Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
Ken Murray, Director of Volunteer Services at the Southern Maine Agency on Aging, gave the keynote address at the 2012 Volunteer Recognition Dinner at The Cedars. About 50 volunteers attended, including a group from The Atrium, The Cedars’ independent living facility. According to Murray, success after retirement depends on staying healthy, which includes healthy eating habits, exercise, lifelong learning, a social network, and a sense of purpose. Volunteering, he noted, can help provide that sense of purpose for seniors. “Serving others helps them, it helps us, and it helps our community – and it is a very American value,” he said. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 26% of U.S. citizens do volunteer work each year, at an average of 51 hours per year. (Those 65 and older often provide as much as 96 hours per year!) This adds up to a whopping 8.1 billion hours of...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
Spring Into Fitness and Start Walking Now that spring is officially here, it’s a great time to get outside and get active and healthy. There are plenty of ways to get our heart pumping outside, but one of the easiest ways is to walk or hike. Walking is a low-impact aerobic exercise which helps strengthen our cardiovascular system, keeping our weight at a healthy level and protecting us against diseases such as diabetes and some forms of cancer. Research has shown that the benefits of walking 5 times per week for 30 minutes can helpyou: Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels Improve blood lipid profile Maintain body weight Enhance mental well being Reduce the risk of osteoporosis Reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer Reduce the risk of diabetes For more information on starting a springtime exercise program, contact Sharon Leddy-Smart,...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
We enthusiastically welcome our new chef, Simon Thorpe, to The Atrium at The Cedars. Simon is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York and was an apprentice and chef at several five star restaurants from Chicago to Daytona Beach. He grew up in Liverpool, England and Ontario, Canada, moving to Maine in 1988 where he continued his culinary career with Unum Provident’s Business Catering Services and with another senior living community in New England. Simon joined The Cedars last month but has already made a significant impression. The members are thrilled with Simon’s creativity to date, as he compliments the menu with an assortment of personal specialties, such as his signature Yorkshire pudding, and various seasonal delights. Simon explains that he enjoys talking with the members in the dining room as the evening winds down, “meeting with the members and getting feedback is one of my...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
by Lisa L. Clark, MS, OTR/L, Program Coordinator of Living Well with Dementia “Living Well with Dementia” is a new program being offeredat The Cedars, for people with memory issues. Lisa is an occupational therapist who is the Program Coordinator for Living Well with Dementia. She has thirty years of experience working with people who are over 65. In the course of her career she has also provided services to people with dementia, to help them participate in activities that are meaningful for them. Lisa graduated from the University of New Hampshire with undergraduate and graduate degrees in Occupational Therapy. She has worked in many healthcare settings such as acute rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, dementia care and consultation in Assisted Living, home health services, and acute hospital settings. Lisa has also taught at the University of Southern Maine for over 15 years, in their Occupational Therapy program at the Lewiston-Auburn campus. She...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under News and Events.
Please join us on Thursday April 19 at 11AM for a peek into the past with renowned Maine State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. Kindly RSVP to 221-7100 if you would like to...
Posted in our blog on by Angie& filed under Featured.
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...
