‘Common-sense’ evokes images of down to earth, reasonable and practical people, but what of the unreasonable, impractical people, the ones accused of lacking common sense but who find uncommon yet transformative ways of doing things?
I noticed an article the other day, “In Later years, Your House May be Bad For Your Health.” Of course I had to read more. It cited recent results of the first of a five-year study being conducted by Chicago-based Mather Lifeways Institute on Aging and Northwestern University which found that nearly 70% of Life Plan Community (also known as Continuing Care Retirement Community) residents stated that moving into such a community, “somewhat or greatly improved their social wellness.”
We are consistently interested in what distinguishes Beatitudes Campus from other senior living options. What we experience here seems to track with what the study was finding. Including more than 5,000 residents in 80 Life Plan Communities across 29 states, the study survey found that residents of the communities (which typically offer independent living, assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing in a single location) scored higher across five of six recognized facets of wellness than about 1,000 peer group older adults living in the community at large—including greater emotional, social, physical, intellectual and vocational wellness.
Focusing on just assisted living, a 2018 study of residents in just over 20 communities operated across four states by New Jersey-based Juniper Communities, found that hospitalizations of residents were half that of peer group seniors living at home. Juniper in turn estimated that such reductions are saving Medicare between $4 and $6 million each year and would save between $10 and $15 billion annually if applied across the similar larger population of Medicare beneficiaries.
While both studies are essentially conducted by senior living organizations, they reflect what has been intuitively suggested by not only professionals, but residents within senior communities for years. Specifically, that living within a community setting, with daily access to friends as well as personal health assistance, dining, wellness and social programs, housekeeping, maintenance, and transportation services – may not only improve quality of life for individuals age 75+, but add to it. I hear this from our Ambassadors time and again as they speak to prospects considering Beatitudes Campus as their home.
To be clear, more, longer and larger studies are needed. And there is no industry-wide research indicating all assisted living communities could produce the same health outcomes as Juniper, considered by many to be among the best in the industry. Still, surveys have consistently shown that as high as 90+% of senior housing residents and family members are satisfied with their experience.
Which leads to the question of why approximately 90% of Americans age 75+ are choosing to remain at home. Yes, many are still physically and socially independent, but data suggests more may be able to benefit from the services and care senior living offers than are accessing such communities.
Consider:
Lack of socialization is a major source of depression, with nearly half of women age 75+ living alone. The National Institute of Mental Health has declared depression among older adults a major public health issue.
44% of older adults 75+ report having at least one physical disability that impairs their ability to live independently.
14% of adults age 71+ and 32% of adults age 85+ suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease or related dementia.
Drivers age 80+ have the highest rate of fatal crashes per miles driven of any age group.
More than 34 million Americans are serving as unpaid caregivers for an older adult parent, spouse, other relative, friend or neighbor, the majority of whom are age 75+, for an average of 24 hours per week.
Perhaps the largest factors inhibiting utilization of senior housing are cultural and based on stereotyped perception. In the first case, the current “Silent Generation” of older adults (born during the Great Depression) were raised on the idea of putting a roof over their heads and never giving it up, along with an ingrained responsibility to never be a burden on anyone. In the second case, many older adults continue to assume that a senior living community is a place for “old people” and represents the institutional “nursing homes” of yore – even as the studies above indicate otherwise. Just today, I spoke with a fellow whose mother lives close by in our neighborhood and he remarked how much he knew she would benefit from the “purposeful living” about which we center so much of what we do at Beatitudes. He will be by soon with her to see the campus and I can’t wait to have her experience what so many of you delight in communicating to our visitors – our mission and philosophy of the campus and the effect on superior senior living!
F
ebruary is National Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Low Vision Awareness Month, and many of the residents at Beatitudes experience low vision in various forms. Macular degeneration causes loss of central vision and is one of the most common low vision diagnoses amongst older adults, but others on campus have glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, and numerous other visual conditions. What many don’t realize, however, is that almost all older adults experience age-related changes in vision. These age-related changes frequently include increased sensitivity to glare, diminished ability to see contrast, increased sensitivity to light changes, decreased depth perception, diminished visual acuity or sharpness, and decreased ability to see in dim light. For example, according to University of Kentucky researchers, an 80 year-old needs four times the amount of light to see things as clearly as they did in their 20s! Thankfully, there are a number of great resources in place to assist residents at Beatitudes Campus to navigate age-related vision changes.
The Low Vision Support Group meets on the second Friday of each month at 1PM in Boardroom East to share resources and support for those who are coping with varying degrees of vision loss. This group is open to ALL residents, and it publishes a reference list of eye doctors, optometrists, specialists, and local organizations that provide services for the visually impaired. In addition to sharing news and information about the latest developments in eye care and vision technology advancements, the Low Vision Support Group makes buttons available to residents with low vision, so that they can easily identify themselves to others. You may notice your friends and neighbors wearing a button that says, “I HAVE LOW VISION.” When you see others wearing these buttons, please be mindful of the fact that they may not be able to see your face clearly and may need extra time to orient themselves to their surroundings. As a courtesy to all residents on campus who may have low vision (whether or not they wear the button), please identify yourself when you say hello.
As an occupational therapist and Director of Success Matters, one of my roles also includes working with individual residents to help make their environments more visually accessible — from home lighting to computers. For individualized information on setting up your apartment for improved visibility, feel free to call me, Jessica Meyer, at x16110. Please contact Mark Pelkey at x15586 or Mary Lou Philips at x18371 for additional information about upcoming Low Vision Support Group meetings.
Researchers at universities in Durham, UK, and Lisbon, Portugal, recently suggested that the origins of the stories of Beauty and the Beast and Rumpelstiltskin stretch back four thousand years. When the Brothers Grimm began to compile such fairy tales in the nineteenth century, their project fostered a unity between the various German speaking states. The notion that deep in the woods was a boundless store of common stories affirmed the emerging identity of what became a united German people.
That’s how a bunch of stories combine to form a powerful narrative. When the people of Judah found themselves in exile in Babylon, they looked deep into their collective soul to discover how they’d come to be there. They looked at their collection of chronicles; of how God created the world, called a people, saved them from famine and slavery, made a covenant with them, and gave them land, king, and temple, before things then went astray.
But then, as with the Brothers Grimm, came the crucial moment: the exiled people of Judah looked at those accounts together and witnessed a faith which taught that God would save them as before, and that, most remarkably of all, they were as close to God in exile as they had been in the Promised Land. When the early Christians compiled the New Testament seven centuries later, they discovered the same truth, that God had found a way to save them again and they came to see Christ’s suffering, not as God’s abandonment, but as the closest humanity had ever come to God’s heart.
When I say I’m a Christian, I’m naming the story of which I believe I’m a part, and in which I find meaning, truth and purpose. I don’t pretend to believe that everyone shares my convictions. I’m not too interested in people telling me what they don’t believe, but rather in what they do believe – what story they feel a part of, and most importantly, how that story converges to clarify their identity and purpose.
Story turns to faith when people believe that God has entered their story. Faith turns to life when people say, ‘There’s a part for me in that story too.’
We are so pleased with the continued success of the Comfort Matters dementia education program, developed right here at Beatitudes and now being implemented in long term care organizations across the United States. With our last update in Teamtalk, we were excited to announce that we were then working with five organizations outside Beatitudes, including the three large organizations that we have been working with for the past four years. Since that report, we have added eight additional long term care organizations including Snyder Village, Metamora, IL; Someren Glen, Denver, CO; Roland Park Place, Baltimore MD; Sharon Towers, Charlotte, NC; Fellowship Square, Mesa, AZ; Judson Smart Living, Cleveland, OH; Lillian Booth Actors Home, Edgemont, NJ; and United Church Homes, Canton, OH. Of these 13 programs, two have advanced in the application of Comfort Matters to the point of accreditation and are now recognized officially as a Comfort Matters Accredited Organization. Those organizations are Horizon House in Seattle, WA and Schowalter Villa in Hesston, KS.
For those of you who might be new to Beatitudes Campus – Comfort Matters is a philosophy, a care practice and an evidence-based accredited education program that offers a holistic and integrated approach to improve quality of care and quality of life for persons with dementia.
As a result of the continued growth of the program and expanded interest we have had the opportunity to add an additional educator to the Comfort Matters team. Linda Travis started working with Comfort Matters in April and has already made a significant impact to the wonderful work that we are doing all across the country. She comes to the team with excellent credentials and a passion for what we are doing in this important work and is a perfect fit with our team.
Karen Mitchell is continuing in her role as the Comfort Matters Nurse Educator and we are pleased to announce that, through Karen, the Comfort Matters education will continue to be provided on our campus. Karen will be scheduling one, two hour education sessions each month and one all-day education session each quarter. Staff members can contact Karen for additional information. We encourage anyone who is interested, to sign up and take advantage of this exciting opportunity to learn about dementia and why comfort really matters.
–by
Tena Alonzo, Director of Education and Research, Comfort Matters
and
Ivan Hilton, Director of Business Development, Comfort Matters
