Wishing Peggy Mueller a Wonderful Retirement from Gloria Dei Communities
After 25 years, our own Peggy Mueller has decided to retire from the Gloria Dei Communities family. Peggy[Read More]
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
I went on vacation and it was so wonderful. I had a lovely room. I went down to a beautiful dining room, had my meal, picked off a menu. I would come back to the room and it was clean, my bed was made. It was great. We went and did activities. There was so much to do! It was such a wonderful vacation, and I just love resort living.
And she said, “You know, Michele, you described what we have right here. This is like a resort. We get up in the morning, we come down, we have a delicious meals, we go back to our rooms after we’re finished, the beds are made, the trash is taken out, and all I have to worry about is having fun for the rest of the day!”
So I thought, you know? That really is what we are. But, with the security of knowing that you have a licensed nurse here 24 hours a day, that if anything were to happen from a medical point of view, there’s someone here to take care of you and make sure you’ll be okay.
I thought that that was so telling, that yes! We have the best of it all. We are like resort living, but you have the security of knowing that someone is there for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week who can take care of you if something happens.
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at the Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
When someone comes to us and feels that their family member’s needs are such that they’re thinking they need a Memory Care unit, we have a conversation. Traditionally, we’ll spend as much as two hours with that family to kind of get a feel and a picture of what their needs are…Have they been to a physician? What are the doctors telling you? With that information again, with the direction of the physician that is certifying that Memory Care, a secured unit, is appropriate and needed for that family member. We go out and do the assessment and make sure we can meet their needs, in conjunction with the physician and our team here at The Park and Memory Care that they are appropriate for our community.
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
Traditionally, it’s the rare instance that the actual resident comes to us. Usually, it’s a family member that’s looking for care for a parent or a loved one, relative, or even a friend, that they’ve come to the point where the loved one needs care. Either they’re in their home and they’re not making it any more, that there’s need, or they’re coming from a rehab setting after an acute illness that they’re not ready to go back home, or that that illness that they’ve experienced, they’ve not been able to bounce back to go back to an independent setting.
So they will come in to see us. Traditionally, we go through what we have to offer, that we do have the nursing care, the full gamut of the services that we can provide, and the help that we can give to, not only the resident, but to the family. And then at that point, we will schedule a visit. Either the family member can bring the resident to us to see the facility, or sometimes we’ll go out to a facility if they’re in one, or go out to their home and visit with them and see what type of medications they take and to have a conversation to see what their expectations are of us and whether we can meet their needs. Then we have a physical completed by a physician that is stating that they’re appropriate to come to us. The physician has certified that they are appropriate for our community.
So after all of that is in place, traditionally it doesn’t take long. It can be a fairly rapid process if need be, and we go from there and set up admissions.
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
When we first opened our Memory Care unit back in 2010, one of our clients came to us. He had dementia, but it was due to head trauma. He was not expected to do very well. His wife fully anticipated having him stay with us for the duration of his life. As time passed, he did better and better each day. He got some of his memory back. He recovered a bit. Through intensive physical therapy and occupational therapy, which he did receive here on site, he was able to get back to a fairly functional state of being.
His wife was so thankful, so encouraged week after week, month after month that she got to the point that she began to take him home overnight to see how he would do. It was hard at first. It was difficult for both of them. He wanted so desperately wanted to go home. She so desperately wanted him to be home but was fearful that it might not work.
Time went on, and he got stronger, he better each and every day. She took him home. And several months after he had been home, she was in the neighborhood and she stopped in to visit with him. Was life perfect? No. Were they able to see themselves through to a point, where they were able to build a new life after his injury? Yes. So that was one of our first residents and one of our very joyous success stories that we are able to share.
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
“It’s paramount. In my career the most wonderful thing you can do for a family is to hold their hand through the entire process and to be there for them. It’s very rewarding. We’ve had families over the years, and now I even have the next generation. I’ve had the parents, and because of the time that I’ve been here, I now have had the children come to us to stay and live out their years.
The families are so thankful that they know that their family member never has to leave us. We do hospice. We do end of life care. It’s a comfort that they know that Donna and I and the familiar faces they see every day that have been caring for their parents throughout the years, will be there at the end just like they were on the first day when they came. So it is very important and very often the families breath a sigh of relief when I say, “Oh no, your family can stay with us for the duration. They never have to leave us.”
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
“Our Memory Care Unit is a secure unit. But it’s not just about someone needing an environment that is such that they cannot exit. Our Memory Care is so much more than that. Our Memory Care is for those that…suffer from dementia, Alzheimer’s, Multi Infarct Dementia, Lewy Body could benefit from an environment that is geared to those types of diagnoses. Here at The Park we take care of residents that have a multitude of diagnoses. And dementia is often one of those.
But sometimes there comes a point, just by virtue of size of the unit, (at The Park we have 57 units and lots of open space) that can become overwhelming to folks that have dementia. Also, some of the activities are not paced for those that have dementia. They’re not geared the same way. So by virtue of our unit, (our Memory Care unit’s just having 21 rooms) and the specialized staff that have specialized training, they can benefit from an increased staffing level, programming from an activities perspective that’s geared specifically to their successes, where that resident might be a little frustrated and not quite understand or be able to succeed in the activities program at The Park. Where at Memory Care they thrive. The smaller space is much more comfortable. The natural light is conducive to helping the residents through the day and getting through the afternoon where sometimes Sundowning can be of a concern. At The Park, it’s very light and bright, but it’s different programming specifically focusing on that part of their disease process. We have proven tools that we can help them through to have a better quality of life, active life, and in a more relaxed environment for them.”
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 22, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
A family member came to us, a daughter. She was very concerned about her father, and she felt that he was dying. She had heard about our program at Gloria Dei and wanted us to go to the rehab that her father was at to evaluate him to see if he would be appropriate to come to us. Donna Yerkis, our Director of Nursing, and myself went out to see him. Who we found in the wheelchair was a man that was not really alert, that could not really communicate to us, and who looked to us like he was dying. He had had a stroke and was deteriorating.
We said yes, bring your dad to us and we will take care of him. We will see him through. She brought her dad to us. Her dad did very well, his medications were reviewed by our physician. Some of theme were changed, some of them were discontinued. He began to blossom. He began to talk. He began to participate in his life again.
The daughter said to us that we gave her father back to her. That she was able to rekindle that relationship that she had lost. And for that she was forever grateful. So I think that was one of the most rewarding experiences that we had as a facility. It meant so much to the family to have their family member back, if even for a short period of time. That they could talk and laugh and reminisce and have a relationship once again. That she could talk to her father as her father. That she could be a daughter again and not necessarily a caregiver or power of attorney or someone that had to be depended on for everything. She could be the daughter once more. So that was one of the most poignant experiences we had.
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
Posted on December 21, 2016 | Posted Under: Memory and Personal Video
“They go out on trips, they go out to eat, they go to movies. Coming into the facility we have mobile art displays that come in. We have guest speakers that come in on various topics. We have, of course, lots of arts and crafts, bingo, lots of games to keep their minds stimulated: Current events and trivia. Those are some things we do every day.
We also have an exercise program every morning. And then another great program that we have is through the Fox Better Living Program. We have an exercise physiologist come into the facility weekly to do our more intensive program with our residents, no cost to them. The key to the quality of life is movement, being active and we like to maintain that and give that opportunity to our residents. They love to come and do the more intensive exercise program. So there’s always something happening and our calendars change on a monthly basis, so that’s another great thing. There’s always something new and exciting.”
Michele DiVincenzo
Administrator, Memory Care at The Park and Personal Care at The Park
