The Star Tribune Nursing Home Series
The Minneapolis Star Tribune did a several-day series this week on nursing home falls and deaths. A few observations from this end. Am curious to yours:
- The Pain of Loss: The stories clearly convey the deep pain felt when losing a loved one, the frailty that accompanies old age, the intense trust that people put in us as long-term services, the limits of regulation, and the fallibility of human beings.
- Building Trust: Human beings want to deeply trust and feel good about those they turn to for home services, rehab care, Alzheimer’s care and the many other services we provide. Earning, holding and expanding that human bond rides on our daily performance and continually building upon “who we are” as a company so that increasingly people turn to us because they “want” to, not simply because they “need” to.
- Potential Innovations: One intriguing area that deserved more space and discussion devoted to it are potential innovations for fall prevention. The series’ last day mentioned a couple of technologies, including a bladder scanner that Ecumen uses to help prevent falls that occur caused by walking to the bathroom. Are there other technologies out there? Is there something we don’t know about? That would have been interesting to learn.
- Understanding Aging in Radically Different Ways: In 1990 the Star Tribune did a 4-day story on nursing home deaths and the use of restraints. Now almost two decades later we have a 3-day series on falls. The last day of the story was entitled “NO EASY SOLUTIONS.” How true. That makes our vision all the more significant to moving society forward: We envision a world in which aging is viewed and understood in radically different ways. We are integral to solutions.
- Inside Baseball: Finally, some “inside baseball.” The photo on the first day of the series was of an empty wheel chair in a dark, ominous hallway. It was framed by an all-caps headline “DEADLY FALLS.” That photo wasn’t of a Minnesota nursing home. It’s an online photo from Poland. The Star Tribune purchased and placed that photo on the first day to “set a mood” and draw reader attention. Every other photo they ran in the series – including those on the front page - had an extensive caption and featured real people. This one did not. The ominous "stage setting" wasn't necessary. We communicated that to the Star Tribune’s publisher, but have not yet heard back. Today the online newspaper MinnPost wrote about it. The link is here.
Have a good weekend.
iPod: another tool for battling dementia
The connection between music, emotions & memory has long been scientifically documented. Music therapy is an effective intervention for those suffering from brain damage, stroke or dementia, improving mood, cognitive function and accessing long-dormant memories. The Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, Bronx, NY, has taken this a step further by using iPods loaded with a patient's favorite music, and the results are remarkable.See this ABC News video clip.
"I think that the core of who we are is an emotional core, and it's resistant to all the losses of Alzheimer's," said Dr Steven Sparr, a neurologist at Beth Abraham. "Music provides a portal into that emotional core."
The Institute is looking for old working iPods for their program. If you'd like to donate one, please send to the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at 612 Allerton Avenue, Bronx, NY 10467. ~Helen Rickman
Two Caregiving Experiences That Have Inspired Innovation
It's powerful how people's caregiving experiences drive them to share and contribute to make the experiences of others better. Here are two new resources from former family caregivers that have been brought to our attention:
eCare Diary
eCare Diary is a website created based on the founder’s, John Mills, experience as a caregiver for his father who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease. Having spent over 20 years working in the health care system, John found coordinating long term care to be difficult because of the lack of good information.
eCare Diary provides comprehensive information, tools and resources to help those seeking and providing long term care. A unique feature is the Care Diary, a set of online tools designed to make coordination of care and sharing of information easy amongst family members and other caregivers. eCare Diary also has a comprehensive database of nursing home and home care services, guides on long term care financing and information on important health care documents everyone should have.
An Alzheimer's Caregiver Journal
The Seasons of Good-bye: An Alzheimer's Caregiver Journal was compiled and written by Robyn Feld, a woman who walked the Alzheimer's caregiver journal for six years with her mother.
The book contains over 600 anecdotes under 47 topics from caregivers across America who share how they handled the various stages and challenges of dealing with their loved one. Individuals and educators are using the book as a resource to help caregivers and other work more effectively with Alzheimer's patients.
Since dealing with feelings is a huge part of the Alzheimer's caregiver's challenge, each topic has space for journaling or just keeping notes for future reference. Robyn contributes $1 from every sale of the book to Alzheimer's research and support services.
Thank you to Robyn and John.
Ecumen Applauds House for Including CLASS Plan in House Health Reform
Ecumen congratulate the House of Representatives for including The CLASS Plan as part of their historic health care bill passed on Saturday evening. Debate now turns to the Senate.
10 Affordable Places to Retire on the Water
Not one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes made the list of "Affordable Places on the Water to Retire" by U.S. News and World Report. Here's the magazine's top picks:
•Bella Vista, Ark.
•Bismarck, N.D.
•Cape Coral, Fla.
•Dover, Del.
•Dubuque, Iowa
•Fairhope, Ala.
•Lake Jackson, Texas
•Loveland, Colo.
•Richland, Wash.
•Traverse City, Mich.
Toyota Commercial - Something I've Never Seen
The other morning during the TODAY Show (not cheap ad space) an ad ran for the Toyota RAV 4. You know how some commercials portray "real people" or "tell stories?" This ad featured a home care nurse, sharing how she drives a lot for her job. And then it showed her driving in her new Toyota RAV 4 to one of her customer's homes - a senior woman. I've never seen that portrayal in a major TV ad spot.
Good job, Toyota.
Tatoos for all Ages
Photo by Bruce Bisping, Star Tribune
"Getting a tattoo is just something I've always wanted to do; I've seen so many pretty ones," said Millie Gignac, 89, a former benefits director for Sperry Univac, founder of its retirees club and a volunteer for Dakota County social services and the Minnesota Historical Society. "At my age, I thought I'd better get going. After I got mine, the gal next door got one, too, on her back."
Her interest in tattoos might have seemed remarkable even 10 years ago, but no more. Good for Millie. Read more about Millie and "permanent milestones" this Minneapolis Star Tribune story.
Transforming the Aging Experience by Eskaton
Aging is a movement . . .
Eskaton, which provides senior housing and services in Northern California, is Changing Aging in America. For a great resource, we encourage you to download their new vision book: Transforming the Aging Experience. As Todd Murch, their president and CEO wrote to fellow transformationalists:
Unique from many other human conditions, aging does not discriminate. It is as inclusive as it is inevitable. So whether received as a conversation starter, a catalyst or an action plan, Eskaton's confidence in publishing "Transforming the Aging Experience" comes from the perspective that providing for a rapidly aging population is an economic, social, moral and timely imperative.
Interior Design and Senior Housing Development - What Opportunity for Community Connections
There's a reason not just anyone does interior design in new Ecumen senior housing communities. There is an art and science to the labor of love of design. In this post in Ecumen's senior housing development blog, our interior design team member Jill Schroeder shares insights on going "local" to create better design and community.
Our interior design team members add a myriad of very creative, local touches, such as local ranch branding irons incorporated into the stairwells on our recent Idaho project, historic local photos seamlessly integrated throughout our rehabilitation center in Duluth, Minn., and local anglers and other perspectives in the new Trillium Memory Care Community for our client North Country Health Services in Bemidji, Minn.
2009 Purpose Prize Winners Announced by Civic Ventures
This year's winners of The Purpose Prize, a $100,000 award for social innovators in their encore careers, are using a new stage of life to do extraordinary things to improve life for millions of people worldwide.
They include:
- A former telecom executive who helped wire an Appalachian county and brought laid-off factory workers back to profitable farming.
- A professor who invented a way to transform toxic fly ash into green bricks.
- A psychiatrist who helps saves soldiers' lives by offering free mental health treatment.
- A former NASA exec who works to treat alcoholism in Native American communities by reviving old customs and traditions.
- A couple who honor their son, killed on 9/11, by helping to bring mental health services to countries ravaged by terrorism, violence and war.
These people – and five other $50,000 winners – are social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to take on society's biggest challenges. Now in its fourth year, the six-year, $17 million program is the nation's only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life.
The winners and 1,000-plus nominees in 2009 underscore a trend in entrepreneurialism later in life. According to studies by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the 55-64 age group is the most active in creating new ventures. Counter to stereotype, people ages 20-34, the study found, are the least entrepreneurial.
"More than ever, the problems facing our communities, our country and our world call out for creative solutions," said Marc Freedman, co-founder of The Purpose Prize and author of Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life. "Fortunately, we don't run out of ideas as we age.
"Like so many others in this new stage of life between the end of midlife careers and the beginning of true old age, The Purpose Prize winners combine creativity, experience and passion with a desire to do something bigger than themselves," Freedman continued.
The Encore Careers campaign is run by Civic Ventures, a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose. Funding for The Purpose Prize comes from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation.
Sherry Lansing, CEO of the Sherry Lansing Foundation and former chair of Paramount Pictures' Motion Picture Group, chairs the jury that selected this year's winners. The 24 judges are leaders in business, politics, journalism and the nonprofit sector – including actor Sidney Poitier, social entrepreneur Thomas Tierney, former Senator Harris Wofford and journalist Cokie Roberts.
The winners and 49 Purpose Prize Fellows of 2009 will be honored at a Summit on Innovation on Oct. 31 – Nov. 1 at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business' Center on Social Innovation, one of the world's leading academic centers focused on social entrepreneurship.
The 300-plus attendees of the invitation-only event will hear a keynote address from Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Ellen Goodman, and a panel discussion between William Damon (professor of education, director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and author of Nobel Purpose: The Joy of Living a Meaningful Life); Philip Zimbardo (professor emeritus, Stanford University, researcher behind the Stanford Prison Experiment, author of The Lucifer Effect and Time Paradox); and Laura Carstensen (professor of psychology, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and author of A Long Bright Future).
The Purpose Prize is a program of the Encore Careers campaign (www.encore.org), which aims to engage millions of baby boomers in encore careers combining social impact, personal meaning and continued income in the second half of life. The goal: to produce a windfall of human talent to solve society's greatest problems, from education to the environment, health care to homelessness.
Short summaries for all winners are below. Fuller summaries, videos and photographs are online at www.encore.org.