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The Value of an Elder Teacher: Priceless By Diane Vigue, RN, Resident Wellness Manager, The Osher Inn assisted living at The Cedars, southern Maine’s premier retirement community. Many colleges and universities training health professionals use an integrative approach that incorporates classroom learning, labs for skill development and hands-on training. The Cedars retirement community has always opened its doors to provide clinical education and training to future health care providers. Today we affiliate with several schools to teach various health care disciplines such (physician’s assistants, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech and language pathologists, social service workers, registered dieticians and dietary technicians). The staff and our residents at The Cedars have played an important role as teachers. Osher Inn residents, in collaboration with the University of New England, recently participated in a unique training program. This past semester, several Osher Inn residents volunteered to be “elder teachers” to a group of students...
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Best Retirement Living: Sleep Study at The Osher Inn Assisted Living by Katie Druan, Life Enrichment Coordinator at The Osher Inn A good night’s sleep will cure most anything that ails you. It is a common experience that the way a person feels during the day is in direct relationship to the amount and quality of sleep that they had the night prior. To explore the topic further, The Osher Inn Assisted Living at The Cedars hosted Occupational Therapy students from the University of New England for a four session program that involved residents keeping a simple sleep log and having interactive discussions with the students about what can be done to improve the quality of sleep. The program is optional and open to all Osher Inn residents. After recording in their log, residents will have a better idea of their individual sleep patterns as well as learn tips...
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Partnering with the Friends School of Portland by Kimberly Doyon, Life Enrichment Coordinator at The Cedars The Life Enrichment Department at The Cedars is partnering with the Friends School of Portland to offer an exciting new, intergenerational program for the residents at the Skilled Care Center at The Cedars. On the first Wednesday of every month, 15 first and second grade students from Friends have been visiting with our nursing home residents to share the lessons they are learning in school. Examples include reading one on one, singing, drama skits and puppet shows, and games. Our goal has been to assure the same studentsmeet with the same residents each month so a therapeutic relationship can bemade and fostered. These friendly visits started in January, with each student arriving with a story that they had written about their lives which they then read to a resident. Over the past few months,...
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Members and Residents at The Cedars are finding that going back to school has its advantages. It allows them to pursue interests they’ve always had or to learn something new that they were curious about but never had time for. There is the added motivation, however, from studies that suggest learning may actually help them stave off cognitive decline such as Alzheimer’s disease. A recent article in the New York Times, Exercising an Aging Brain (March 8, 2012), states that many studies have found exercising the brain and being mentally active are associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Arthur Toga, a professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles explains that by having aninteractive conversation, you are changing the circuitry of your brain becausethe activity requires the nerve cells in your brain to fire, thereby using energyand delivering more blood flow and oxygen to your...
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How to Help Elderly Drivers Limit or Stop Driving For many families, telling an elderly parent it’s time to give up the car keys is a very sensitive and difficult topic. While there’s no one simple way to handle this issue, here are a number of tips and resources you can try to help ease your dad away from driving. Take a Ride To get a clear picture of your dad’s driving abilities, the first thing you need to do is take a ride with him watching for problem areas. For example: Does he drive too slow or too fast? Does he tailgate or drift between lanes? Does he have difficulty seeing, backing up or changing lanes? Does he react slowly? Does he get distracted or confused easily? Also, has your dad had any fender benders or tickets lately, or have you noticed any dents or scrapes on his...
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True Stories by Debby Paley, Volunteer at The Atrium Independent Retirement living at The Cedars In our True Stories group, we take turns telling stories from our lives. It turns out that story-telling as a social activity is making a comeback. There’s even a story-telling hour on Public Radio called “The Moth,” where people stand up at a microphone and tell their true stories. Two things got me interested in this. The first was the story-telling event thathappens three times a year at my daughter’s high school. Everyone (teenagers,parents, friends, teachers, the principal) is invited to stand up and tell astory. My other inspiration was my mother, Cabot Paley. She loved to listen tostories and to tell stories herself. She could weave an interesting story out of just about any everyday occurrence. We all have stories to tell, and in the True Stories group, we simply sit andshare them....
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Recreation in the Neighborhoods By Kimberly Doyon, Director of Life Enrichment “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead The Cedars is at the forefront of an important cultural change, transforming our resident wings into person-centered “neighborhoods.” Recreation therapy plays an important role in this new model. Neighborhoods are distinct, home-like environments with central dining and activities rooms. Each wing/neighborhood will be staffed by cross-trained clinical and non-clinical staff. This enables our staff to get to know your loved ones personally, which in turn meets their unique needs more successfully. Because we know that residents in facilities with this culture have better quality of life, we are moving towards a more person-centered approach. And this means we are changing the way we plan, design and implement our daily activities. Our recreation...
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Life in the Neighborhood: Your Life Story Matters Kim Doyon, Life Enrichment Coordinator at The Cedars Life stories recognize the uniqueness of each person. Today the development and use of life stories is one important key to delivering person centered care at The Skilled Care Center. The Cedars staff believes that by placing the resident and their biography at the heart of care, we can better impact quality of life and care for our residents. Life story work is an activity that reviews the past experiences, life events and routines, and creates a biography of the person. The life story helps us understand the resident and will help to promote relationships and facilitate delivery of care. Many of our life enrichment activities are based on life stories and what residents deem as important. The Cedars asks the family members for help with the development of a life story for...
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Heart Healthy Tips from Sharon By Sharon Leddy-Smart, Lifestyle Coordinator at The Atrium, independent living at The Cedars The American Heart Association has long appointed February as Heart Healthy Month and Sharon Leddy-Smart, Lifestyle Director and wellness expert, is sharing her tips for staying healthy and happy in 2012. Eat Right: We all live longer and stronger with a healthy diet. Be sure to focus on whole grains and fiber; breads, fruits and vegetables are also great options. And don’t forget your calcium and protein needs by enjoying foods like milk, yogurt, cheese, beans, fish, and eggs. Drink Your Water: The American Medical Association recommends drinking six to eight glasses of water daily, especially with increased fiber intake and exercise. Keeping our blood and tissues hydrated also helps to lubricate the joints and moisten the lungs to allow for healthy breathing, which all contributes to slowing down the effects...
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The staff and management at The Cedars have a constant eye towards providing excellent care in a compassionate environment. Making this commitment to ourselves and the community requires continual insight and self-evaluation. For the past ten years, The Cedars has held an annual Family Forum which brings together the families and friends of our Skilled Care residents. The Forum creates the opportunity for us to hear from our family members what is working well for their loved ones and where we can make improvements. The general topics of discussion stem from results of a survey that are sent to residents and families in advance of the event. Through thoughtful design, we ensure that the Forum facilitators create an open and encouraging atmosphere for discussion. The feedback and suggestions we receive are highly valued and ultimately incorporated into our planning processes and program development. This year, follow up meetings with...
