Golf as Alzheimer’s Therapy - When Memories Slip, Golf Sticks
So important to memory care is digging deep, learning about people as individuals, their routines, interests, passions, finding connections and sparking and empowering them. There’s still a lot of living to do when you have Alzheimer’s.
You have to check out this article Ecumen colleague Scott Allan just shared from the Wall Street Journal. Our colleagues at Silverado Senior Living in California are using golf as an Alzheimer’s therapy tool.
John Daly (not the pro golfer, but director of the University of California at San Diego’s geriatric fellowship program) says skills like swinging a golf club or playing a musical instrument are often some of the last memories people with Alzheimer’s lose.
What a great new innovation using one of the world’s oldest games.
Dancing With Ginger Rogers by Jim Klobuchar
A great new post by Ecumen guest blogger Jim Klobuchar. You can read about Jim here and his other Changing Aging posts here.
On the vintage movie channel the other day, a woman I met more than 30 years ago swept across the screen in an out of the arms of Fred Astaire.
You could not have mistaken Ginger Rogers, the actress and dancer. I last saw her on spring day in downtown Minnepolis after she held my arm mischievously on her way to an elevator in the old Sheraton Ritz Hotel. A telephone call interrupted my undivided vigil inn front of the television set, and I had to leave it to talk in another room. When I returned Ginger Rogers had danced out of the kitchen, and the film was over.
My disappointment was real, but it invited a few moments of remembrance. People who have spent a lifetime in daily journalism, as I did, frequently are asked about the most memorable celebrity in their experience. If you’d spent 45 years in it, the range could be broad-kings, presidents, generals, quarterbacks and more. I invariably answer the question with "Ginger Rogers," and a story.
She was the visiting guest at a downtown Minneapolis style show in which I was the co-host. We did an interview on stage and she made one or two cameo appearances later, but we had time to chat backstage. She was a delight, animated and curious. She was staying for another two days to promote a fashion line and asked if I knew of a jogging route downtown where she could run safely. Did I know of someone who would like to be her jogging partner. I said I thought she’d never ask.
I showed up in the hotel lobby the next morning in my burgundy jogging trunks and t-shirt. She flowed out of the elevator looking gorgeous in her running suit, and men in the lobby melted. I gave her my arm en route to the exit. Scores of eyes peered at the scene in the lobby in astonishment. We jogged up the Nicollet Mall, around tiny Loring Lake and returned down the Mall, where she stopped to admire a storefront. The day was warm and glorious. People began gathering. Impulsively she asked if I’d like to do a few steps. Naturally, I was horrified. "Ginger Rogers, I dance like a sleepwalking rhino." She scoffed, so we danced. The crowd applauded. She beamed and cuffed me on the cheek.
At our breakfast snack at the hotel she was a marvelous companion. Near the end I said, "the movie of yours that I..." She laughed and interrupted. "You liked 'I’ll Be Seeing You.' How did she know? "Fellows your age," she said, "always ask about that movie," It was a love story with Joseph Cotton, which I saw as a 16-year-old and was inflamed by the possibilities of romantic love. "I’ll bet you remember some of the lyrics," she teased. I nodded. She cued me and I talked it through: "I’ll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places, that this heart of mine embraces" I paused. She finished "In that small café, the park across the way...the childeren’s carousel...the chestnut tree, the wishing well." The entire dining room, eavesdropping, lit with applause. When she died 20 years later, I wrote, remembering how she left the table. She tweaked my arm and said "I’ll be seeing you." And so she might.
10 Tips on Developing Senior Housing for Behavioral Alzheimer’s
Developing Senior Housing for Behavioral Alzheimer’s
Approximately 5.2 million people in the United States live with Alzheimer’s, and 10 million baby boomers are anticipated to develop Alzheimer’s in their lifetime. But there’s more that today’s health care, senior housing professionals and communities need to plan for …
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Janelle Meyers |
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Debbie Manthey |
<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->Increasingly, senior housing professionals are seeing a subset of Alzheimer’s: when the affected person develops substantial and challenging behaviors, including screaming, biting, throwing things, or exhibiting aggressive sexual behavior.
Though they occur in a relatively small percentage of people, these behaviors can be devastating to their families, hurtful to those around them, and frustrating to senior housing professionals who care for them.
Many senior housing providers are forced to keep these residents heavily medicated or discharge them to a mental health hospital unit. There’s a better way.
Download in our Successful Aging Library Debbie Manthey’s and Janelle Meyer’s 10 insights on developing senior housing for behavioral Alzheimer’s and dementia. These Ecumen leaders share their tips from the work they did in developing Ecumen’s Summit House in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota to serve people living with the extreme challenges of behavioral Alzheimer’s and dementia.
This is a must-read for health care and senior services organizations seeking to serve people with behavioral Alzheimer’s. This is not easy work, but Debbie and Janelle share how incredibly rewarding it is to find a better way.
Ageless Mentoring: Errie Ball, Bobby Jones and The Masters
Seventy-two men played in the first Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, in 1934 and only one is left -- 98-year-old Errie Ball, an instructor at Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart, Fla.
What keeps excellence growing? Someone willing to share and someone willing to learn. Even the mentors have mentors.
Errie’s first-person insights on that first Masters and his mentor Bobby Jones in an article he penned last week for Golf.com feel as good as a straight drive down the middle.
How to Put Your Passion Into Action: Volunteering Outside the Box
For our Twin Cities readers:
The Vital Aging Network is holding a forum entitled "Putting Your Passion into Action:" Volunteering Outside the Box. It will be Tuesday, April 14 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Rosepoint, 255 Hamline Ave. North, Roseville, Minn., 55113. More details here.
Steve Cannon: The Old Wrangler and a Gem of a Man
Steve Cannon Photo: Pavek Museum of Broadcasting (Visit for audio clips of Steve Cannon’s legendary work)
A couple of weeks ago, I walked into my house after work and the answering machine was blinking.
Here was the baritone message from Steve Cannon:
"Hey, Eric, wow you have a fast talker there (my wife, who recorded our household greeting, is known for her sprinter-like messages). Hey, it’s the Old Wrangler here, give me a call my boy."
Hearing that booming message you’d think Steve Cannon’s voice would never die.
Several years ago, I first contacted Steve, the legendary WCCO-AM drive time talent and former Cowboy Wrangler Steve on Twin Cities TV in the 1950s, about some possible voiceover work. He invited me to lunch at Perkins.
We never did the voiceover work, but it started a series of long get togethers. I’d throw out a subject, and he’d run with it, seamlessly moving from story to story. That must have been what it was like passing to Michael Jordan. I just threw it out and he’d score again and again.
For a time I lost touch with Steve (you know, life). One January day my colleague Steve Ordahl and I were talking and he mentioned how much he enjoyed listening to Steve Cannon. I walked back to my office, found Cannon’s number and called him. We picked up right where we left off and got together for lunch.
But this time Steve had a story I didn’t want to hear: inoperable stomach cancer. But, you almost didn’t take it seriously, because even though he was dealing with pain and death staring him down, Steve’s voice, passion, spirit and stories kept coming as they always had.
I told him I’d be back. "You better hurry up, time is ticking," he said with a matter of fact smile. We were to get together for St. Patrick’s Day. I was going to bring the burritos and he’d provide the chicken noodle soup. I called and he apologized. He said he wasn’t feeling well. We needed to reschedule. I called last week to check in. His wife said he wasn’t able to talk. I knew. Steve died last night at his home with his family around him.
Steve, a son of the Iron Range, told me once about how his Mom aged well, always having vibrant people around her and staying engaged in life. Steve did the same. In his early 80s, he was the DUDE. This year he was broadcasting on WCCO on Saturday mornings. He loved sports and a friend drove Steve to see the new Twins and Gophers stadiums rising. He was so excited about all the changes happening in this world and wanted to see how things turned out. He met his wife when they were both students at the U, and he’d tell you she just keeps getting more beautiful every day. He enjoyed watching "The Office" and "Mad Men." And he devoured news and shared his wry commentary on it with his friends. Steve lived fully as he died.
Thanks for everything, Old Wrangler. Look forward to catching up down the road. No doubt you’ll have some great new stories to tell.
John Whack Hyder, Hoops and Successful Aging: Insights from The Hardwood
It’s NCAA Tourney Time, so we’re talking some hoops and aging with someone who knows both well - Tom Hyder. Tom is coordinator of Minnesota’s Vital Aging Network. He previously served as head of the ElderCare Rights Alliance in the Twin Cities and head of the Area Agency on Aging in Corvallis, Oregon. But before that, this son of the South played guard for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, where his father, the legendary John Carl "Whack" Hyder, served as head coach from 1951-1973 and coached Tom from 1969-1973.
Coach Hyder, who died in 2003, at age 90, was dubbed "The Kentucky Killer." In 1955, the Hyder-led Yellow Jackets made sports history, ending coach Adolph Rupp’s and the University of Kentucky Wildcats' 129 home-game winning streak. Hyder coached in the NCAA Tourney and was twice named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year before Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. But get this - in 22 years as head coach, only one of his players left Georgia Tech without a degree. In a high-pressure sport, Coach Hyder, was a cool, calm presence. Here’s more with Tom:
As a kid, and as a major college player, you’ve had access to some great hoops memories, can you share some of those?
My earliest memories as a child are from an era in college athletics that no longer exists. Back in the late 50’s, many college coaches were friends and socialized with each other. I remember when Press Maravich (father of the great Pistol Pete) and the head coach from the University of Georgia (arch enemies of everyone who went to Georgia Tech) would come to our house, have dinner with my father and stay up late telling stories. That would never happen in today’s world of sports.
There’s more to the Adolph Rupp story than you mentioned. Tech played Kentucky twice in 1955. Before the second game in Tech’s dilapidated old gym, Rupp asked my dad to meet with him and the Kentucky team, and he asked him "what’s your aim in basketball?" My father replied "First, for our kids to lead a good, moral life. Next I want them to graduate. Third, when it came time, I wanted them to concentrate on basketball." Rupp loudly told him, "You can’t do that. Boys aren’t that way any more." That conversation happened two hours before Tech beat the national champion Kentucky team for the second time that year.
The first college game in which I played made history. It was 1970 when there was a no-dunk rule in college put in place to equalize Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) from UCLA. The rule went into effect 20 minutes before the game started, so no dunks were allowed in warm-ups. We played Oklahoma City University whose 7 foot center dunked it before the game and was called for a technical foul. We started the game shooting a foul shot and were one point ahead when the game started. We won by one point.
Since I was 6 ft 7 inches and played guard, I would often defend the best player on a team. The toughest assignment I clearly remember was attempting to guard All American David Thompson from North Carolina State. He was 6' 6", averaged 36 points per game, and could literally touch the top of a backboard. To make it harder, they had a 7' 4" center named Tom Burleson who would set picks for him the entire game. The game was nationally televised, so I especially wanted to play well. We lost. I held Thompson to 36 that night.
My father retired from coaching in 1973, the year I graduated. My proudest moment in sports was our last home game that year against arch-rival Georgia. They had 5 high school All Americans on their team and by far the better record, but there was no way we were going to lose. We all played for my father that night. Everyone on our team had the best game of their career. That’s the only game I ever played and never missed a shot. I scored 10. We won by 10.
What was it like to play for your dad?
The pressure was always on. I wasn’t a natural athlete, so I would push myself to become a good player. I would always stay after practice to shoot more and run extra laps. I realized later that much of that effort was to please him and try to meet what I thought was his expectation of me. It made me a better player, but there definitely was a stress on our relationship. We weren’t able (or didn’t know how) to talk about it until after he retired and I graduated. I’m very thankful we talked it through and grew and stayed close.
Your dad lived to 90, how did he age?
My father was the embodiment of vital aging. After he retired, he stayed active with Georgia Tech as an ambassador and would speak often at high school athletic events. For years he was involved with the Atlanta Tip-Off Club, sponsor of the annual Naismith Award given to the top college player each year. Most important to him, however, was his volunteer work at his church and delivering meals to the home-bound. Later in life he was the fulltime caregiver for my mother, who was at home in a coma for two years before she died (one day before her 90th birthday). He was as faithful and present to her every single day, as he had been to every other endeavor in his life. I never heard him complain. In fact, I never heard him utter a curse word his entire life. The strongest phrase he ever used, when he was really upset, was "cheese and crackers!" He lived his life "on purpose" until the very end.
What drew you to the aging field?
My degree and early professional background is in the field of "community education." In the early 80’s, I reassessed my life and moved to Oklahoma to study part-time in a seminary for personal growth and soul searching. I also needed to work, so I answered an ad for the position of Director of an Area Agency on Aging in Muskogee, OK. I worked in that position for five years while I finished seminary, and absolutely loved it and learning about aging. I became active on the state and national level in aging policy, and then relocated to Oregon to a much larger AAA. I moved to Minnesota in 1993 to be with my wife and start a private practice as a life coach and spiritual counselor. I love that work, but I missed the field of aging. I became active in the Vital Aging Network shortly after it started, attended their events and monthly forums, and networked with the people I met. That’s when I was hired at the ElderCare Rights Alliance in 2003, and later as the Coordinator for the Vital Aging Network. It’s a perfect fit for me. I am constantly inspired by older people who follow their passions and dreams.
Do you see connections between your work in aging and what you took from basketball?
In sports I learned that practice made me a better player, but teamwork is what wins the game. I also was continually reminded that there would always be better athletes than me, no matter how hard I tried. These lessons have stayed with me as a constant reminder not to judge myself against others accomplishments, do the best I can at my chosen task, and always build relationships along the way.
Who are you picking in Monday’s championship game?
I’m going with North Carolina all the way. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 16 years, but my roots are in the south.
The GE and Intel Partnership - Not Business as Usual
Ecumen's Kathy Bakkenist
If you’re energized by innovation, you couldn’t be in a better spot than the field of aging.
That was highlighted again Thursday morning when GE and Intel announced their $250 million home health technology partnership at NBC’s studios in New York City. The announcement underscores the changing of aging in America.
The announcement by GE’s and Intel’s CEOs included a segment on Ecumen’s and our customers' use of GE’s QuietCare technology. We’ll post that video when we have it. Ecumen’s tech strategist and evangelist Kathy Bakkenist was right there in the front row as a guest of GE and Intel. After piloting QuietCare several years ago, we made it part of all of our senior housing communities.
Today’s announcement has empowerment written all over it. GE and Intel "get" that people want to be empowered in their lives and in their health care. And they’re investing in that opportunity with very real dollars.
This is just the beginning. There will be so much more integration of intellect and innovation and talent in the coming years. Aging is about all of us. And GE and Intel emphasized that today by putting a very large stake in the ground.
No Place Like Home - Evacuees Return to Fargo-Moorhead
There’s no place like home …Earlier today we began bringing our customers back to their homes in Fargo-Moorhead. What an incredible amount of team work this process has been. Thank you to everyone who pitched in and sent good wishes and prayers!
10 Things Changing in an Aging America
What do you see Changing in an Aging America? Add your thoughts and ideas to Kathryn Robert’s blog post: