe and free of hazards that are easy to overlook and there are several ways to do so. Some examples are: (more…)

· Telephones should be in each main room, and should be low enough so they can be reached from the floor in case of a fall.

· Keep a working flashlight on the nightstand; check the batteries periodically.

· Put eye-level decals or reflector tap on glass and screen doors.

· Remove throw rugs from any high traffic areas.

· Replace glass shower doors with unbreakable plastic or shower curtains (which should be changed every six months.)

· Fix the height of the bed so it is easier to get out of.

· Use unbreakable dishes in the kitchen.

There are many other ways similar to the ones above that will help you safe-proof the home. This planning doesn’t need to be as complicated, and in fact, we can take simple, commonsense steps along the way to help ourselves or our loved ones live a more fruitful, independent life during their elderly years.

Following these senior safety guidelines will help you keep key areas such as the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and outside secure. Prevention steps may seem simple, but they are often easily overlooked. Unfortunately, at 80 years old, over half of seniors fall annually. Making your or your parent’s home safe shouldn’t be delayed. Review these senior safety steps with your loved ones to ensure that their own home is safe and everyone can enjoy their peace of mind.

Boomer Special: Remain in Your Home – Retirement Community Provides Services for Fee

  By lonp | August 8, 2012 - 1:21 pm |
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by: Sue Thoms – Grand Rapids-based reporter covering health and medical stories for MLive Media Group and The Grand Rapids Press

Aging baby boomers who might consider a retirement community but don’t want to move out of their homes are the target for a new program offered by Porter Hills.

For an upfront membership fee and monthly payments, the program provides all the services needed for home care, ranging from help with everyday tasks to skilled nursing care.

Called Avenues by Porter Hills, the program is designed to deliver the continuing care services of a retirement community to a client’s home — and at a lower cost than if the client bought a home on campus. (more…)

According to a 2005 AARP survey, 89 percent of older adults prefer to remain in their homes as they age. Porter Hills’ new program aims to help that group “avoid the worry of ‘Who is going to take care of me?’” said JoAnn Abraham, vice president of marketing at Porter Hills.

“Porter Hills for years has provided assistance for people in what is a life-lease kind of arrangement in which people pay an upfront fee to come into care,” said Larry Yachcik, the chief executive officer of Porter Hills Retirement Communities and Services. Residents move into an independent living apartment or house and, if their health declines, move into assisted living, long-term care or hospice care.

The new program is “altogether different from that,” Yachcik said. “We can probably provide at-home care for the rest of their natural life and not ever have to go into a nursing home or assisted living  home.”

Only 12 similar programs existed in the country before Porter Hills launched Avenues on July 1, Yachcik said. The programs are known in the industry as continuing-care retirement communities “without walls,” according to a Wall Street Journal article. Depending on the services included, they can be an alternative to long-term care insurance.

Clients must be relatively healthy to sign up for the Porter Hills program, and they are expected to keep existing health insurance.

A registered nurse who serves as a wellness coordinator will assess the new clients’ diet and nutrition and analyze their home’s safety.

“That person is what we call their new best friend,” Abraham said.

If a client becomes ill or injured, the nurse arranges for home-care services, such as meals, rehab care and transportation. Telemonitoring might be provided to track blood pressure, glucose levels or other health indicators. Members might take part in adult day care programs. Skilled nursing care could be provided up to 24 hours a day.

If clients require care in a nursing home or assisted living facility, they would move into Porter Hills at no extra charge, Yachcik said. But he expects that to be a rare event.  A similar program in Ohio has not had any clients move into residential care.

Like long-term care insurance, the cost of the service varies, based on a person’s age and health.

Comparing costs

Jim Preston, a Porter Hills board member who said he is considering the program, discussed the cost estimates he received. A healthy 68-year-old, he would pay about $48,000 up front and make $350 monthly payments the rest of his life. In 10 years, that would cost him about $90,000.

By comparison, nursing home care costs on average $75,000 a year, according to the AARP. The unknown factor, of course, is what health care needs loom in the future.

Preston and his wife, Marie, 66, said they like the idea of staying in the Cascade Township home they built 35 years ago. And they would appreciate the security of fixing a large percent of their costs in advance.

“The biggest deterrent is giving up that money from your portfolio – taking that investment and putting it into a different investment,” Preston said.

“It’s our kid’s inheritance,” said Marie.

An investment adviser, Preston said the cost has to be considered as part of an overall financial picture. And from Porter Hills’ view, the selling point of the plan is that it can preserve members’ nest eggs.

A range of programs

Porter Hills, which serves nearly 1,000 residents in nine communities in Kent County, has not yet enrolled its first members in Avenues. It is marketing the program through small group meetings with a goal is to enroll 24 clients the first year, Abraham said.

Avenues is one of several new programs the retirement community has launched recently. In October, it joined with the Dominican Sisters to create Marywood Circle Home Health. In January, it formed Emmanuel Hospice with St. Ann’s and Clark Retirement Community.