Filed under: caregivers, healthcare, older adults | Tags: deificient free, ohio department of health, older adults, state survey
One of the highest confirmations of quality service is for a healthcare facility to receive a deficiency-free survey from the State Department of Public Health. Maple Knoll Village is pleased to have been found deficiency-free on its 2012 annual state survey. This is an unusually outstanding accomplishment. The achievement is made possible by the daily commitment and dedication of an exceptional administration and staff.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: volunteers, animals, Retirement Community, Skilled Nursing, hospice care, pet therapy, pets, hospital visits, nursing home, therapy
Maple Knoll Village recognizes that visiting with an animal can improve your spirits and we try to make sure our residents receive this pet therapy as often as possible! A growing body of scientific research is showing that pets can make an individual feel happier and healthier.
This explains the increasing use of animals in settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, jails and mental institutions. Dogs and cats are most common. However, birds, fish and even horses are used.
Maple Knoll Village uses pet therapy and pet visits in independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing. We have resident and non resident volunteers who bring pets in for weekly visits. Our skilled nursing residents have shown great improvement and they are even able to brighten the mood for our hospice patients.
A few benefits of this kind of pet interaction are:
Physical Health:
· lowers blood pressure
· improves cardiovascular health
· releases endorphins (oxytocin) that have a calming effect
· diminishes overall physical pain
· the act of petting produces an automatic relaxation response, reducing the amount of medication some folks need
Mental Health:
· lifts spirits and lessens depression
· decreases feelings of isolation and alienation
· encourages communication
· provides comfort
· increases socialization
· reduces boredom
· lowers anxiety
· helps children overcome speech and emotional disorders
· creates motivation for the client to recover faster
· reduces loneliness
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alzheimer's, Aromatherapy, Charitable Giving, Dementia, Foundation, Memory Support, Retirement Community, Retirement Living, Skilled Nursing
Residents living in Pathways, a memory and dementia support unit within Maple Knoll Communities use aromatherapy to help ease their everyday lives.
With grants from The Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation, an organization that provides financial aid to charities concentrated in the Ohio and Michigan area, aromatherapy essential oils are now being dispersed in the common area of the Pathways Memory Support Unit. A small nebulizer releases them intermittently during designated times throughout the weekday.
In March, the first step of the aromatherapy process began by dispersing lavender and pink grapefruit essential oils. Studies show that aromatherapy with lavender oil can help reduce agitation for aging patients who experience agitation and irritability due to dementia. It also can help stabilize the mood, reduce anxiety and calm the nervous system while helping improve concentration.
Pink grapefruit can be extremely helpful in easing tension from daily stress. It can also uplift emotions and balance a depleted central nervous system.
Aromatherapy and essential oils are beneficial to Pathways residents. The brain establishes a strong connection between certain smells, triggering emotions and memories, responding to it in a predictable way.
Plans exist for offering additional therapeutic oils, custom blends and various modalities in the future.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Donations, Fund Development, Hospice, Medical, Retirement Community, Senior Living
Maple Knoll Village just opened The Richard Neubauer, M.D. and John Hughes Hospice Center. Thanks to generous donations by Mr. John Hughes and Dr. Richard Neubauer we were able to open a Hospice Center featuring ten deluxe rooms and a large family lounge. The Grand Opening Reception was held on May 1st with a huge attendance! For more information on The Richard Neubauer, M.D. and John Hughes Hospice Center at Maple Knoll Village please call 513.782.2657.
Chairman of the board (Steve Brash), Maple Knoll CEO (Jim Formal), Hospice Donors (Richard Neubauer and John Hughes) and our head UC Geriatric Doctor (Dr. Greg Warshaw) handle the ribbon cutting.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Child Center, Inter-generational, Montessori, Older Adult, Retirement Community, School, Senior Citizen
Intergenerational Relationships are becoming more popular these days as people are seeing the benefits that they bring. Relationships and activities between older adults and children serve an important role in the life of children who may not have the benefit of grandparents or elderly person in their lives. By bringing older adults into the classroom and developing lesson plans that foster this emotional growth, early childhood educators are opening the doors to more than one benefit for their students. The older adults involved in these programs benefit as well. By allowing relationships to form, getting out of their same routines and feeling useful in the lives of others, older adults are able to regain self-esteem.
Maple Knoll Communities and The Maple Knoll Montessori Child Center have long seen the benefits of these interactions. The Maple Knoll Montessori Child is a Montessori pre-primary program for children 3 through 6 years of age that is located on the campus of Maple Knoll Village, a continuing care retirement community. The Child Center was developed in 1977 as a part of the original plans of Maple Knoll Village to integrate the community on a generational basis to help provide a comfortable environment where persons of varied ages could be present together. The Intergenerational Program provides meaningful and continual activities and experiences that are mutually beneficial and developmentally appropriate for both the younger and older persons involved.
We understand that the older adults living in our community thrive on these activities. Through this program we have realized that:
• Older adults have a need to nurture and children need to be nurtured.
• Children have a need to learn and older adults have the need to teach.
• Older adults want to share cultural customs and children are just beginning to develop their cultural identity.
• Older adults want to leave a legacy and children have a need to be connected to a previous generation.
• The promotion of personal relationship with elders and positive attitudes toward the aging.
• Intergenerational programs help young children develop empathy and give them a concrete understanding of physical disabilities
One parent summed up these experiences by saying “The kids gain so much as well….a grandparent figure, exposure (and reduced fear) to walkers, wheelchairs and people who like to ruffle their hair. These “grand-friends” are kind, patient, and have a wealth of information to impart”. It’s clear that taking the time to build intergenerational relationships among young children and older adults is an important aspect of early childhood education as well as an important part of daily activities for these residents.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Choosing a CCRC, Non Profit, retirement, retirement homes, Retirement Living
How to Choose a Retirement Community
Getting older is a fact of life. But how and where you do it is not. There are a variety of options out there for you. As experts in the retirement industry we would like to help you become confident in your search for these options. Below are a few tips that we would like to share.
- Start to look before there is an actual need for you to live in a community. Do it while you are still able to deal with this major life change physically, emotionally, and mentally.
- Only look at Continuing Care Retirement Communities. This means they have Independent Living, Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing. You may not need extra care now but might down the road. By choosing a Continuing Care Retirement Community from the beginning you would not have to worry about another search or moving to a different facility.
- Only look at not for profit communities. A not for profit community, such as Maple Knoll, has a benevolent care program that assists residents when they financially deplete their resources. A for profit community would most likely ask a resident to move out when they depleted their resources. You can never be certain what the future holds for you but a not for profit community will help to ease that burden by providing you with this support system.
- Early research and numerous tours of a facility will allow you to make the right decision and when it is good for you. Ask family members and friends about their experiences and any referrals they may have. While touring ask to speak with a resident that lives there. Request to attend an activity or sample the food to see how you like it.
- When touring a retirement community you may not always be aware of what questions you should ask. Write down what is important to you and make sure you ask if the facility has those amenities.
- As you prepare for your retirement search you may encounter some terms you are unfamiliar with. Do your research on common retirement community terms.
- We also understand that the price of retirement living can seem overwhelming at first glance. Once you break that price down most often you will discover that is around if not less than what you pay for your current lifestyle. Write out your current expenses and compare that to what is included in your monthly fee. For example, our sheet lists what is included at Maple Knoll and what you might pay for separately now. We would be happy to send this out to you!
Selecting the right retirement community for you is an important decision that involves more than just choosing a floor plan. Hopefully these tips will help you along your journey. If a Maple Knoll Retirement Counselor can further assist you please do not hesitate to contact us at (513)782-2717 or visit us online at mapleknoll.org.
Filed under: benefits, healthcare, Resident Life, walking, wellness | Tags: exercise, health, healthy, immune system, retirement; older adult, senior, wellness
You know it’s important, right? But do you know why it is important? The benefits of working out are many and what is even more amazing is that it doesn’t take forever to reap the benefits of exercise. The benefits are nearly immediate!
During your workout, your lungs get stronger as they practice the expansion and retraction required by breathing a little harder. Your heart is getting stronger by pumping blood to all the working muscles of the body. While working out, your motivation to improve your physical body is aided by the endorphins generated by the workout. (Endorphins are mood enhancing chemicals in your brain). Moderate exercise elevates proteins that help bolster your immune system, protecting you from colds and flu (the effect last for 24 hours, so you need to continue exercising for prolonged protection).
Within one day of starting exercising, you are adding lean muscle, increasing your metabolism and increasing the blood flow to the brain. Within one week of exercise, your risk of diabetes goes down, you are fitter and leaner and you are often slimmer. You may also be sleeping better! And with one year of a regular exercise program, it is a well ingrained habit. You can’t stand missing! Your heart rate is lower. Your cells are superefficient at breaking down fat to use it as fuel. Your cancer risk is lowered. And you are adding healthier years to your life!
So now you know why it is important to exercise! And that is just the tip of the iceberg! Join us at The Hemsworth Wellness Center to learn more!
Filed under: caregivers, healthcare, medicaid, older adults, Uncategorized, wellness | Tags: health education, Home Health, medical care, non medical care
There are home health options available to everyone in our nation. You do not have to be a certain level of income to receive the best care out there. When deciding if home health is right for you or a loved one first you need to educate yourself. Home health care can be skilled or unskilled and is provided by nurses, therapists, social workers, or personal care aides. This care as dictated by medical insurance plans. Per traditional Medicare skilled home health care is covered at 100% EXCEPT if person has a Medicare Advantage plan which is one administered through a private insurance company and they may have a co-payment and/or deductible
Per Medicare guidelines, a physician’s order for the care is required, there must be a skilled need (something that requires the skills of a professional) & the person must be home bound which means they only leave the home for short, intermittent periods or for medical appointments or treatments that they can not get at home. Home care can also be non-skilled which means it does not require a professional and is provided by an aide level person. This would be for homemaking, bathing, meal prep, shopping, laundry, etc. This type care is NOT covered by medical insurance, but may be covered by long term care insurance, ESP, PASSPORT, etc., but must often is paid for out of pocket.
