Please join us for an opportunity to talk with our members
and tour our community.
Wednesday February 13, 2012
FMI call 207-221-7100
Best Retirement Community: Living Well with Diabetes
Health and Wellness: November is Diabetes Awareness Month
by Dianne Vigue, Resident Wellness Manager at The Osher Inn, assisted living at The Cedars
Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of frequent urination, frequent thirst and increased hunger.
There are two main types of diabetes that affect seniors. Type I results from the body’s failure to produce insulin and requires the individual to inject insulin or wear and insulin pump. Type II results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly, which used to be called “non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus”. Both are chronic conditions and their accompanying complications can be treated and kept under control with the proper medications, diet, and exercise. Diagnosis is determined by your medical practitioner through a simple blood test.
There are several components to a successful diabetes self-management plan. Hebrew Senior Life and Harvard Medical School suggest the following:
- Monitoring blood glucose levels regularly – This helps patients know how much food to eat, how much exercise to get, and how much medication, including insulin, to take, as well as helping them feel more in control of their disease.
- Following a well-balanced meal plan – Different foods affect blood glucose levels, so planning meals is important. A dietitian can help create personalized meal plans designed to help control blood glucose levels.
- Exercising regularly – 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week can improve blood glucose levels of older adults.
- Taking medications as prescribed – Medications, both oral and injectable, are key to controlling diabetes, and they should be taken exactly as they are prescribed by a physician.
- Losing weight – Nearly 90 percent of diabetics are overweight; studies have shown that weight loss is an essential element in controlling blood glucose levels.
- Checking feet daily – Diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage) can cause cuts, sores and blisters to go unnoticed. Because they heal more slowly in people with diabetes, the risk of infection is greater.
- Visiting your health-care team regularly – Regular visits to a primary care physician and an endocrinologist (a diabetes specialist) can help monitor disease progression and modify disease treatment and management plans. In addition, people with diabetes should see an eye doctor annually and a dentist every six months.
See What Makes Us Shine!
Holiday Tea and Tour at The Atrium at The Cedars
Thursday December 13th, 2012
For more information please call 207-221-7100
Happy Thanksgiving from The Cedars
The Cedars Commmunity wishes you
a bountiful and blessed Thanksgiving
Best Retirement Community: Therapy Award for The Cedars
Angie Hunt, Director at The Cedars and Lisa Clark, Occupational Therapist
The Cedars Retirement Community incorporates wellness into all that we do – for our staff, members and residents. One of our newest outpatient programs, Living Well With Dementia offered from our Sam L. Cohen Rehabilitation Center, is gaining increased recognition. This past weekend, the Maine Occupational Therapy Association (MeOTA), honored our Angie Hunt with their OT Advocate Award, specifically for the work she has done to create Living Well With Dementia. Angie is the Executive Director of the Assisted Living, Rehabilitation Center and Skilled Care at The Cedars.
Here is the letter that was submitted by Lisa Clark, Program Coordinator of Living Well With Dementia, to MeOTA:
Angie (Hunt) is a physical therapist who is the Executive Director of The Cedars in Portland, Maine. The Cedars is a retirement community that offers a continuum of senior living options for elders: Independent Living, Assisted Living, Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care. The Cedars’ philosophy revolves around caring for people in the areas of intellectual, leisure, physical, social, and spiritual health.
Over the past two years Angie has worked with occupational therapists in leading the development of a Living Well With Dementia program at The Cedars – an innovative outpatient wellness program for people with dementia. As Angie has facilitated this project and helped bring it to fruition, she has tirelessly advocated for and recognized the contributions of occupational therapy. She has recognized and encouraged the development of the program from the perspective of the occupational therapy philosophy. Angie has valued the importance of occupational therapy’s emphasis on engagement, meaningfulness, and participation in life activities that are the hallmark of our profession. She holds a strong value of person-centered and ethical care, which makes working with her very rewarding.
Angie’s support of and recognition of occupational therapy has been propelled forward by her incredible energy, upbeat attitude and respect for the importance of the quality of life of elders. Her smile and laugh and contagious positive attitude have all been key contributions in the development of this program. I labeled her my “Yes, let’s do it” Boss! She has honored the profession of occupational therapy by her strong recognition of its significance in our current health care arena, and put it to use in a unique, creative, and valuable program.
I am deeply appreciative of Angie’s embracing this viewpoint in our work together. In thirty years of practice, I have met few people who have her respectful and engaging collaborative style of energizing leadership. There are few people in the state who demonstrate and express the worth of our profession, more enthusiastically than Angie. I hope she is honored for her hard work by being chosen for this award.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa L. Clark, MS, OTR/L
Open House at The Cedars
Please join us
Saturday November 17th from 10AM to noon
Bring your family and discover all that The Cedars has to offer
RSVP 207-221-7100
Best Retirement Community: COPD Awareness
Since November is COPD Awareness Month, the nurses and therapists at The Cedars would like to share some easy tips on ways we can make life easier for someone suffering from this disease.
COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, is an incurable disease that affects the lungs and other parts of our body. The main cause of COPD is cigarette smoke, as well as work-related exposure to inhaled substances. People suffering from COPD have difficulty breathing, primarily due to the fact that their lungs have lost elasticity, which makes inhaling and exhaling very difficult. In addition, increased mucus in the lungs and the body’s decreased ability to transfer oxygen into our blood combine to make it the third leading cause of death in our country.
If you know someone with COPD, here are some suggestions for ways to ease their burden, directly from Deborah Leader, RN at About.com Guide:
- Help Them Quit Smoking. And if you smoke, don’t smoke inside the house or anywhere near someone with COPD.
- Avoid Wearing Heavily-Scented Beauty Products. Perfumes, hairsprays, body lotions with heavy scents can irritate their already inflamed lungs.
- Know What To Do During Breathing Emergencies. Exacerbation of COPD is usually accompanied by difficulty breathing. Here are guidelines for when to call the doctor.
- Encourage Regular Exercise. Exercise helps people with COPD to feel stronger – start slowly and work your way up to longer periods.
- Prepare Healthy Meals and Snacks. To help boost energy and ease breathing, diets rich in fruits and vegetables will help. Here are guidelines for a healthy COPD diet.
- Promote Energy Conservation. Because people with COPD are literally drained of their energy, limiting energy use by staying on one floor, or keeping certain items within reach, will help.
- Allow the Running of the Fan or Air Conditioner. Many people with COPD find that air blowing directly on them makes their breathing easier.
- Use Non-Toxic Cleaning Products. Harsh fumes can aggravate symptoms. Be sure there is enough ventilation when cleaning.
- Improve Your Indoor Air. Air purifiers with HEPA filters can help immensely, as well as getting rid of other chemicals often found in homes. Here are some helpful guidelines for improving indoor air quality.
- Help Spread COPD Awareness. Learn more about the disease, treatment and prevention here.
Best Retirement Community: Senior Artists at The Cedars
How will you spend time during your retirement? Will you delve into a lifelong interest or pursue a new one?
At The Atrium at The Cedars retirement community, the members are mixing the old with the new. First-time endeavors include senior college courses, Tai Chi or yoga classes. For many at The Cedars, a lifelong interest is painting: portraits, landscapes, still life … anything. These members who make up our very own ‘artist’s colony’ just love to paint.
At this week’s Fall Member Art Show, the proof was on the walls. The members living at The Atrium kindly shared their works, and the visitors, staff, and residents were amazed at the talent and perspectives of the residents at The Atrium. As passionate as they are, they were equally distinct. One member’s paintings evoke scenes from children’s literature, while another perfectly depicts Maine winters.
The display provided insight into our members’ life experiences, intense imagination, and most importantly, continued passion for life. These seniors aren’t slowing down – au contraire, they are actively living this next phase of their lives!
Memory Support Group at The Cedars
Our next Memory Support Group for individuals suffering from the early stages of dementia and their families, friends will take place on
Thursday November 8, 2012 at 3:30 PM
FMI please call 207-221-7150
The Cedars Auxiliary Donors Dinner 2012
A Woman of Valor: Celebrating Cathy Cohen’s Wisdom, Generosity and Leadership
By Paige Roth, Development Assistant at The Cedars
Every October, The Cedars Auxiliary hosts an annual Donors Dinner to gather Auxiliary members for a night of fun, food and reflection. The 2012 Donors Dinner was held in honor of Mrs. Cathy B. Cohen, a longtime Auxiliary Board member and volunteer.
Cathy B. Cohen and Family
Cathy retired from The Cedars Auxiliary Board of Directors this spring after decades of service to the Auxiliary, to residents of The Cedars and to the greater Portland community. A registered nurse whose late husband, Charles “Cuddy” Cohen, was a trustee of The Cedars, Cathy joined the Auxiliary Board in 1994, becoming Vice President of Resident Events.
As is tradition, the first segment of Donors Dinner was devoted to Sherry Hour, during which members caught up with old friends, enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and entered to win one of four fabulous raffle prizes – a fox fur trimmed pashmina donated by Dino International Furs, a Coach handbag donated by Zelda Greenspun, a day of beauty donated by Akari Day Spa, or a “night out in Portland” – dinner at Walter’s Restaurant followed by an overnight stay and breakfast for two at the Hilton Garden Inn.
With Cathy Cohen and her family seated at the head table, dinner guests tucked into a delicious meal prepared by The Cedars’ own kitchen and served by volunteer waiters – husbands and sons of Auxiliary members – looking dapper in their bowties. Auxiliary President Suzie Berzinis kicked off the dinner program with a warm welcome for her guests and introduced Rabbi Carolyn Braun, who performed the invocation. Kathryn Callnan, President and CEO of The Cedars, delivered a lovely speech lauding Cathy Cohen’s contributions to The Cedars community and her open, giving spirit. Ms. Callnan went on to read a letter to Cathy Cohen from William L. Caron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Maine Medical Center, who was unable to attend the event but intended to honor Cathy’s career running the operating room there. The audience was treated to a slide show of photographs put together with the help of Cathy’s friends and family. The crowd giggled at black and white images of Cathy as a chubby baby, gasped at her beauty as a young nurse, and smiled knowingly at familiar images of “The Duffettes,” Cathy’s golf team, regulars at the Auxiliary golf tournament since its inception.
It was truly a joyous, satisfying evening for The Cedars Auxiliary. As guests headed out into the October night, all were in agreement that there couldn’t have been a more deserving honoree than Cathy Cohen. Her living example of wisdom, generosity and leadership will be a tough act to follow.
Sherry Hour Sponsors
Rena Levy Becker
Judy Bertram
Suzie Berzinis
Nancy E. Bogg & Mark Kiefner, in memory of Sally Bogg
Eleanor Brainin-O’Marra
Lee Broder
Cathy B. Cohen, in memory of C.A. “Cuddy” Cohen
Phyllis H. Cohen, in honor of Suzie Berzinis and the good work she does for Cedars
Mildred Kaplan Drees
Diane A. Dussault
Ginny & Wayne Ecklund, in honor of Rena & Michael Becker
Dee Emple, in memory of Donna Dionne Hubbard
Katie & Jim Freilinger, in honor of Kathy Callnan
Susan Garson
Elizabeth & Sidney Geller
Renee Givner & Jeff Forbes
Judith & Albert Glickman, in memory of Joseph Brenner
Lynn Goldfarb, in honor of Matthew Goldfarb’s retirement
Marjorie Goodman, in honor of my ten grandchildren
Zelda Greenspun
Sheryl Haas
Candy Henriksson, in memory of Karl and Dolores Henriksson
Fran & Arthur Jacobson, in memory of Stephen Brent Jacobson
Ethel Koocher, in honor of my new great-great granddaughter, Emma Claire
Betsy & Alan Levenson, in honor of our daughter, Suzie Levenson Berzinis
Lisa Meyer
Bonnie Lee Nelson
Mary Pennell Nelson
Bette Novick, in honor of our grandchildren: Henry Max, Jack Ronen, Alexander Remy, Martin Phiroz, and Callie Violet
Doris Pollack
Hilary Rapkin & Will Stiles, in honor of Lenore Rapkin
Lenore Rapkin
Nancy Ravin
Sara Lee Rosen, in memory of Jack Rosen
Cindi Schaab, in honor of Cathy Cohen
Susie Schwartz, in honor of Zelda Greenspun’s 90th birthday
Barbara Shapiro
Tanya Shapiro
Beth Sheppard
Nancy Shuman, in memory of Gertrude Lerman
Janine Ortiz Smestad
Joan Willis, in memory of Stephen Willis
Janie Zimmerman
Dinner Sponsors
Event Sponsors
Zelda Greenspun
And thanks to our great volunteers:
Dee Emple, Chair
Marjorie Ferris
Rena Becker
Rabbi Carolyn Braun
Renee Givner
Candy Henriksson