Do You Stay In-the-Know With Ecumen’s Changing Aging News?
Do you receive Ecumen’s Changing Aging News? It’s a monthly email newsletter highlighting thought-provoking information true to our vision of “a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways.” And it summarizes the most significant news about Ecumen’s own work in changing aging. To sign up, go to our “Contact Us” page on the left side and opt-in to subscribe.
Additionally, there are lots of other ways to stay in touch with Ecumen and our ongoing focus on aging issues. You can read our Changing Aging Blog on ecumen.org, and you can follow us of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Plus, each of our communities has its own Facebook page.
Join us. We are changing aging.
Ecumen's Annual Report to the Community
Ecumen is honored by the generous support of private donors, corporations and foundations. Learn more about our fundraising efforts, innovative programs and those who support our changing aging efforts in Ecumen's annual Report to the Community.
Star Tribune Editorial Calls for Awakenings Funding and Expansion Nationwide
A Star Tribune lead editorial on April 5, 2014, said Ecumen Awakenings dementia care program is “effective and compassionate” and “should become the standard of care across the nation as baby boomers swell senior ranks.”
The Star Tribune cited the Leading Age Excellence in Dementia Care Award given last month to Awakenings, which is a pioneering approach to caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias without the use of highly sedating psychotropic drugs.
Noting that less than 2 percent of private philanthropic dollars in Minnesota go to programs for seniors, the Star Tribune editorial urged private foundations to acknowledge the coming age tsunami and help fund expansion of the Awakenings care model nationally.
A Caregiver Support Group Innovation Hits Its Stride
Sometimes a good talk with someone who understands helps relieve the stress of caregiving. In fact, that is the basis of most support groups.
Just pulling the chairs in a circle and sharing frustrations seems to work for many people. Now a California caregiver support group has taken this simple approach to the next level by adding on another simple idea. “Meet and Move” is a support group on the go — walking, talking and sharing.
Rather than sitting, the group hikes in scenic areas, and the exercise offers an added dimension of stress relief.
The New York Times New Old Age Blog tells the story of “Meet and Move” and its enthusiastic participants, who say they are becoming better caregivers by also taking care of themselves.
Ecumen Detroit Lakes Receives Grant to Advance Its Dementia-Friendly Work
Ecumen Detroit Lakes is among 12 Minnesota organizations receiving grants through ACT on Alzheimer’s to help create more dementia-friendly communities.
ACT on Alzheimer’s is a volunteer-driven, statewide collaboration preparing Minnesota for the personal, social and budgetary impacts of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates there are 88,000 Minnesotans age 65 and older with the disease and many thousands more with other dementias.
“As the population of Minnesota ages, it’s becoming increasingly important to build support systems for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s,” said Olivia Mastry, executive lead for ACT on Alzheimer’s and also an Ecumen board member. “Some of the most exciting innovations will emerge from this community work.
“Creating dementia-friendly communities means that caregivers are supported and people with dementia are able to live in the community and stay out of institutional care longer,” Mastry said. “That helps everyone – families and taxpayers who pay for institutional care, employers who have workers trying to balance all the demands of caregiving, and the individuals themselves.”
Janet Green, executive director of Ecumen Detroit Lakes, said: “We have a long history of supporting community members with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers, and this generous grant gives us the ability to even further enhance our programs. What a wonderful recognition in our 50th anniversary year serving the Detroit Lakes community.”
Green said Ecumen Detroit Lakes has had Alzheimer’s support groups for more than 15 years, and started its memory care community more than 20 years ago. “We have a strong commitment to this work and have been in the forefront dealing with dementia care,” Green said. “This grant will allow us to take our work to an even higher level.”
Ecumen Detroit Lakes was part of the initial round of grant recipients and initially will receive $5,800 to implement support programs. The amount could grow to $18,000 based on the success of the programs. For a list of communities receiving grants go to this link.
Ecumen Detroit Lakes’ grant is funded through Blue Plus (an HMO affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota), the Medica Foundation and Greater Twin Cities United Way.
More than 60 organizations are partners in ACT on Alzheimer’s. More information is available at www.actonalz.org
10 Key Questions To Ask When Comparing Assisted Living Communities
Thinking about an assisted living for yourself or a loved one? It’s a major decision requiring lots of due diligence. We take pride in helping you find the right solution for you, regardless of whether you chose one of our communities.
To help you start the process, below are 10 questions to get you thinking as you start to shop and compare. It’s just a sampling. There are many more questions you need to ask. For a more complete list go to Ecumen.org’s Resource section under assisted living.
1. Is the community attractive, inviting, and in a safe area close to important amenities?
2. Do the employees and residents appear happy and engaged?
3. Is this site easy to navigate, well-lit, comfortable and clean?
4. Does the site make it easy for me to talk with/interview other residents to get their insights on living there?
5. Can I see myself enjoying living here and doing the things that I enjoy most?
6. Is the staff accommodating and friendly?
7. What type of training do the staff members receive?
8. What types of amenities are available (i.e. media center, beauty/barber salon, library, exercise equipment, computer, convenience shop, deli, etc.).
9. Are dining areas convenient to the living spaces, and are there choices for dining times and menu items?
10. How much could my costs increase if I need more services?
See more questions to ask at this link. Or call one of our Ecumen locations to talk one-on-one about your specific needs.
Vital Aging Network Hosting Mayday Celebration
The Vital Aging Network, a nonprofit helping people 50+ live connected and vital lives, will host a Mayday Celebration May 1, 2014, to welcome spring with cool jazz, socializing and a silent auction.
The event starts at 6 p.m.at Bachman’s Heritage Room at 6010 Lyndale Avenue South in Richfield. The Jim Ouska Trio will provide music.
Tickets are $15 per person. You can register online here, or go to vital-aging-network.org for more information.
The Vital Aging Network's mission is to promote self-determination, civic engagement, and personal growth for people as they age — through education, leadership development and opportunities for connection.
A Hero at Ecumen-Managed Colonial Manor Balaton Receives National Honor
Matt Schons, who works as a cook for the food service at Ecumen-managed Colonial Manor Balaton in Balaton, Minn., ran into a burning house after a gas explosion and saved the life of a two-year-old girl in September 2012. Last week, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Civilian Heroism. The prestigious medal is given throughout the United States and Canada to those who risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others. Only 22 medals were awarded this year.
The girl he saved was the daughter of a staff member at the care center and the granddaughter of Matt’s boss.
“Matt is really a great guy,” said Colonial Manor Balaton Administrator Chuck Ness. “We have a bona fide hero in our midst. This is a really big deal.”
Fox 9 News tells the story in this video:
Church as an Alternative — by Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar
The usual late afternoon snowstorm had mercifully subsided. From behind the steering wheel of my car, it was theoretically possible to make out traffic signals again and approaching cars with their headlights blazing.
In one of the distant Minneapolis suburbs an unpretentious little sign by the roadside of a chapel offered the traveler an invitation:
“Try Church Again”
There was no elaboration. There really wasn’t room for it on the sign.
Smaller churches today are hurting. It’s not exactly a secret.
The church sign’s suggestion had nothing much to do with the unsocial behavior of the winter of 2014. It was an appeal for passing motorists to consider the outside possibility that a return to church might make life more sensible again; and if not that, at least a little more orderly....
I would be among the last to argue. Church today is part of my life. But you probably need to know that I have not fallen into the clutches of the Amalgamated Ministerial Societies of Minnesota and its neighbors. I’ve spent substantial years on both sides of the question of whether organized religion makes sense or is relevant. I pick no fights with those who say it is not.
But in later life, especially, I find church-- beyond its other gifts—is, well, a renewal.
As a kid I grew up in the Catholic Church. In many ways the years were endearing. I’m still ready to break out in tears when Notre Dame loses. But I fell away entering adulthood, and later felt the pain and anger, along with ,so many others in the revelations of predatory priests—although I was aware there were and are thousands of priests who serve their church and its members faithfully and unconditionally. And I joined millions in cheering the arrival of Pope Francis from Argentina.
But I’m alive today because a church pastor I’d known distantly through my newspaper work invited me to attend services with his Lutheran congregation. I’d been drinking, looking for stability in my life and wasn’t smart enough to know that it was impossible unless I realized something had to change.
It did, with the intervention of a traffic cop, a hard-headed judge, my family and a reaffirmation of belief. After awhile I felt at ease probing the mysteries in my new comfort with faith and thought I would take some of those mysteries and imagine—in a small book I wrote—how God himself might respond to the usual questions about the dilemmas of faith. I created visualization. What would I ask God if God granted a one hour interview?
It would have to be a God with whom I could converse, and probably in the English language, this being a limitation of my human condition. In this imaginary meeting, God arrived in comfortable clothing and a reasonably cordial attitude, reminding me that He heard all of those Notre Dame prayers but had to be just as fair to the folks at Southern Methodist, to say nothing of Brigham Young in Utah. Pleasantly He granted me an hour. We talked about my fallibilities, but He suggested that I was still far from being a basket case.
I found this comforting. I brought up some of the mysteries one encounters trying to square faith with the realities of today’s world. After which God said, “One problem you have when you talk about mysteries of faith is that being human you have a limited mind.” This I acknowledged. “Don’t complicate it,” He said. I said I wouldn’t in the future. He smiled pleasantly and said, “I’ll be seeing you,” a farewell I viewed with a certain shaky optimism. We left, you would hope, on good terms.
One doesn’t want to get preachy entering the mixed bogs of faith, belief, worship and the unknown. What I know about the hereafter is minimal. I know that my renewal of faith and belief needs affirmation and that a place where I can receive it is in a gathering where I can raise my voice with others in a hymn, exchange greetings and, every now and then, hear the choir sing Mozart’s “Ave Verum” — a lovely motet he wrote six months before he died, music his wife cherished. It offers a serenity, in that setting, that is altogether beautiful.
For some, it may be beautiful enough to try church again.
Duluth News Tribune Tells the Ecumen Awakenings Story
In today’s Duluth News Tribune, reporter John Lundy gives a sensitive and compelling account of how Awakenings works to calm dementia without drugs. Shelley Matthes, RN, Ecumen’s director of quality improvement, tells Lundy: “Our job is to identify things that bring people to a place of peace and joy.”