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 attend
Happy Passover
The Cedars wishes you a happy and joyous Passover
Seder Dinners April 6 and April 7 at 5:30PM at The Cedars
Please call for reservations 207-221-7000
Best Retirement Community: The Value of an Elder Teacher
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 from the UNE physician’s assistant. Residents were interviewed and provided their input on areas of improved medical treatment and care. The goal of the visits was to refine the students’ assessment and patient interviewing skills and learn about a resident’s perspective on health care.
According to Joseph Wolfberg, MS-OMOC, UNE faculty, “We are trying to influence tomorrow’s health care providers to develop resident/patient-centered care, where the patient is seen as a person – not merely an illness. These ‘elder-teachers’ are vital to teaching our physician’s assistants what a patient values in the practitioner-patient relationship.”
The residents had nothing but great things to say about the students and their attention to detail. They were reported to show genuine concern for the resident’s well-being and had great ideas on what to do to improve their health.
The physician’s assistants in training will also do a clinical rotation at the Hoffman Center at The Sam L. Cohen Rehabilitation Center and Skilled Care Center later this year.
Retirement Living: Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
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 and advice for waking up refreshed. By recording the number of times and the hour that you awoke during the number of night and what the reason was for being awake, a picture of your sleep habits become clearer. The students look at how much time you spend in bed during the day while you’re not asleep, your activity level, the time you go to bed, how long it takes to fall asleep and how many/how long of naps you take.
Once the log is completed, life styles can be adapted to promote a better night sleep. Some of the adjustments that residents will likely find that they need to make after the completion of this course is to adjust the timing of their medicine, look at their night time snacking, adjust the timing of their daily nap, increase daily activity level and use their bed only for sleeping to help train the body. When all is said and done, The Osher Inn at The Cedars will be sleeping much more soundly thanks to this partnership with UNE. For more information on The Cedars call Kelly Prucnal at 207-221-7100.
Best Senior Care: Intergenerational Programs
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 students
meet with the same residents each month so a therapeutic relationship can be
made 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, the children have been developing some wonderful relationships with the residents. The interactions are a joy for everyone to see, and seem to benefit both the young and young at heart, in some surprising and unexpected ways. We look forward to
seeing the children and residents alike grow and blossom through this school year
from this wonderful program!
The Friends School is located on MacWorth Island in Falmouth and offers education from pre-school through grade eight. They pride themselves on emphasizing high
standards for independent thinking and personal integrity. The school’s values focus on simplicity, peace, community, equality, stewardship and truth.
Best Senior Living: Keep Your Mind Active
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 an
interactive conversation, you are changing the circuitry of your brain because
the activity requires the nerve cells in your brain to fire, thereby using energy
and delivering more blood flow and oxygen to your brain tissue.
Members at The Atrium at The Cedars not only enjoy the many lectures and educational
series offerings, such as: Exploring Mind, Body and Spirit Through Creative Writing; Books That Have Made History, Books That Can Change Your Life – Plato, Phaedo and Dante, The Divine Comedy; and our many current event and discussion groups. In addition, many are enrolled in courses at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Southern Maine. A sample of spring semester offerings at OLLI include: Revisit the Lost Generation in The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises; Making Tracks: A Guide for Women Exploring New Terrain; Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War; Chess for Seniors: Didactic and Performance, and many more.
Dr. Toga goes on to say that the amount of brain energy it takes to learn something new
is far greater than the amount it takes for you to do something you’re already good at. All experts agree, however, that the best scenario is to be active throughout life, not just in old age. For more information on keeping your mind active, contact our Lifestyles Director Sharon Leddy-Smart at 207-221-7100.
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 vehicle? These, too, are red flags.
Start Talking
After your assessment, you need to have a talk with your dad about your concerns, but don’t sound alarmed. If you begin with a dramatic outburst like “Dad, you’re going to kill someone!” you’re likely to trigger resistance. Start by gently expressing that you’re worried about his safety.
For tips on how to talk to your dad about this touchy topic, the Hartford Financial Services Group and MIT AgeLab offers some guides titled “Family Conversations with Older Drivers” and “Family Conversations about Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia & Driving” that can help, along with a online seminar called “We Need to Talk” that was produced by AARP. To access these free resources, visit safedrivingforalifetime.com.
Like many elderly seniors, your dad may not even realize his driving skills have slipped. If this is the case, consider signing him up for an older driver refresher course through AARP (aarp.org/drive, 888-227-7669), your local AAA or a driving school.
By becoming aware of his driving limitations, your dad may be able to make some simple adjustments – like driving only in daylight or on familiar routes – that can help keep him safe and driving longer. Or, he may decide to hang up the keys on his own.
Refuses To Quit
If, however, you believe your dad has reached the point that he can no longer drive safely, but he refuses to quit, you have several options. One possible solution is to suggest a visit to his doctor who can give him a medical evaluation, and if warranted, “prescribe” that he stops driving. Older people will often listen to their doctor before they will listen to their own family.
If that doesn’t do it, ask him to get a comprehensive driving evaluation done by a driver rehabilitation specialist – this can cost several hundred dollars. A driving evaluation will test your dad’s cognition, vision and motor skills, as well as his on-road driving abilities. To locate a specialist in your area, contact the Association of Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (driver-ed.org, 866-672-9466) or the American Occupational Therapy Association (aota.org/older-driver).
If he still refuses to move to the passenger seat, call your local Department of Motor Vehicles to see if they can help. Or, call in an attorney to discuss with your dad the potential financial and legal consequences of a crash or injury. If all else fails, you may just have to take away his keys.
Arrange Transportation
Once your dad stops driving he’s going to need other ways to get around, so help him create a list of names and phone numbers of family, friends and local transportation services that he can call on. To locate community transportation services call the Area Agency on Aging. Call 800-677-1116 for contact information.
Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. To contact him visit SavvySenior.org. Used by permission.
Best Retirement Living: True Stories
Debby Paley, Volunteer at The Cedars
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 that
happens three times a year at my daughter’s high school. Everyone (teenagers,
parents, friends, teachers, the principal) is invited to stand up and tell a
story. My other inspiration was my mother, Cabot Paley. She loved to listen to
stories 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 and
share them. It’s fun and a great way to get to know things you would never have
otherwise known about people you see every day.
There are a couple of differences between this and any other kind of get-together.
One is that we have a theme for each meeting. We think of the theme at the end
of the meeting, and then you think of something in your experience that the
theme touches on, for the next meeting. For example, two of the themes we’ve used are “Danger” and “the Kindness of Strangers”. Our stories have sometimes been funny,
sometimes sad, sometimes suspenseful, sometimes almost magical, and sometimes
just interesting in their simple truth.
The other difference is that the story telling is not usually a conversation. We
take turns and give the speaker the floor while he or she speaks. (Of course,
we’re very informal: we make exceptions to this rule, and we always talk in
between stories. it’s all part of the fun.)
Members at The Atrium can participate during the second Thursday of each month at 4:00pm in the Living Room.
P.S. It’s okay if you don’t want to speak. Good listeners are welcome!
Smart Moves
You’re ready to simplify your life. But where do you begin?
Get advice and insider tips from our team of experts on downsizing, selling your home and a making safe, stress-free move.
Please join us Thursday, March 29 at 11AM
Kindly RSVP to 221-7100 by March 22
Best Senior Living: Recreation in the Neighborhood
Live Animal Show at The Cedars
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 calendars now focus on more spontaneous programs that are less structured than in the past. The recreation calendars reflect fewer programs because we are going to start having more unplanned, spur-of-the-moment activities on each of our neighborhoods.
We will continue to offer two structured activities a day, for example our music programs, food programs, outings, floral design classes, etc. But the times in between these programs will be for activities that the residents themselves want to do in the moment, such as baking cookies, exercise classes, playing cards, knitting, gardening, and going outside for fresh air. We encourage our residents to tell us what they want to do!
Our main goal is to tailor our daily programs to the needs of the residents on each neighborhood. This will give the residents more choices in their daily recreation.
This transformation will take time, commitment and patience as we change our programs. But we are confident about improving the quality of life for your loved one.