Strategies for infusing well-being (part 2)

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Long Term Living

Promoting Physical Well Being

Encourage residents to walk to the dining room and use regular chairs during meals

Allow residents to assist with self-care transfers, dressing, grooming, and bathing

Have residents help with simple chores (e.g., putting away their laundry, making their beds, and straightening up their rooms)

Develop specific exercise programs targeting strength, balance, and flexibility as well as sessions for those who must sit and for those who can stand

Start an afternoon walking club and encourage residents to join

Use the Wii or Wii Fit

Promoting Social Well Being in Part 3

Strategies for infusing well-being

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here is interesting information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia articles and activities

Long Term Living
Part 1

You can eliminate barriers to physical, social, and mental well-being
by Pamela E. Toto, MS, OTR/L, BCG, FAOTA and Laurel Cargill Radley, MS, OTR/L
What do you think of when you hear the term “well-being”? Does it imply happiness? Do we need perfect health to obtain it? The concept of well-being is certainly not new; however, increased use of the term to define health and measure quality of life has perpetuated a new focus on well-being in healthcare service delivery. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines well-being as a general term that encompasses physical, mental, and social aspects. WHO further suggests that in order to reach a state of complete well-being, “…an individual or group must be able to identify and realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment.” Well-being is recognized as a direct strategy to promote health.

But it is not a starry-eyed concept. It can be real for anyone of any age. A strong body of research supports that persons of all ages can benefit from activities targeted to help meet well-being needs. Key elements are:

The need for sufficient daily physical activity to promote physical well-being

A balance in the number and types of daily activity to sustain mental well-being

Opportunities to engage in meaningful interaction with others to facilitate social well-being

For older adults who experience chronic health conditions, need daily assistance with care, and reside in a long-term care setting, achieving well-being may seem to be an impossible task. In addition to cognitive and/or physical factors that may limit participation, residents in these settings are generally dependent on the formal resources available within the facility and the people who care for them. How can these resources be maximized?

Strategies to Promote Physical Well-Being in Part 2

Penguin marches into Mitchell

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Beacon Herald

Posted By Paul Cluff, STAFF REPORTER

Leave it to the hometown guy who won the Stanley Cup to sum up the excitement only the greatest trophy in sports can conjure up.

"It's the march of the Penguins," Jay Heinbuck said while balancing the Stanley Cup on his shoulder.

The director of amateur scouting for the Pittsburgh Penguins brought the top prize in the National Hockey League home for a day and he shared it with just about everyone in town.

"I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, I was just rolling around so excited about this day. I was fortunate enough this year to win the Stanley Cup and that was such an awesome feeling, and I thought here is my opportunity to bring it (here)."

Mr. Heinbuck popped into a few downtown stores before bringing the trophy to the home of his cousin, Jack Fowler. Mr. Heinbuck and friends played road hockey and welcomed friends from the community for photo ops.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, I'm glad I got the day off work," said Craig Harris, who brought wife Meghan and son Calum to see the legendary trophy. "It is the genuine article, you can see all the dents in it."

Jodi Heinbuck said her husband had a list of invited friends but word soon spread and people went to watch some road hockey on Napier Street.

Mr. Fowler drove a classic fire truck through the town and before a cruise down Huron Street, they made stops at the Lions Pool and Mitchell Nursing Home.

"Jay is a good friend of some of the residents," said Cheryl Davidson, activity director at the nursing home.

"I couldn't believe when they told us at breakfast the Cup.....read all of Penguin marches into Mitchell

The Alzheimer's School

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Alzheimer's and Dementia Weekly



A Mentor and student together at The Intergenerational School

Volunteers with Alzheimer's pair up
with young students for new study.

Here is a transcript of part of their story

Transcript

Ramona: "It is not scientists but local charter school students getting international attention for their Alzheimer's research. Now they just received an award in Singapore. The Intergenerational School paired up young students with senior volunteers suffering from mild-to-moderate dementia. Education reporter Kim Wheeler says they found both generations benefited from their time together."

Kim: "Dianne Leatherberry treasures her time mentoring students at the Intergenerational School."

Dianne Leatherberry, Mentor: "I feel really good about what I am doing because I feel like I am contributing to something."

Kim: "Mrs. Leatherberry's students know that sometimes she forgets things. That's OK with them."

Dianne: I think that's helped me get more comfortable with my memory issues, not so much that I am remembering better but that I am accepting it better."

Kim: "Back in 2007 they started a study at this K-8 charter school to see whether volunteering in a classroom like this can improve the quality of life of those suffering from Alzheimer's. Daniel George is a doctoral candidate at Oxford University. He conducted the research."

Daniel George: "What people said over and over again is that they just enjoyed the presence of kids. They appreciate the affection of children. They felt it was cognitively stimulating. It helped reduce stress for them."

A closer look at dealing with Dementia

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By Jena Johnson -

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - It's a disease that affects more than five million Americans and the numbers are growing. Dementia causes various stages of memory loss and confusion, that's why nursing home staff believe safety is vital.

Juli Cook has been working with dementia patients for 24 years. "People with dementia will many times try to leave and go home," said Cook, Director of Admissions/Marketing at Pinecrest Retirement Center.

It's what she refers to as "elopement." She said the state requires dementia care programs certain safety procedures, like a secured key pad. "If they do wander off, they can't leave and put themselves in danger," said Cook.

Down the road, at Southland Health Care Center, 70% of their residents suffer from dementia. "It's our job to know where our patients are, what they are doing, so that we're able to meet their needs," said Gloria Bean, RN at Southland Health Care Center.

In both nursing homes, you have to punch a code to get in and out of the unit. "Of course the staff checks on the resident on a regular basis and there's another whole procedure in case a resident is missing and a whole protocol that you have to follow if that ever arises," said Cook.

There are different stages of dementia. Some nursing homes evaluate the seriousness of the disease, to determine if the home meets the patients' needs. "For those residents that...... read more about dealing with Dementia

Putting to rest fear of `a home'

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals, here is some interesting information

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

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Read about the Top Ten Nursing Home Niceties

Star.com

Many seniors can live out their days in enriched environment

Judy Steed
Special to the Star



It's a fact that most of us dread "ending up" in a nursing home.

It's a fear I overcame recently when Irene Borins Ash and her husband Irv took me to see three "good" nursing homes in the Toronto area. (They could have shown me 20, but I didn't have the time.)

They introduced me to three elders who live in long-term care: Earl Albrecht, 74, a retired Lutheran minister who has multiple sclerosis and gets around in a wheelchair at a Leisureworld nursing home; Maureen Hutchinson, 89, a retired librarian living at West Park Extendicare, where she is president of the Residents' Council for everyone living in long-term care in Ontario; and Bob Ransom, 85, the president of the Residents' Council at the Westbury, a Chartwell Seniors Housing facility.

Irene targeted me after my Atkinson Fellowship articles, the original Boomer Tsunami series, appeared in the Star. She noticed my admiration for the lively life in Swedish and Danish nursing homes, where the focus is on what you can do, and she wanted me to know that my concern about the "dead-head" existence of seniors in Ontario long-term care was not helping aging boomers already apprehensive about their future.

"People shouldn't be terrified of nursing homes," she says.

But they are.

"Shoot me in the head first, just don't put me in a nursing home," one of Irv's colleagues told him.

But there's another side to the story, and that's the focus of Borins Ash's book, Aging Is Living: Myth-Breaking Stories From Long-Term Care (Dundurn Press). Albrecht, Hutchinson and Ransom are featured in the book.

"I hate this place, I want to go home," Sandy Albrecht recalls her husband saying when he moved into Leisureworld, on Ellesmere Ave. near Kennedy Rd., in 2003. But she was unable to care for him at their beloved country house.

"Earl couldn't be moved by the PSW (personal support worker) – we would have had to get a power lift – and I couldn't shovel the driveway for the PSW to get in," Sandy says.

She moved to the city, to live with their daughter, to help look after her two grandchildren. Earl adjusted to Leisureworld, "and I'm still adjusting," he says. "Adapting to a new environment can be stimulating."

Initially, Earl led church services and did pastoral visits when residents were dying. Now he writes on his computer and gets involved with committees.

The hard part is making – and losing – friends. The average length of stay for people in long-term care is read all of Putting to rest fear of a nursing home

Lounge program benefits Village Manor residents with dementia

Activities directors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals,here are some things that may work for you.

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementia articles and activities,

Special to Reflector-Chronicle

Editor’s note: First names are used in this article for privacy purposes.



According to the nursing staff at Village Manor, 705 N. Brady, Sue, a resident suffering from dementia, does not leave her room. She is not interested in group activities, and does not interact with other residents at the nursing home.

Dementia residents like Sue have a short attention span and often experience boredom and disinterest. This is common behavior for people experiencing the advanced stages of dementia. Other advanced dementia traits can be agitation, combativeness, restlessness, and wandering.

“Sometimes it is difficult to engage these residents, even for just a few minutes,” said Jan Mai, RN, special care unit staff educator. “And with group activities, it is rare that we have every resident on the same page at the same time.”

Last year, Mai and other Village Manor staff attended a training workshop on Alzheimer’s and dementia and learned about the lounge program, which has seen success with Alzheimer’s and dementia residents in other nursing homes. As a result, Village Manor has started a lounge program on its special care unit that provides individual and small group activities to all residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

A lounge room has strength-based stations that are specific to the individual’s level of functioning and interests. These stations are tables the resident can visit with props they may hold and use. The props are everyday familiarities that engage the mind and may include jewelry, sewing materials, tools, and puzzles. The majority of residents in Village Manor’s special care unit have advanced dementia. “Sorting” stations are the most beneficial for people in this stage, Mai said.

“These sorting activities are ideal because it helps with the ‘rummaging’ behaviors that are common with people who have advanced dementia. Sometimes residents will attempt to go into areas they don’t belong, such as other residents’ rooms, and rummage through things,” Mai said. “The lounge area gives them a safe place to do this, and it lessens boredom.”

After collecting donated items and shopping in thrift stores, Mai set up three sorting stations- jewelry, sewing, and cooking. She hopes to create a table that would engage male residents with materials such as sand paper, hand tools, nuts and bolts. She also would like to add soft background music.

A nurse or nursing assistant, called a “butterfly,” is to guide the resident from station to station. The butterfly is to be very quiet and provide few cues. If the resident loses interest in one station, the butterfly will show them the next station and see if it will peak their interest. It is up to the resident when they choose to leave.

Sue approached the “cooking” station with Mai and looked over the measuring spoons, pots, and other assorted kitchen ware. Mai held out a colorful apron that women of Sue’s generation would have worn and asked her if she thought it was pretty. Sue replied that she thought it was pretty.

Life enhancement coordinator Lynette Hill picked up a cookbook by Billie Oakley and showed it to Sue.

“Do you remember when ‘Kitchen Klatter’ was on the radio? Billie Oakley hosted that show. This is one of her cookbooks.”

After a moment of thought, Sue said yes, she did remember the show.

After a few minutes, Sue tells Hill that she is ready to leave. Hill escorts her back to her room, and is surprised when Sue holds a brief conversation with another resident in the hallway.

“We just witnessed a miracle,” Hill said. “That is the most engagement we’ve had with Sue since she started living here. I have never seen her talk with another resident.”

When Velda, another resident with dementia, enters the room, she is guided to the....read all of Lounge program benefits residents with dementia