“If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.”
— Coco Chanel
Hooray for Hollywood!
Photo by Sam Howzit
OK, so you’ll have to wait until May or June, but time doth fly, doth it not? (And so can you.) Check out Allegiant Airlines’s new nonstop destinations! (Hint: The list includes LA.) Go here for the scoop. Gerald R. Ford International Airport is excited about this, and you should be, too.
Time to thrive
Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living
Maybe you’re not quite there, yet, but it’s always wise to know what you’re up against. Aging adults can thrive in assisted living communities versus aging in place and living alone at home. Even seniors who live alone in a new home face the same issues with isolation, security issues, and in some cases driving restrictions apply due to medical, or vision problems. Go here to learn more.
Stella!
Paws With A Cause dogs-in-training visit the cast of Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ (Supplied)
Blanche is the quintessential tragic figure, and Stanley is just a brute. There’s still time to catch the famous Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, which runs through Jan. 26 at Civic Theatre. Streetcar follows the story of Blanche du Bois who goes to live with her sister (Stella) and brother-in-law (Stanley) in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Go here for the details.
Fun fact:
80 is the new 65
It’s true! American Senior Communities reports that with innovations in healthcare and a focus on prevention, seniors today are living “longer, more active and healthier lives.” In fact, by the year 2040, the population of older seniors — people aged 85 years and above — is expected to triple from the 5.7 million there were in 2011 to 14.1 million.
Nursing home. The words themselves can create visions in your mind of a bleak environment used as a holding cell for seniors. Maybe you have even visited a loved one at a nursing home and walked away worrying if they were living an unhappy life. With the way they’re portrayed in the media, it’s no wonder that nursing homes receive such a bad reputation.
Nursing homes may need an image update, but they provide a lot of important care. There are a lot of inaccurate rumors about how they function as a home for seniors. However, aspects of a nursing home and the services they provide might still be wrong for your loved one. And with a growing number of seniors in need of new housing options, finding the right place may be a difficult task for caregivers.
To help you fact check some hearsay, here is a list of some of the most common rumors associated with nursing homes, and why an assisted living community may provide a better alternative.
Nursing homes are too clinical
The image of a traditional nursing home is a dull place, with fluorescent lighting and no atmosphere. Perhaps you may think of a clinical facility, not much better than a hospital room. Putting a loved one in a home like that may seem cruel, or like a punishment for them.
The truth is that nursing homes do have a more clinical feel than some other senior housing options. Because of the level of skilled nursing care that nursing homes are able to provide for seniors, a slightly more medical space is often necessary to ensure safety for both residents and staff. Nursing homes are able to provide constant care and attention for our loved ones who need to be monitored and assisted for their own safety and well-being.
Nursing homes are for the end of someone’s life
Often we think of nursing homes as the final home for our loved ones. Therefore, because nursing homes are full of similar people there for the same reason, it can be easy to assume that nursing homes are full of sick and lifeless people, with no energy or community.
While this may be an image that comes to mind when considering a nursing home, the truth is that nursing homes provide for a wide variety of members. Some seniors, after a medical emergency or a stroke, need constant care that goes beyond what caregivers can provide. Nursing homes can also offer a part-time stay until your loved one has recovered enough to return home.
In addition, due to the rising number of seniors who need to find a
community to live in, nursing homes have plenty of engagement and
community opportunities. Movie showings, games, and other activities
help ensure that even if your loved one needs a high level of care, and
will likely be in a nursing home for the remainder of their life, they
aren’t going to be sitting alone in a chair for that time.
Nursing homes don’t offer independence
While nursing homes do offer activities and opportunities for community building, they do still monitor and supervise events fairly strictly. Again, due to the level of specialized care that nursing homes offer to aging seniors who need it, the freedom that is available for residents may be somewhat limited. Meals may be regulated to make sure that a senior is getting all the proper nutrients, and regulated medicine and bedtimes may also help seniors who have trouble remembering things.
However, this is a far cry from the common fear of an environment where seniors have no control over their movements or what they pursue. While seniors in a nursing home are observed to make sure they are safe, and have schedules for meals and medicines, what they choose to do in their free time is up to them.
The benefits of assisted living
For all that a nursing home can offer in terms of care, there are some limitations in what else they can provide. If your loved one needs a less specialized level of care, or they want to have more freedoms, then an assisted living community may be the right choice for you.
Assisted living communities like Vista Springs can offer many things for seniors:
A continuum of care for people who need some medical assistance, but don’t yet need the high level of care provided in a nursing home.
Focus on providing a multitude of ways for seniors to express independence and feel at home
A change that is much less drastic for seniors who are transitioning into a senior living community.
Communities like Vista Springs can offer independent living within the assisted living home.
While nursing homes get a bad rap, they do offer a highly specialized care that is necessary for many seniors. Once you get past the reputation, nursing homes may provide care that your loved one truly needs.
However, if you’re looking for senior living that provides a full of life experience as well as care services, an assisted living community may be exactly what you and your aging loved one are looking for.
“You just brighten up everybody’s eyes, because everybody loves you,” said Vista Springs Community member, Marilyn Scholten as she stroked the orange tabby cat’s fur. “He loves me. I can tell.”
Jack the Cat is on a mission. Every Thursday morning, the therapy cat strolls into Vista Springs Community to visit with the people living there. Well, more accurately, he sits in a stroller as his caretaker, Lynn Hopkins, wheels him from room to room. He has trained Hopkins well.
“I met Jack at Crash’s Landing in 2009,” said Hopkins. “He was transferred there from an animal shelter. He’d been surrendered there, we don’t know why. We don’t know his history.”
Jack has deformed front legs, but that doesn’t stop him, hence his proper name, Jack B. Nimble.
“They thought he might be kind of hard to adopt out, and so they were afraid that he would be euthanized,” Hopkins said. “They didn’t want to risk it, so they transferred him to Crash’s Landing (a local cat rescue and placement center).”
Hopkins remembers her first memory of Jack, running down the hall. Because of his front legs, he has a gimpy gait, but that doesn’t stop him. He still runs and plays with toys. But it was Jack’s engaging personality that made a huge impression on Hopkins.
“He’s just the happiest cat I’ve ever known,” she said. “He just loves everybody, he loves other cats. He was at Crash’s just a few weeks, and I took him home.”
Hopkins started taking Jack to volunteer picnics. She pushed him around in his stroller and people would pick him up or set him on a picnic table. And he would just sit there and let people pet him.
“And so a few years before I retired, I came across some information on Facebook about a therapy cat. I had never heard of a therapy cat,” said Hopkins. “I had heard of therapy dogs, but not therapy cats. I knew Jack would be perfect. One of the first things to do when I retired in January 2017 was to get him certified by Love on a Leash. He had to be checked out by a vet and undergo 10 hours of observation on how he behaved.”
Lynn Hopkins and her charge, Jack
Both Hopkins and Jack were evaluated by the Love on a Leash program because they work as a team. Certification typically includes consistent visit and behavior guidelines, animal health assurances and cleanliness standards. The animal must be able to tolerate a wide range of environments and people.
Jack now visits two retirement communities a week and an area hospice when someone requests a visit from a therapy cat.
After visiting Scholten, Jack and Lynn stopped off to see Donna Terpstra, who recently moved to Vista Springs and is still adjusting to her new living situation. She had a cat before her move.
“[Jack] makes me feel like a human being, and human beings need to have contact with pets, with animals,” Terpstra said. “I used to say that coming home to an empty house is not good. But when there’s a pet, there’s another heartbeat in the house, and you don’t feel so lonely.”
Susan Lamos, Life Engagement Director at Vista Springs, said that animals are important in nearly everybody’s life.
“I think the majority of people who moved here have had animals at one point in their life, had pets in their past, whether they lived on a farm or had a pet at home,” said Lamos. “When you come to a living setting such as Vista Springs, you give up a few things, which can take away some of your dignity.
“The therapy piece brings a wholeness to people. I think it’s like a breath of fresh air. A person can be sitting there in their chair just reflecting or watching television and when the animal comes in to the room, the eyes light up, the body lifts up and there’s a real connection with them. They’re fulfilled.”
