HAPPY AUGUST! Well another month has passed which means more changes to our leadership team! Sabrina has requested to transfer to Dietary Manager, which opened up her previous position as Engagement Coordinator. Thankfully, we have a wonderful person on staff who has offered to step in and take over! Lori Grammar, who was previously employed as our Engagement Float, will take over as Interim Engagement Coordinator until our new Executive Director takes over for Alexa, at which point she will make the decision to either open the position to interested candidates, or keep Lori as the full-time Engagement Coordinator! We have no doubt in our minds that Lori will continue to make our Life in Motion engagement program the best for our residents! We are so happy to announce that we have come together as a team and made a decision for our next ED. Courtney Current will join the Arbor House team on July 31st, at which point she will train alongside Alexa until August 18th! Courtney comes with MANY years of experience in the field and extensive knowledge of dementia. She demonstrated creative ideas about working with individuals with dementia, as well as retaining employees, and we believe she is going to be a wonderful asset to our team here at Arbor House. To celebrate the Fourth of July at Arbor House, we allowed our care-friends to come to work dressed in their most patriotic attire for a contest. The care-friend with the most creative outfit was awarded one paid vacation day, and with so many great ones to choose from, the decision was hard to make! The previous night, Alexa and her husband were up and down all night, tending to a brisket that was served to the residents and staff because what better way to celebrate Independence Day than with some tender BBQ and sides?! We hope that you all had an amazing holiday, stayed cool and hydrated, and are ready to continue fighting this intense heat! In this edition you will find an article written by our Regional Director, Natalie Kunkel, a page of photographs showing the fun our residents have been having this month, a calendar with holidays and special events, and some information about our team for Walk for a Cure in September. License #102889 Alexa Lewis Executive Director alexa@arborhouseliving.com Jennifer Wright, LVN Director of Nursing jennifer@arborhouseliving.com Lydia Messina, BSW Community Relations Director lydia@arborhouseliving.com Lela Sorondo Resident Services Coordinator lelas@arborhouseliving.com Lori Grammar Interim Engagement Coordinator lori@arborhouseliving.com Janet Lyman Receptionist Star Robertson Housekeeping Manager Sabrina McGinnis Dietary Manager David Hankins Maintenance Supervisor Melissa Xiong, RN Regional Director of Nursing melissa@arborhouseliving.com Much Love, Along with a host of amazing carefriends and dietary staff! Lydia
Enid and care-friend, Hannah, really got in the spirit for July 4th. Hannah took first place in our contest and was awarded one paid day off! One of our newest friends, Pat, sporting her red, white, and blue with a care-friend, Kristi, during our 4th of July celebration. We think red is Barbara s color! Here, she is pictured with a care-friend, Morgan, who came to work decked out in red, white, and blue to celebrate Independence Day! Our front line team members are more than just caregivers to our residents they are their best friends! Patsy and care-friend, Skye, smile and hug as they model their red, white, and blue attire! New friends, Shirley and Pat, play a game of Yahtzee during a Friends in Motion engagement, which allows the joy of being with one another amidst recreational and social events. How sweet is this group of friends?! Mary R., Mary N., and Gene join hands to dance and sing-a-long with Margie, one of our musical performers, during a Friends in Motion engagement!
August 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 Shirley s Jammin w/ Jesse @10AM Stanley s 6 National Sister Day! 7 Party w/ Margie @2PM 8 9 10 11 12 13 Gospel w/ The Richey s @3PM 14 15 Party w/ Margie @2PM (Gables) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Anne s Jammin w/ Jesse @10AM Party w/ Margie @2PM Charles s National Dog Day! (Gables) 27 28 29 30 31 Naomi s
Dear Friends and Family, Arbor House is joining the 2017 Walk to End Alzheimer s in Weatherford on September 30, 2017! We have committed to raising awareness and funds to support Alzheimer s care, support, and research, and we would LOVE to have your help and support as well. There are two ways you can help our team: 1. Join the Arbor House Dream Team in the fight against Alzheimer s and walk with us! Speak to Lydia if you would like more information about how to join our team! 2. Help us reach our fundraising goal by making a donation. Donations will need to be made out to The Alzheimer s Association and can be given to Janet or Lydia. Arbor House residents and staff members participated in The Longest Day balloon release for the Alzheimer s Association! Pictured from left to right: (back) Melba s daughter, Lori, Bob P., Norma, Sabrina, Joseph, (front) Flo, Darlene, and Patsy! Pictured from left to right: (back) Melba s daughter, Lori, Bob P., Joseph, Sabrina, (front) Flo, Norma, Darlene, and Patsy!
Visiting with someone you love who is experiencing the journey of dementia can be very challenging. There is the brain that is failing, forcing the person to pull together memories in a jigsaw fashion that doesn't always fit together. They are warped by time and emotion, and that emotion our life experiences with this person we love has been full of emotions love and victories as well as disappointments and fights. Your place in the family was defined early: momma s girl/boy, daddy s girl/boy, spoiled, the favorite, not the favorite, the fixer, and the list goes on and on. The hardest part might be the role reversal. It is hard on the adult child to become the parent to their parent. It is hard on a spouse who has spent their life sharing decisions to now make them on their own. It is also hard on family members to edit what should be told and what should not be told. Visiting can be so exhausting on both sides! With all of this going on, it is no wonder that the topic I am asked to speak on the most is successful visits. So here are some tips I typically share: 1. There is no rule that says you are a bad daughter, son, husband, wife, or sibling if you not visit every day. In fact, over visiting can contribute to agitation and increased confusion. There is also no golden number for what the right frequency is for visiting. Everyone is different! If you are struggling to find this balance, please involve our team! 2. There is no rule that a visit has to be x number of hours long. In fact, for a majority of people in this disease journey, shorter visits are better. They are simply less exhausting. 3. The goal of your visit should be to bring your family member a moment of joy. Often the person with dementia can take the visit to a hard place, especially if your family history has a lot of baggage. When this happens, please seek assistance from our team. If we work together we can find ways to have happier visits. 4. Visit with a plan. Take something to do or show something tangible that you just found to show and talk about. Keep it light and positive, and if their memories are not 100% correct, roll with it! 5. Bring gifts! Depending on where they are in the journey, you can recycle gifts. My grandmother loved those mechanical pop up flowers! I bought her 3 and each visit I slipped one into my bag shortly after giving her the one I had taken last time. She always had two on her table. I could have bought her something every trip, but she didn't have room for it. 6. Exit with a plan. Honesty is not always the best policy. Your exit plan depends on the person s ability to chain time and their level of emotional investment (will they worry about your safety). Excusing yourself to the bathroom and giving a nod to the staff that you are leaving so they can get your loved one busy can work a lot! So can, I have to run to the grocery store before it closes. I will be back after that and won t you I mean not RIGHT back, but back eventually. People who can chain time might benefit from having the next visit written on a calendar. Again, this is a great time to seek help from the Arbor House professionals! 7. And last, know that for a lot of our residents the emotional stress does not end when you walk out the door. I know that is true for our family members as well. The evaluation of a successful visit, or just about any fatiguing activity, is how the person functions the 4 hours or so after. Are they able to fall back into routine? Are they exit-seeking more? Do they go right to sleep? These are considerations (and more) that the team is trained to observe and support. Listen to their advice it is good stuff! Natalie Kunkel, CTRS, CDP
Memory Care of Granbury 900 Autumn Ridge Drive Granbury, Texas 76048 817.573.7720 - office 817.573.7029 - fax www.arborhouseliving.com Arbor House Memory Care Assisted Living, has been architecturally designed based on the most current and relevant studies dedicated to creating environments that promote independence and dignity for those managing dementia causing diseases such as Alzheimer s. OUR DESIGN RESPONSE: Current research tells us that people with dementia perform with greater independence in less crowded environments. Our Community honors this information in it s building design by providing 4 sections we call houses, which each offer 13 private bedrooms, 2 living areas, dining room, kitchen and courtyard. We use red dinnerware, which studies tell us, improves appetite. Additionally, a person s ability to visually process the food on a plate can be affected in the journey and this contrast can make eating easier and reduce mealtime stress. We practice Social Dining, a technique in which the Care Team dines with our residents to promote conversation and provide socially appropriate cueing and assistance. For people managing dementia, a structured and purpose-filled day reduces stress and sun downing. Our engagement program, Life in Motion, boasts a minimum of 10 programs per house each day, which offers a consistent routine to increase independence and are designed to touch on 8 key areas of joy, connection & purpose. Familiar relationships reduce stress during care giving. Our 1 to 6.5 staffing ratio and designated Care Team per house allow for strong relationships to grow. This ratio does not include administrative staff.