Print Guide – Mid-Willamette Valley – October 2015
Print Guide – Portland/Vancouver – January 2016
Creativity and Innovation
“Creativity takes courage.”
~ Henri Matisse
Creativity and innovation do not happen in a vacuum. It takes a lot of courage to step outside the box, feel the fear and do it anyway. It takes the courage to be different, to be new, to be judged, and to be wrong. It is easy to recognize our successes, but we should also recognize the courage behind the vision (successful or not.)
~ Amy Schmidt
Pessimist, Optimist, Leader…
“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” ~ John Maxwell
The only thing certain is that there will be change. Every market, every meeting, every contact shifts a bit with each encounter. Just when I think I have a plan and a course set – things change. There is new competition, new team members, family plans, and conflicting schedules. It can be overwhelming to look at all that must get done in one week – so I start with what can I get done right now, and then next, and then next….
~ Amy Schmidt
What is an Adult Family Care Home?
Residential care is a term used to describe a home or community where an adult can live and receive care in a homelike setting.
If you or a loved one need more care than you can get at home it may be time to explore residential care. Residential care is a term used to describe a home or community where an adult can live and receive care in a homelike setting. There are many residential care options that have become available over the last several years. Each type of residential care home offers different housing and care service options. It is important for families to understand the differences in available residential options. Decisions can then be made based on needs and preferences and what a particular residential care home offers.
An adult family home (AFH) is licensed to provide housing and care services for 2-6 adults in a regular home located in a residential neighborhood. The AFH may be run by a family, single person, or business partners. The Adult Family Home may also hire other employees. Some AFHs allow pets. In some homes, multiple languages are spoken.
In an adult family home staff assumes responsibility for the safety and well-being of the adult. A room, meals, laundry, supervision, and varying levels of assistance with care are provided. Some provide occasional nursing care. Some offer specialized care for people with mental health issues, developmental disabilities, or dementia.
Many consumers who choose an Adult Family Home do so because of the smaller more family like environment. For some people the smaller amount of other residents and staff contributes to increased comfort level. In an Adult Family Home space is more communal. Residents may have their own bedroom but common space such as living room, dining room, kitchen, and often bathrooms will be shared. For this reason, it’s important to not only choose an AFH that offers the appropriate care services, but also one that fits the individual’s personality.
An assisted living facility (ALF) is licensed to provide housing and care services to seven or more people in a home or facility located in a residential neighborhood. Like an adult family home, assisted living facilities provide housing and meals as well as assuming general responsibility for the safety and care of the resident.
The additional services offered are different for each home and may include:
- Varying levels of assistance with personal care.
- Intermittent nursing care (a nurse available on a part-time basis).
- Assistance with or administering of medications.
Adult family care homes are each unique as the residents they serve. Visit with the owners, staff and other residents to find your perfect fit for care and social concerns.
Article Provided by:
Virginia Yanos RN, MS
425-971-9342
www.ABeautifulLiving.com
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Volunteering: Making a difference at any age
Studies have shown that volunteerism can contribute to living longer and that it improves overall brain function.
It is never easy in life to make a transition from one home to another and making the decision to move to an active living or assisted living community can be even more challenging. One of the primary concerns seniors have about moving into an active or assisted living community is that they’ll become disconnected from the community, activities, and causes they care about most. But the truth is, active and assisted living communities provide the perfect setting for building coalitions, forming outreach task forces, and planning benefits for the communities and the causes that matter to you.
It is extremely important for all of us to remain connected to the people, communities, traditions, and causes that we each find most important to us. This could be anything from volunteering at your local church or food bank to organizing fundraisers for local causes, the options really are limitless. One of our favorite residents reads books to kindergarten children at a local school every week – fantastic intergenerational work! If you are someone who is heavily engaged in your local community and causes and if you’re also considering retirement or assisted living, we recommend looking into active living communities that encourage engagement and foster socially responsible outreach and activities. The right active lifestyle community for you should offer you plenty of opportunities to stay involved with your community and the causes that matter most to you. When individuals strive for something bigger than themselves it builds self-worth and creates senior leaders and advocates who make invaluable contributions to their surrounding communities.
All of us can deeply improve our quality of life by volunteering. Studies have shown that volunteerism can contribute to living longer and that it improves overall brain function. All ages benefit from this approach, not to mention active volunteering can be a great exercise too! So, it turns out that volunteering is not only the socially responsible thing to do, but it’s actually mentally and physically good for you, not to mention it’s great for your community as well.
So what’s stopping you now? Get out there and make a difference today!
Article Provided by:
David Haack
Living Care Lifestyles
425-689-5694
www.QuailParkOfLynnwood.com
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Purses & keys
I retain vivid memories of my visits to Ohio to discuss mother’s care levels and needs with my older sister, where one of the challenges involved keys.
As I was fumbling for my keys to unlock the door I thought about my mother. I retain vivid memories of my visits to Ohio to discuss mother’s care levels and needs with my older sister, where one of the challenges involved keys. One specific issue – car keys – is no surprise. Keys now have a habit of triggering these reflections.
There are lots of things that bring back memories of mother. I often chuckle at her sayings depending on the situation. Her little lines would pop out predictably and automatically but we never got tired of hearing them. At the mention of the word wait, she would say “Weights what broke the wagon down.” If we were trying to find something and she would spot it in front of us, out would come, “If it were a snake it’d bite you.” She had so many more. These were common sayings among her generation, the ones who were born in the first part of the last century and spent a lot of time on front porches and around kitchen tables.
I sometimes get angry with myself for the earlier days when I didn’t have a full appreciation of the stories. There were times when I would hear a little inner voice saying “Here it comes again” as the situation and the opening lines would provide a clear signal for the story that was about to be told. I was foolish of course, reacting solely to the lines being spoken out loud rather than listening for the deeper meaning that was coming from their hearts. This was “oral tradition” being presented right before my very eyes. They were preserving our family culture.
Mother loved to drive. It was her primary means to assert her independence. Many signs pointed out that allowing her to drive was no longer a good idea. The risks to her and everyone else on the roads were becoming too great. Getting those keys away from her was not an easy task. The simple truth is, she was not about to give up the keys. They had to be taken away with gentle but firm persuasion.
The purse was the next major piece of her personal property that had to be gently taken away. I don’t know if we actually do comprehend just how important a purse is to a woman. In time though, even the purse had to go as she had eventually lost the capacity to discern the uses for its contents and might have injured herself with some of the items. Getting the purse away was harder than the keys. Right to the end, the one thing she would remember to do was get after my sister for “taking away my purse.”
These are the things I think about every so often when I fumble for my keys. While I can still remember which one to use for my front door, I need to also remember to tell stories. I owe this to my children. It was an invaluable gift from my parents and it is one of the most important gifts that we pass on from generation to generation.
Article Provided by:
Madison House family member
Madison House Independent & Assisted Living
425-821-8210
www.MadisonHouseKirkland.com
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Retirement choices for veterans in Puget Sound
Many retired officers and veterans choose to live in civilian neighborhoods and housing, but when the time is right, there are many housing options available for retired veterans to consider.
The Puget Sound area is home to many retired veterans. There are many reasons why veterans choose to retire here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Joint Base Lewis McChord, the temperate winters, the pristine scenery, and many advantageous tax benefits have combined to present an attractive package to retirees. Many retired officers and veterans choose to live in civilian neighborhoods and housing, but when the time is right, there are many housing options available for retired veterans to consider.
Many retired veterans choose to reside at civilian retirement communities and assisted living and memory care communities. There are many wonderful options in the Puget Sound area and depending on the specific needs of each veteran these can be wonderful choices. Civilian assisted living and memory
care communities are not affiliated with the VA.
Some veterans choose a retirement community that specializes in serving the retired military community. Residents may enjoy the camaraderie of their fellow veterans along with added benefits such as close associations with military bases and VA hospitals and veteran-focused transportation and activity programs.
For veterans who need a higher level of care, many community Nursing Homes offer Veterans a place to live
and receive skilled nursing care 24/7. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) contracts with nursing homes across the country to care for Veterans. Other services include onsite occupational and physical therapy, access to social services, short-term rehab, and dementia care. The VA will often pay for Nursing Home care if you meet eligibility criteria involving your service connected status, level of disability, age, and income.
Certain VA benefit programs such as “Aid and Attendance” will also pay for assisted living services and memory care services depending on eligibility.
VA benefits can be extraordinarily complex, so consider speaking with a Veteran Services Officer (VSO). Veteran Services Officers volunteer throughout the United States, frequently at hubs for veterans like American Legion halls or Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) lodges. You can also locate a VA accredited attorney or VSO/Benefits representative here: http://www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation/
As a veteran, you have a unique story and it makes a lot of sense to speak with a knowledgeable advisor, take a tour of your local communities and resources for retired military personnel, and plan ahead to make sure that your retirement is everything that you want it to be.
Article Provided by:
Susan Fine, Director of Marketing
Patriot’s Landing Retirement Community
877-964-4900
www.PatriotsLanding.com
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CCRCs are now called “Life Plan Communities”
It’s no surprise they’re revolutionizing (CCRCs) retirement and reinventing themselves and the senior living field.
Since they were teens, the boomers have done things differently. So it’s no surprise they’re revolutionizing retirement (CCRCs) and reinventing themselves and the senior living field. To meet the needs of this generation senior living communities have transformed from care providers into vibrant villages offering a range of residential options along with new opportunities for creative, educational and personal exploration. Clearly, the name Continuing Care Retirement Community no longer describes the vibrant, forward-looking nature of the contemporary senior living community, which is really
a Life Plan Community.
On November 1, 2015, at the LeadingAge Annual Meeting in Boston, the task force that led the initiative to develop a new category name for Continuing Care Retirement Community (“CCRC”) announced its recommendation that communities adopt the term “Life Plan Community” as the new descriptor.
For many years a significant number of CCRCs have been concerned that the very category name used to describe them actually limits consumer interest. In particular, the terms “continuing care” and “retirement” were perceived to have negative connotations among potential residents leaving them with the impression that communities were only for people that need care and thus are for older, less healthy people. The potential truth of this is evidenced by the continuing increase in the average age of people moving to CCRCs over the last decade. Many communities and organizations have stopped referring to themselves as Continuing Care Retirement Communities altogether, developing their own alternative wording to describe the lifestyle benefits their communities offer.
The goal was to develop a name and compelling messaging to engage those older adults who will be seeking services during the next decade and to encourage prospects to enter CCRCs at a younger age. The name change from CCRC to Life Plan Community switches the emphasis from passive care to active living and planning—a shift that appeals to younger, healthier senior adults.
The agencies and research firms serving on the NameStorm Task Force worked closely together for two years to explore the viability of the existing category name (Continuing Care Retirement Community or CCRC) among key audiences and to generate and evaluate alternative names. The process involved more than 4,350 consumers and over a hundred CCRC operators. The same rigor was applied to the vetting process and to trademark and legal analysis which culminated with the selection of Life Plan Community as the new category name.
Article Provided by:
LeadingAge
www.LifePlanCommunity.org
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