Veterans Get Empowered Outside of Nursing Home With Foster-Care
"You're seeing a bit of a culture shift in understanding how care can happen.
- Kathryn West, who operates the Veterans Affairs Foster Care Program for Seniors
Interesting story in yesterday's Saint Paul Pioneer Press by Jeremy Olson about how the Department of Veterans Affairs has a new foster care program that is empowering seniors who need assistance, but not the intensive care of a nursing home, to live with foster care families. It looks at how one particular veteran Fred Gaertner has thrived. So interesting how a little different thinking can improve lives.
A Michael Jackson Tribute for the Ages - It Will Make Your Day
Ecumen co-blogger Helen Rickman sent over this YouTube videol today with the the title "It will make your day." It does. Enjoy. It's courtesy of three residents at Leisure World in Seal Beach, Calif.
The 20 Basics From Ritz-Carlton - Have You Experienced Them?
Ritz-Carlton has a brand promise - "Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen" - and their 20 Basics of Service. I've never stayed in a Ritz-Carlton. Has any Changer Ager stayed there? Did you feel that they delivered on their commitment to service?
BRAND PROMISE
At The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., "We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen." This motto exemplifies the anticipatory service provided by all staff members.
THREE STEPS OF SERVICE
1. A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest name, if and when possible.
2. Anticipation and compliance with guest needs.
3. Fond farewell. Give them a warm good-bye and use their names, if and when possible.
20 BASICS
1. The Credo is the principal belief of our Company. It must be known, owned and energized by all.
2. Our Motto is "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen." As service professionals, we treat our guests and each other with respect and dignity.
3. The Three Steps of Service are the foundation of Ritz-Carlton hospitality. These steps must be used in every interaction to ensure satisfaction, retention and loyalty.
4. The Employee Promise is the basis for our Ritz-Carlton work environment. It will be honored by all employees.
5. All employees will successfully complete annual Training Certification for their position.
6. Company objectives are communicated to all employees. It is everyone's responsibility to support them.
7. To create pride and joy in the workplace, all employees have the right to be involved in the planning of the work that affects them.
8. Each employee will continuously identify defects (MR BIV) throughout the Hotel.
9. It is the responsibility of each employee to create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met.
10. Each employee is empowered. For example, when a guest has a problem or needs something special you should break away from your regular duties, address and resolve the issue.
11. Uncompromising levels of cleanliness are the responsibility of every employee.
12. To provide the finest personal service for our guests, each employee is responsible for identifying and recording individual guest preferences.
13. Never lose a guest. Instant guest pacification is the responsibility of each employee. Whoever receives a complaint will own it, resolve it to the guest's satisfaction and record it.
14. "Smile - we are on stage." Always maintain positive eye contact. Use the proper vocabulary with our guests. (Use words like - "Good Morning," "Certainly," "I'll be happy to," and "My pleasure.")
15. Be an ambassador of your Hotel in and outside of the work place. Always talk positively. Communicate any concerns to the appropriate person.
16. Escort guests rather than pointing out directions to another area of the Hotel.
17. Use Ritz-Carlton telephone etiquette. Answer within three rings and with a "smile." Use the guest's name when possible. When necessary, ask the caller "May I place you on hold?" Do not screen calls. Eliminate call transfers whenever possible. Adhere to voice mail standards.
18. Take pride in and care of your personal appearance. Everyone is responsible for conveying a professional image by adhering to Ritz-Carlton clothing and grooming standards.
19. Think safety first. Each employee is responsible for creating a safe, secure and accident free environment for all guests and each other. Be aware of all fire and safety emergency procedures and report security risks immediately.
20. Protecting the assets of a Ritz-Carlton Hotel is the responsibility of every employee. Conserve energy, properly maintain our hotels and protect the environment.
What Does Avatar Have to Do With Aging in Place?
Longtime Forrester Research analyst Liz Boehm and contributor to Aging in Place Technology Watch ponders the question.
New Poll on Health Care Provides Lesson for Going About Change
One of the details of health care we've been focused upon at Ecumen is The CLASS Act. It's a good idea that will come back even if health care reform goes away. There are other good ideas wrapped in the health care bills, too. But few of us know about them.
Where would health care be today if we actually would have had a national discussion of those ideas rather than a free-for-all shoutfest? What if there were 5 points for us to focus upon instead of vagueness? Chances are the President would be highlighting the passage of health care reform in tonight's State of the State Address.
A new poll by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation finds that Americans are divided over congressional health reform proposals, but also that large shares of people, including skeptics, become more supportive after being told about many of the major provisions in the bills. The poll also finds that even after a year of substantial media coverage of the health reform debate, many Americans remain unfamiliar with key elements of the major bills passed by the House and Senate . . .
Information . . . made easy to understand . . . and shared with people . . . is a powerful thing . . .
Putting the Wide Angle on Aging - A New Speakers' Series at Minneapolis Library
Ecumen greatly enjoys working with the neighbors on the Minneapolis Riverfront who have created the Mill City Commons community. They've started a cool new speakers series in partnership with the Library Foundation of Hennepin County. It's called age: wide<ngle
The series begins Tuesday, Feb. 2nd at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:15 p.m.) and occurs every Tuesday evening at Pohlad Hall at the Central Library on 300 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Here's a brief sketch on the Feb. 2nd speakers. Read more about upcoming speakers here:
Feb. 2, Mary K. Baumann & Will Hopkins, Visual Trends
The extensive portfolio of design firm Hopkins/Baumann includes magazine work with LIFE, LOOK, PEOPLE, ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST, FORBES, FOOD & WINE, BODY & SOUL, L'EXPRESS (France) and CLAUDIA (UK). Hopkins and Baumann have been tracking popular graphic trends and will discuss what it takes to keep pace with our fast-moving visual culture.
How to Help Older Adults in Haiti
A horrid description follows of the plight of a older adults in Haiti from Michelle Faul of the Canadian Press . . . Below is information on how you can help
On the grounds of the Municipal home for the elderly in Port Au Prince, Haiti last Thursday, old people lay listlessly in beds out in the open with sheets smeared with excrement, surrounded by hundreds of people living in makeshift tents. One man wore just a T-shirt, his private parts exposed. A woman, just skin and bones, held her head. A body lay in the debris of the nearby nursing home.
"What can you say?" said Louis Belanger, a spokesman for Oxfam Great Britain. "It is very often the case that the strongest and fittest get help. ...
The older people of Haiti are still in dire need of help and will be for the foreseeable future. If you haven’t given already, please consider donating to HelpAge International (HAI).
The International Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (IAHSA) and HAI are global collaborative partners dedicated to helping elders in the developing world. HAI is the only relief and development organization focused on the needs of older persons in developing countries and has had a presence in Haiti for eight years. They work with local partners to support local people and use local resources to build long term capacity and reduce dependency.
HAI is uniquely situated to meet the needs of Haitian older people on the ground, right now. That is why IAHSA and Ecumen's national trade association AAHSA are joining forces with HAI. Their efforts will address the specific needs of older people – food, water, medicine and mobility aids, emotional support and shelter. HelpAge partners with several nonprofits on the ground in Haiti to help older adults. Their partners help Haitians receive all sorts of resources, from water to healthcare.
You can learn more and contribute here.
Martha Stewart Opines on The CLASS Act
Martha Stewart writes today on long-term care and shares her support for The CLASS Act as part of health care reform.
Vital Aging Forum: Transforming Long-Term Care Financing, You're Invited, Feb. 9th
Tuesday - February 9, 2010
10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Rondo Community Outreach Library, 461 N. Dale St. St. Paul, MN 55103
Presenters:
LaRhae Knatterud, MN Department of Human Services (moderator)
Patti Cullen, Care Providers of Minnesota
Stacy Becker, Citizens League
Thomas Devine, DAVID Agency
Finding effective and affordable new models in long-term care financing will require changes in both individual behavior and policies. Come to this forum to understand the issues and opportunities for long-term care in the future.
Patti Cullen will explore current and future long-term care models. Stacy Becker will talk about aging-in-place and, particularly, how these models deal with memory care. LaRhae Knatterud will offer the state perspective of long-term care policies and the direction it plans to go. Tom Devine, will discuss long-term care insurance.
Kathryn Roberts - The Woman Behind Ecumen
Twin Cities Business Magazine features an interesting article this month on Ecumen president and CEO Kathryn Roberts. A lot of neat things have happened under her leadership. Read the full article here.