innovative new senior centers Archives ⋆ Cathy Cress

5 Ways Care Managers Can Bring Quality of Life to LGTBQ Elders

June 26, 2020

It is PRIDE MONTH but Many LGTBQ elders have a miserable Quality of Life.A recent report found that LGBT elders tend to have more medical problems, higher poverty levels social isolation than straight elders. Loneliness and isolation among LGTBQ elders bring” elevated rates of depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use and abuse, and suicide ideation and attempts, as well as psychiatric co-morbidity.” Same-sex partners are not allowed many of the resources afforded to spouses and biological family members during the aging process. LGBT elders tend to lack support from many mainstream aging programs such as senior centers and places of worship or they are afraid of the stigma and discrimination that could result from joining those programs.

Mainstream retirement communities often deny LGBT elder couples the right to live in them so they often continue to live on their own, even if they need access to the services offered by those communities. These elders may fear discrimination and be ostracized by housing staff and often stay in the closet to obtain housing. Because large numbers of gay elders choose to live alone, they have fewer opportunities for social interaction than their heterosexual peers.

Geriatric Care Managers and Aging Life Professionals can use quality of Life Activities to bring back joy to LGTBQ seniors. Here are five resources.

Use Reminiscence Therapy

As a result, many LGBT elders live in the community and can really benefit from the quality of life activities that geriatric care managers can bring into the home through a personal assistance service and Reminiscence Therapy

Arrange dinner parties and Outings for Emotional QOL

One LGBT program in California created social connections by arranging dinner parties, shopping trips, and grocery shopping.

Finding activities that help elders grow and nurture their emotional, intellectual, physical, and/or spiritual quality of life can help to nurture an older person’s whole life and bring back joy. For example, look at this youtube on an older woman who reconnected with art, which is her talent and spirituality and younger people plus her family, through a quality of life assessment.

Create LGTBQ Quality of Life in Assisted Living

But what about the quality of life for LGBT aging clients. This recent article in the New York Times shows how one retirement community responding and found joy for LGBT clients, where many LGTB aging clients have to fight for acceptance.

Read Journal Of Aging Life Issue on LGTBQ ELders

If aging life or geriatric care manager want to find resources for LGBT aging clients or more about their issues, The Journal of Aging Life Care has an article with many resources to help you serve these vulnerable clients in finding Joy and acceptance.

The Journal Of Aging Life has a resources list for a research tool for aging LGBT clients In the article below By Jennifer Crittenden

Read Handbook of Geriatric Care Management QOL Resources

The Handbook of Geriatric Care Management 4^th edition has a seminal chapter written by geriatric care manager Nina Herndon with a quality of life assessment to help you pinpoint the quality of life needs of all clients including LGTBQ seniors they serve Joy in addition to care ‘

With COVID-19 Share Nina Herndon’s VIRTUAL Activities Program with Your Clients

To respond to COVID-19 and the shelter in place orders for all seniors, who are the most vulnerable including LGTBQ seniors who may have already had HIV has developed a Sage Hummingbird Virtual program you can use remotely.

Nina also has developed the first activity kit for the quality of life, Joyful Moments , that you can use to train care managers on inventive activities to use in your own GCM or homecare program.

Find out more to help not only seniors with COVID but the most discriminated seniors besides seniors of color –-LGTBQ during PRIDE MONTH .

The 2 Deadliest US Sites of COVID-19 Nursing Homes & Prisons

May 2, 2020

PRISON INMATES AND NURSING HOME PATIENTS NOT 6FT APART – 6 FEET UNDER

70% of inmates in federal prisons have COVID-19. In Kansas, the Lansing Correctional Facility had a riot of inmates over COVID-19 lack of care or protection It took the rebellion to get the coronavirus testing PPE and care. The Bureau of Prisons in Kansas confirmed finally that 79 staff have coronavirus and 88 prisons and prisoners dead.

Older residents in nursing homes cannot rebel like prisoners. Many can’t even walk. The Atlantic Magazine just published an article, We are Killing Elders Now. The writer states “In at least six states, these fatalities account for half of all COVID-19 deaths, and according to the World Health Organization, half of all coronavirus fatalities in Europe have been traced to nursing homes too. Some of this mortality is linked to long-term-care facilities that are shoddily run or that violate health standards. But most of them are doing the best they can with what they have. And they don’t have much”.

KAISER FOUNDATION NURSING HOME STAFFING AND USE OF PPE NOT REQUIRED IN MOST STATES

Kaiser reports -Staff Screening. It is more common for states to recommend rather than require daily screening of staff for illness in NFs (24 states recommend, 16 states + DC require)

Use of PPE. More states recommend (23 states) than require (7 states + DC) staff to use PPE

Two States that require testing for coronavirus of ALL residents of nursing homes are Maryland where 556 have died as of the Washington Post article. and Tennessee

THE FEDS HAVE NO CMS FEDERAL GUIDELINES OR REPORTING

We have no federal guidelines for safety testing according to an article by the Kaiser Foundation

It is now estimated that 16,000 deaths have occurred in nursing homes and that is without the federal government revealing any numbers and not making available any testing. But the numbers are probably huge- if we could just do testing.

CMS announced it would have a meeting of a “panel” of experts “ sometime at the end of May”. After probably 20,000 older people died and the feds did nothing this shows their sense of urgency about this pandemic’s national “elder cleansing”.

WHAT CONNECTS PRISONS AND NURSING HOMES – CONCENTRATION CAMPS

So, what is the connection between the viral spread of COVID-19 in nursing homes and prisons- 6 feet ? Prisoners and residents, in nursing homes, and prisons cannot social distance. Jails and prisons have human beings crammed together with no choice. Nursing homes have 2 beds or if you are on Medicaid three to a room. Neither group has a choice to social distance. They are ” concentrated” as in concentration camps or death camps.

Do SOMETHING – HELP NURSING HOMES PREVENT MORE CARNAGE

So, as someone who has spent her career in aging, I am calling out to everyone, especially professional in aging – do something. Since the feds appear to be doing little- call your congressman, write a letter to the editor.

BE KIND LIKE RACHEL MADDOW REPORTS LA JEWISH HOME LA WAS

Rachel Maddow suggests calling your local nursing homes and see what they need. Be kind like the LA Jewish Home was to a smaller nursing home LA Brier Oaks. They wanted to test their residents and had no tests and the larger LA Jewish Home had tests and shared them with the smaller as a good neighbor. What they found was ravaging but it also showed caring and generosity. Care and be generous and show the helpless elders in nursing homes in your town you are opposed to -nursing home being prisons or concentration camps.

How Do 3 Innovative Programs Transform Loneliness and Isolation in Seniors?

April 9, 2019

Homebound seniors are miserable in their isolation and loneliness, with a devastating emotional quality of life. AARP has estimated the there are 19.6 million in the US. This can be deadly to their quality of life and their own life since loneliness and isolation equal smoking 15 cigarettes a day. There is an answer like Virtual Senior Centers. The 3 game-changing ideas below, magically allow older people, who cannot get out, use technology, a phone, museums or care managers to enhance their emotional and physical quality of life. These are brilliant game-changing.programs.

Senior Centers Without Walls has been around since 2004. Each week, seniors can access over 70 groups by phone or online, all from the comfort of home. Nancy Lynn Jarvis a mystery writer living in Santa Cruz reads each of her mysteries, as they are published live on the telephone to an entire group of homebound seniors in the San Francisco Bay area. Their winter catalog shows you the breadth of fun and games the isolated seniors can find- enhancing the emotional quality of life.

The Virtual Senior Center in New York really opens up the world for homebound seniors enhancing their emotional quality of life. It also elevates the quality of life of the caregiver because it gives them a respite and the comfort that their loved one is experiencing a program that offers joy- the joy that comes from joining a community, making new friends and learning new things you choose to be part of, an amazing benefit for homebound seniors.

Self Help, a remarkable senior agency for Hollocast victims in New York City, put an extraordinary Virtual Senior Center together by partnering with Microsoft. They have grown since their beginning to spread to many other cities. Classes are led by a volunteer, like an opera class lead volunteers from an NYC opera company-.

One of the participants talks about the sense of community they feel, Marie says. “When we see each other, we say, ‘how are you?’ And if someone is missing you wonder if he or she is sick and you find out. We have a nurse who is knowledgeable and whom you can ask health questions when you see her in the class. She connects us with information she’s learned from the Mayo Clinic.”

The Virtual Senior Center really not only opens up the world for homebound senior but enhances their emotional and intellectual quality of life and downright joy in every day

We’re Still Here an art exhibit that opened this week in Santa Cruz California. It addresses the plight of lonely and isolated seniors through art doing community organizing by allowing the 70,000 visitors expected in its run from April to September. Visitors can pick cards to offer one lonely senior a visit, a ride, a chance to interact with another person. This exhibit will travel counties throughout California through other art museums, spreading the message that lonely isolated seniors need help- through the message of art. The exhibit was spearheaded by Nina Simon who is now world famous museum director and author who builds and teaches community driven museums.

If you are a geriatric care manager think of adding a personal assistant program that can enhance not just quality of care but the joy you give through the quality of life care check out Handbook of Geriatric Care Management with an entire chapter on adding quality of Life

How Reinventing Senior Centers Boosts Boomers Quality of Life

March 27, 2019

Senior Centers have a whole new face in 2019.

Senior Centers, now provide revamped, hip classes and exciting structured events for elders. On top of that,

Seniors Having Fun In The Community Center

they still offer old fashion opportunities to increase the quality of life for older adults , like dances and trips. But these new innovative programs can include new-age activities for older people. Adaptive yoga, for example, can increase physical health and at the same time offer social interactions that may lead to emotional and physical connections for elders

In Santa Cruz California, a city famous for it’s surfing, Lifespan 35-year-old care management agency, has added a game-changing program, called “Well Being” . To enhance clients quality of life. Well Being begins with the quality of life assessments to discover how the client wishes increase the emotional, physical, spiritual or intellectual quality of life. What they look for is what will bring the older person joy again. Older people are often lost in retirement, having left the world of work and trying to fill the void with new friends and new ways to spend their time and finding joy in each day. If they have problems doing this on their own, it can result in depression, self-isolation, loneliness, and physical problems.

Lifespan’s Well Being Program care manager designs a care plan for each Well Being Client that takes their interests, physical and mental abilities and wishes for new things to do or old favorites to resurrect and designs a activities plan that uses among other resources in the community use seniors centers. Seniors centers in Santa Cruz, California, offer innovative programs that seniors are excited to join like Tai Chi, Qui Gong, boomer yoga, meditation and mindfulness, senior downsizing and much more.

If you are a geriatric care manager or an aging professional, think of adding senior centers and quality of life to your plan of care. Find this need through a quality of life assessment You will create a win-win care plan- for both the elder and the adult children’s emotional quality of life— Really – for the whole aging family.

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