Posts Tagged ‘assisted living’
LePage’s MaineCare cuts would hit Maine seniors hardest.
Friday, December 9th, 2011MaineCare now helps many pay for medicine and a place to live in Maine.
By Susan M. Cover scover@mainetoday.com
MaineToday Media State House Writer
Through its MaineCare program, the state now covers a portion of the $600 monthly cost for drugs including insulin, which she needs for her diabetes. LePage is proposing to reduce or eliminate two programs that pay for prescription drugs as part of a plan to eliminate a projected $221 million budget deficit in the Department of Health and Human Services over the next 18 months.
While LePage’s plan would end MaineCare coverage for 65,000 Mainers and hit nearly all age groups, advocates for the elderly say senior citizens in Maine will be especially hard hit if lawmakers approve the cuts.
Read the rest of this Portland Press Herald Article here.
What is it like to have Alzheimer’s: A provocative discussion at Sedgewood Commons
Thursday, November 10th, 2011This special discussion series will start with a walk through virtual tour putting you in the shoes of a person with Alzheimer’s dementia.
You will see things, hear things, feel things, and your thought process will be challenged.
Sedgewood Commons wishes to extend this discussion series out to families, friends, caregivers, and work professionals to better understand what it is like for our loved ones who live with this disease on a minute to minute basis.
After the virtual tour you will sit down, discuss our thoughts, and Dr. Laurel Coleman will be here to answer questions. Please extend this to others if you think they would benefit. Space is very limited so please RSVP either by phone or email.
Sedgewood wishes you all a happy holiday season, the Dr. Laurel Coleman Discussion Series is taking a break for November and December as they realize we are all very busy these months.
Sedgewood Commons:A Maine Dementia Care Community Hosts Silent Art Auction
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011
Palliative Care Grant for HomeHealth Visiting Nurses
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011Congratulations to HomeHealth Visiting Nurses, which received a $7000 grant from the Hospice Fund of the Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF) to support their efforts to increase quality health care for Maine residents facing life-threatening illness or end-state chronic disease.
The money will allow HomeHealth Visiting Nurses to plan and implement palliative care nurse training, and offer palliative care outreach education workshops to students in nursing programs and practicing healthcare professionals around Maine.
Palliative care services focus on reducing the severity of disease symptoms and on promoting effective pain management. HomeHalth Visiting Nurses pallaitive care also focuses on matching treatment plans with patient/family goals, and on coordinating home healthcare with physicians. Palliative care patients don’t need to have a terminal diagnosis and they often are still receiving curative treatments.
HomeHealth Visiting Nurses provides home-based care for approximately 40,000 adults and children in Cumberland, York and southern Oxford Counties. Its mission is to help people be as healthy and independent as possible at home and in the community. You can find more information on the HomeHealth Visiting Nurses website or by calling 1-800-660-4867.
Caring is at the Heart of Assisted Living
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011By Neal R. Davis, Senior Executive Director, Bay Square at Yarmouth, Benchmark Assisted Living
Caring in assisted living communities takes many forms and is provided by many people. The need for care and the need to be cared about are two of the main reasons elders choose assisted living as a lifestyle. People who need help with one or more of activities of daily living (ADL), or are looking for opportunities to socialize in a comfortable setting, find an assisted living community is one of the best solutions for meeting these needs.
How is this care and caring delivered to those who call an assisted living community home? For answers, just look at this list of caring providers:
- Volunteers who give their time through visiting, sharing a laugh, or just by reminiscing about the life one has lived.
- Resident Care Assistants who interact with residents, eliciting smiles, sighs of contentment, laughs, or a thank you.
- The Resident Care Director who responds to concerned residents with reassurances about their health, makes compassionate assessments of the situation, calls a doctor and creates an updated care plan.
- The Activities Director who makes sure everyone who wants to be included in available programs and shows concern about residents’ social needs, their comfort, and their happiness in all interactions.
- The Food Service Director who puts together special meals for residents and their families celebrating holidays, prepares a surprise cookout marking the first day of spring, or cooks up something unique for a family birthday gathering.
- The Business Office Manager who is open to hearing concerns about a bill, offers help and reassurance that things can be worked out.
- The Dining Room Manager who understands about the importance of compatible dining room seating, greets residents by name and has a smile for everyone at the beginning of each meal.
- The Maintenance Director who quickly responds to a repair request with a grin and a joke.
- The Housekeeper whose attention to detail with the vacuum cleaner and delivery of the newspaper in the morning is accompanied by a comment about the weather.
- Fellow Residents who inquire about health, family, and the newest grandchild.
- The Hairdresser who squeezes in a resident without an appointment, so she can look her best for an unexpected visit from an old friend, reassuring that “it’s not a problem!”
- The Director of Community Relations who follows up on the smoothness of the move-in and answers residents’ questions concerning comfort and services.
- The Executive Director who actively listens to concerns of families and residents, guiding, informing, and supporting all who want and need to be heard.
At the end of the day, when all is said and done, it’s the people, both residents and staff, who make an assisted living community a home, a place of caring and comfort.
Cape Memory Care Opens
Friday, November 5th, 2010Lynn and I were delighted to attend the ribbon-cutting for Cape Memory Care in Cape Elizabeth yesterday. The community specializes in care for people with memory problems like Alzheimer’s. It’s part of the Woodlands Assisted Living family of communities.
Laurie Trenholm, the new executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association Maine Chapter, spoke briefly at the ceremony, remarking on the increased need for dementia-related care facilities as Alzheimer’s and other dementia diseases grow in the US population in the next 20 years. She noted that of the 18,434 residents of Maine nursing facilities in 2008, 65% were suffering from dementia. About an equal number of Maine residents have a dementia diagnosis and are living at home, with about 50,000 Mainers involved in their care.
Lon Walters, CEO of Woodlands Assisted Living, cut the ribbon after introducing key staff and community members. Cape Memory Care will have 72 beds available by the spring, with 36 opening November 15.
Woodlands Assisted Living has communities in Hallowell, Waterville, Brewer and Rockland that also care for Alzheimer’s and dementia residents. The community, at 126 Scott Dyer Road in Cape Elizabeth, is hosting an open house from 2-7 p.m. all week, November 5 – November 12. David Rogers, Cape Memory Care’s director of admissions and community relations, can be reached at drogers@woodlandsalf.org
November also marks National Alzheimer’s Month and National Family Caregiver Month. Hats off to families and caregivers who care for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias with grace, humor and respect. Deborah