Three tips for families for the holidays from Dr. El (video)
Category: Tips for gifts, visits
Cycling Transforms Parkinsons (video)
Amazing:
For more on this: Why We Need More Research into Cycling and Brain Science
For more on bicycles for people with disabilities: Having Fun in a Nursing Home
MORE Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents
This post, along with last week’s and my Planning for the Holidays article, could be printed out and left for family members in a prominent location. Think of it as your gift to every nursing home family.
To add to last week’s post on Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents, here are more gift ideas from Dr. El at My Better Nursing Home to brighten the lives of loves ones in long-term care:
- Magazine or Newspaper Subscriptions
- Kindle or other reader that allows for enlarging print
- Cozy slippers or socks
- Radio or portable audio player
- Telephone and monthly service (if folks are going to call)
- Sheets and pillow cases, for a homey touch
- Dr. El’s book, The Savvy Resident’s Guide (worth a second mention!)
Great gifts from the heart:
- Decorate the room for the holidays (electric candles only)
- Go out to the movies
- Go out to a restaurant, even if it’s just for coffee
- Go on a holiday lights tour
- Bring in your laptop to nursing homes with Internet access and make Skype calls to friends and relatives
- Commit to doing the laundry on a weekly basis
- Organize closets and dresser drawers
7 tips to make your LTC facility shine for holiday family visits (LTL mag online)
Here’s my latest article on Long-Term Living magazine online:
The holiday season is a time when family members are more likely than usual to visit their loved ones in long-term care facilities. Out-of-town relatives may be making their annual visit, or grandchildren off from school might be stopping by to see Grandma or Grandpa. Now’s your chance to roll out the red carpet and show families what nursing homes are really about—caring treatment of their loved ones, an engaged staff that considers family members part of the team and good customer service. Where to start taking advantage of this opportunity to shine? At the front desk…
1. Encourage staff to provide an extra-warm holiday welcome.
LTC staff members are used to the hustle, buzzers, equipment and jargon of facility life, but the environment can be jarring to occasional visitors. Counteract their expectations of a sterile setting by offering a cheerful hello from a holiday-themed lobby, providing directions to their loved ones that show personal knowledge of the resident (“Your aunt is probably at lunch on the first floor right now so you might want to check there before you go to her room.”) and suggesting guests have a look at the visitor’s information provided by the facility. This material can be displayed as informally as a stack of newsletters on the counter, or with the fanfare of a labeled magazine rack filled with the elements outlined below and complete with resident greeter.
2. Reach out to family members through the facility newsletter.
Have relatives sign up to receive the missive so they can be informed of events and happenings all year round—and create a facility newsletter if you haven’t already done so. It’s easy and inexpensive to offer an electronic version, so now is the time to capture those email addresses and save on printing and mailing costs. Deliver helpful information and news consistent with the mission of your facility at a realistic frequency that can be maintained by your staff. It’s much better to offer a quarterly or semi-annual publication that can be delivered regularly than to commit to a monthly contact and not be able to follow through.
3. Offer tips for families to make the most of their visits.
For more, visit LTL magazine online:
7 tips to make your LTC facility shine for holiday family visits
Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents
This post, along with next week’s (stay tuned) and my Planning for the Holidays article, could be printed out and left for family members in a prominent location. Think of it as your gift to every nursing home family.
~Happy Holidays from Dr. El at mybetternursinghome.com
With the holiday season upon us, you may be wondering what would make a good present for a relative in a nursing home. In my efforts to banish the barren nursing home room, photos are still my number one pick for holiday gifts, but here are other suggestions (be sure to label everything!):
- My new book, The Savvy Resident’s Guide: Everything You Wanted to Know About Your Nursing Home Stay But Were Afraid to Ask
- Nice lotions, soaps, and grooming products
- A special bedspread
- A “lap” blanket to wear while sitting in a wheelchair
- Wheelchair accessories (Google it) like cup holders, side pockets, wheel lights, etc.
- Sturdy clothes that can handle being washed in an industrial washing machine
- Colorful bangle bracelets to blend in with nursing home wrist bands
- Plants, or potted flowers, especially if you can come by to water them regularly
Great gifts from the heart:
- Make a commitment to visit once a week, or once a month
- Make a commitment to call once a week, or once a day
- Organize friends and family so that each person has a week to call or visit
- Bring a home-cooked meal
- Organize friends and family to bring a home-cooked meal on a regular basis
Nursing Home Christmas (and other holidays)
My perennial post on the perennial issue around this time of year:
‘Twas the week before Christmas…
And 83-year old Albertha assured me her family was planning to take her home for the holidays.
“Have you talked to them about it? Have they called the social worker to arrange a pass, and meds, and transportation?”
“No,” she replied, “but they’re coming to get me.”
‘Twas the week after Christmas, and Albertha was glum.
“They didn’t show up. I waited all day, but they didn’t come.”
Albertha spent Christmas day watching other people go out on pass and return, and seeing families arriving with food and gifts and smiles.
Now my residents and I start discussing the holidays a few weeks in advance, addressing wishes and practicalities, phoning families if needed, and getting the social worker involved. We set up a hierarchy of plans.
- Plan A: Go home for the day.
- Plan B: Go out to a wheelchair accessible restaurant with family.
- Plan C: Have visitors come with food and go around the corner for coffee, if possible, just to get out.
- Plan D: Stay in with visitors and food.
- Plan E: Talk to family members on the telephone, discussing plans for a future visit, while sitting in a room festooned with cards and holiday decorations. Attend the nursing home holiday party.
- Plan F: Have a small holiday gathering in the room with nursing home friends after the facility party.
Since then, my people know what to expect from the holidays, even if the expectation is that their family might not arrive as hoped.
Helping Your Aging Parent Thrive in their Nursing Home: 11/5/12 @8pm ET
Please join me as I speak with Dale Carter of Transition Aging Parents on her BlogTalkRadio show on Monday, November 5th at 8pm ET. We’ll be discussing my new book, The Savvy Resident’s Guide, and ways in which to help residents thrive in nursing homes. The show will be a great resource for family members in particular, providing tips for helping loved ones adjust to a long-term care stay. If you’re a facility looking for ways to improve relationships with families, let them know about this show which will offer a balanced insider view of nursing homes and how to work within the system to meet the needs of residents.
For more information about the half-hour radio show, visit Helping Your Aging Parent Thrive in their Nursing Home. To listen to the show, visit the page on Monday, November 5th at 8pm ET and click on the arrow button below my photo. To ask questions, use the call-in number listed there.
10/29/12 Update: Due to Hurricane Sandy, we are rescheduling this show for 11/5/12.
Music: Treatment for Dementia (video)
There have been people living with advanced dementia in every nursing home I’ve been in. They sit silently in chairs and recliners, lining the hallways or packed into the day room, where the TV creates the illusion of a pastime. This residents often seem unreachable, locked in their own private worlds, not responding to questions or efforts to involve them in activities. What if we could bring them alive again through music? In this video, Oliver Sacks, MD, provides commentary as music transforms a man with dementia. The clip is part of the documentary, Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory.
MORE Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents
This post, along with last week’s and my Planning for the Holidays article, could be printed out and left for family members in a prominent location. Think of it as your gift to every nursing home family.
To add to last week’s post on Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents, here are more gift ideas from Dr. El at My Better Nursing Home to brighten the lives of loves ones in long-term care:
- Magazine or Newspaper Subscriptions
- Kindle or other reader that allows for enlarging print
- Cozy slippers or socks
- Radio or portable audio player
- Telephone and monthly service (if folks are going to call)
- Sheets and pillow cases, for a homey touch
Great gifts from the heart:
- Decorate the room for the holidays (electric candles only)
- Go out to the movies
- Go out to a restaurant, even if it’s just for coffee
- Go on a holiday lights tour
- Bring in your laptop to nursing homes with Internet access and make Skype calls to friends and relatives
- Commit to doing the laundry on a weekly basis
- Organize closets and dresser drawers
Holiday Gifts for Nursing Home Residents
This post, along with next week’s (stay tuned) and my Planning for the Holidays article, could be printed out and left for family members in a prominent location. Think of it as your gift to every nursing home family.
~Happy Holidays from Dr. El at mybetternursinghome.com
With Hanukkah and Christmas just around the corner, you may be wondering what would make a good present for a relative in a nursing home. In my efforts to banish the barren nursing home room, photos are still my number one pick for holiday gifts, but here are other suggestions (be sure to label everything!):
- Nice lotions, soaps, and grooming products
- A special bedspread
- A “lap” blanket to wear while sitting in a wheelchair
- Wheelchair accessories (Google it) like cup holders, side pockets, wheel lights, etc.
- Sturdy clothes that can handle being washed in an industrial washing machine
- Colorful bangle bracelets to blend in with nursing home wrist bands
- Plants, or potted flowers, especially if you can come by to water them regularly
Great gifts from the heart:
- Make a commitment to visit once a week, or once a month
- Make a commitment to call once a week, or once a day
- Organize friends and family so that each person has a week to call or visit
- Bring a home-cooked meal
- Organize friends and family to bring a home-cooked meal on a regular basis