The Steering Committee at The Cedars gathered for the first step in a two year journey towards Culture Change and the implementation of the Household Model in our long term care and assisted living. Megan Hannon, culture change specialist with our partner, Action Pact, led the committee of 15 staff, management, volunteers from all departments – an additional 10 individuals will rotate through future sessions. Here is a recap of what we learned: We heard about how adults learn, how we need time to talk with each other, to communicate safely, to process and apply new ideas, and to process more. We discovered that through this learning, we will grow our skills AND our attitudes. We explored the Team Leadership Model, and practiced the new roles in this shared leadership approach. We found that each member of the group has a role in leading – we are all group leaders. We delved...
High school senior, Michael Michaelson, has been volunteering at The Cedars since he was a freshman at Waynflete. His grandmother used to drive him in to teach our residents how to use their ipads and computers. “When I first interviewed him to volunteer, he was delightful, but I never thought someone starting out so young would volunteer for so long,” shares Janine Fifield, Volunteer Services Coordinator. “And I never imagined he’d make such huge contributions to our community!” Janine submitted Michael’s name and story to the President’s Volunteer Service Award and was thrilled to find that he was chosen. Over the years, Michael has helped countless residents at The Atrium and The Osher Inn with their simple and not so simple computer challenges. The residents have come to rely on his expertise and gentle approaches. While showing up every week, Michael has also volunteered with Equality Maine, managed three campaigns for city candidates, and kept his grades in...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
The Atrium, independent living at The Cedars, has partnered with Maine Medical Center in a research program under the direction of Dr. Christina Holt, MD called TANGO-Gold: Therapeutic Activity Negates Gait Obstacles: Older Adults Opportunity Learning Dance. TANGO-Gold is a program that uses the Argentinian Tango’s smooth movement, gentle connection and musicality to strengthen for better balance and fitness. Studies have shown dancing tango is good for balance, coordination, feelings of well-being, and connection and many communities have found that the learners want to keep dancing into their nineties. The purpose of the study is to show that tango dance lessons help improve physical and well-being and coordination function in older adults. At The Atrium, experienced dancers and teachers, Emma Holder and Laura Balladur, gave weekly class for our members earlier this spring. Emma and Laura have been teaching together for years, and have developed a great style of...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
Every year, The Cedars has the honor of choosing one volunteer to represent our community as the Volunteer of the Year. With so many volunteers dedicating precious time, compassion and friendship to enrich the lives of our residents and staff – this can be a difficult task! At our recent volunteer recognition dinner, we were pleased to celebrate Lynda Mullen as the Volunteer of the Year, 2016. In 2011, Lynda joined our volunteer team following the loss of her beloved mother. Janine Fifield, Volunteer Coordinator, welcomed Lynda with open arms as she witnessed the loyalty, care, love and compassion that Lynda had shown her mother as a resident at The Cedars. Lynda brought her beautiful brindle grey hound, Gabby to greet our residents, as she offered comfort and support by way of her gentle manner. Lynda quickly became involved in other aspects of The Cedars including the fall festival, the weekly rosary and...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Atrium, Featured.
As I get to know the many, wonderful members at The Atrium at The Cedars in my role as Marketing Representative, I frequently find myself surprised by what I hear. Members often explain their reasons for choosing our retirement community: proximity to downtown Portland, sense of security from our continuum of care, or relief from the burden of home ownership. Once they arrive, although they may have expected the warm welcome from our community, they are often amazed to find themselves developing new friendships. Real, true friendships with peers who share their stories, provide fellowship and offer support. It seems that this facet of their lives, this idea of relishing the company of friends, was a book already read and returned to the shelf. Once our members at have an opportunity to live without the worries and difficulties that come with aging, the possibilities of living a fuller life...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
On March 18, the members and staff at The Atrium, independent living at The Cedars, celebrated the grand opening of their new movie theater at a ribbon cutting ceremony. “You’ve exceeded our expectations!” one member exclaimed. Members of our community are thrilled to be offered a variety of current films, three times daily, seven days per week, in such a comfortable setting. The only issue they expressed was the challenge of fitting so many wonderful programs and events into their already busy days! Now that’s a good problem to have. For more information on life at The Atrium, contact our marketing representative at 207-221-7100. ...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Atrium, Featured.
The Atrium has increased our commitment to our members at The Atrium to provide more opportunities for health and wellness than ever before. We started by establishing baseline strength, flexibility and balance assessments for our members and then jumped into twelve weeks of customized classes. Sarah Bartell, our Wellness Coordinator, teaches strength training, water aerobics, balance training, and we bring in specialists in Tai Chi, Yoga, and Zumba. The first round of Wellness re-assessments are in, and they are amazing! Our members have worked so hard and it shows. See the results below! Exercise Class Participation: UP 14% Lower Body Strength: UP 50% Upper Body Strength: UP 23% Aerobic Capacity: UP 20% Upper Body Flexibility: UP 25% Lower Body Flexibility: UP 50% Agility: UP 15% Balance: UP 400% For more information on life and wellness at The Atrium, contact us at 207-221-7100. ...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
The Cedars was honored for our community wellness program on October 9 by the Healthy Portland, part of Healthy Maine Partnerships. The Healthy Portland Worksite Wellness Recognition event recognized The Cedars and nine other local businesses for their wellness accomplishments. Awardees shared their greatest worksite wellness achievements and organizations shared their many creative program ideas. For almost ten years, The Cedars has focused on wellness for our residents and staff. In 2012 we received the Health Innovator Award from Harvard Pilgrim for our many employee programs. And our ongoing fitness classes at The Atrium and The Osher Inn have recently revealed amazing results, including a 400% increase in balance among that population following a 12 week course geared towards strength, flexibility and balance. For more information on life at The Cedars, contact our Marketing Representative at 221-7100. Other 2015 award recipients include: City of Portland University of Southern Maine cPort Credit Union Cumberland County Government Oakhurst...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
Nick Viti, Director of Life Enrichment at The Cedars, recently received the Practitioner of the Year Award from the Maine Association of Occupational Therapists. The Cedars is thrilled that Nick received this peer elected recognition! Nick began working with students and adults with behavioral disabilities after graduating from college, so Nick went back to school to earn his occupational therapy degree from the University of Southern Maine. After graduation, he worked with dementia patients in a nursing home, and loved his work but wanted something more—to truly get to know residents, develop personalized therapeutic goals for them, and create meaningful, enjoyable daily activities that reinforced those goals. The holistic approach to wellness at The Cedars was just what he was looking for, and he brought his passion for innovative, person-centered care and his in-depth knowledge of dementia treatment to The Cedars in 2013. During his time at The Cedars, Nick has been an integral...
Posted in our blog on by Katharine& filed under Featured.
On September 18, the Ombudsman Program held its 13th Annual Excellence in Long-Term Care Awards event at the Blaine House in Augusta. Sixteen of Maine’s direct care workers were honored with the Excellence in Long-Term Care Award – including The Cedars very own Misty Seeley, CNA. Maine’s First Lady, Mrs. Ann LePage participated in this special event presenting awards to the workers. Each recipient was chosen by an independent panel because of their demonstrated extraordinary leadership among their peers, dedication to resident rights and a commitment to providing excellent care. The Ombudsman Program recognized that every day Maine’s elderly and disabled citizens rely upon the skills and caring of the workers who provide essential care to them in long-term care facilities, like the Skilled Care Center at The Cedars. Congratulations...
The Steering Committee at The Cedars gathered for the first step in a two year journey towards Culture Change and the implementation of the Household Model in our long term care and assisted living. Megan Hannon, culture change specialist with our partner, Action Pact, led the committee of 15 staff, management, volunteers from all departments – an additional 10 individuals will rotate through future sessions. Here is a recap of what we learned: We heard about how adults learn, how we need time to talk with each other, to communicate safely, to process and apply new ideas, and to process more. We discovered that through this learning, we will grow our skills AND our attitudes. We explored the Team Leadership Model, and practiced the new roles in this shared leadership approach. We found that each member of the group has a role in leading – we are all group leaders. We delved...
High school senior, Michael Michaelson, has been volunteering at The Cedars since he was a freshman at Waynflete. His grandmother used to drive him in to teach our residents how to use their ipads and computers. “When I first interviewed him to volunteer, he was delightful, but I never thought someone starting out so young would volunteer for so long,” shares Janine Fifield, Volunteer Services Coordinator. “And I never imagined he’d make such huge contributions to our community!” Janine submitted Michael’s name and story to the President’s Volunteer Service Award and was thrilled to find that he was chosen. Over the years, Michael has helped countless residents at The Atrium and The Osher Inn with their simple and not so simple computer challenges. The residents have come to rely on his expertise and gentle approaches. While showing up every week, Michael has also volunteered with Equality Maine, managed three campaigns for city candidates, and kept his grades in...
As I get to know the many, wonderful members at The Atrium at The Cedars in my role as Marketing Representative, I frequently find myself surprised by what I hear. Members often explain their reasons for choosing our retirement community: proximity to downtown Portland, sense of security from our continuum of care, or relief from the burden of home ownership. Once they arrive, although they may have expected the warm welcome from our community, they are often amazed to find themselves developing new friendships. Real, true friendships with peers who share their stories, provide fellowship and offer support. It seems that this facet of their lives, this idea of relishing the company of friends, was a book already read and returned to the shelf. Once our members at have an opportunity to live without the worries and difficulties that come with aging, the possibilities of living a fuller life...
The Atrium has increased our commitment to our members at The Atrium to provide more opportunities for health and wellness than ever before. We started by establishing baseline strength, flexibility and balance assessments for our members and then jumped into twelve weeks of customized classes. Sarah Bartell, our Wellness Coordinator, teaches strength training, water aerobics, balance training, and we bring in specialists in Tai Chi, Yoga, and Zumba. The first round of Wellness re-assessments are in, and they are amazing! Our members have worked so hard and it shows. See the results below! Exercise Class Participation: UP 14% Lower Body Strength: UP 50% Upper Body Strength: UP 23% Aerobic Capacity: UP 20% Upper Body Flexibility: UP 25% Lower Body Flexibility: UP 50% Agility: UP 15% Balance: UP 400% For more information on life and wellness at The Atrium, contact us at 207-221-7100. ...
Nick Viti, Director of Life Enrichment at The Cedars, recently received the Practitioner of the Year Award from the Maine Association of Occupational Therapists. The Cedars is thrilled that Nick received this peer elected recognition! Nick began working with students and adults with behavioral disabilities after graduating from college, so Nick went back to school to earn his occupational therapy degree from the University of Southern Maine. After graduation, he worked with dementia patients in a nursing home, and loved his work but wanted something more—to truly get to know residents, develop personalized therapeutic goals for them, and create meaningful, enjoyable daily activities that reinforced those goals. The holistic approach to wellness at The Cedars was just what he was looking for, and he brought his passion for innovative, person-centered care and his in-depth knowledge of dementia treatment to The Cedars in 2013. During his time at The Cedars, Nick has been an integral...