After 16 years of working in senior living, I am still refreshed to see the positive impact long-term care has on the lives of so many people. From staffs who genuinely enjoy the people they\u00a0serve to exhausted families that can now focus on quality time with mom, senior living is a\u00a0benefit to many.<\/p>\n
Assisted living is a long-term care option preferred by individuals and their families because\u00a0of its emphasis on resident choice, dignity, and privacy. There are 35 licensed assisted living\u00a0communities in Oklahoma County. They provide apartment style housing with services,\u00a0including assistance with bathing, dressing, and medication administration. Some provide\u00a0specialized care for people with Alzheimer\u2019s disease or dementia.<\/p>\n
I long ago lost count of assisted living residents I saw blossom with renewed vigor after moving\u00a0to their new home. The four things I feel most improve seniors\u2019 wellbeing are nutritious meals,\u00a0socialization, medication administration, and exercise.<\/p>\n
The majority of assisted living residents are women age 80 or better. Before moving, they\u00a0tended to eat easy-to-prepare meals such as frozen dinners or cheese and crackers. Sometimes\u00a0medications were skipped, dropped, accidently doubled, or taken inappropriately. The loss of a\u00a0beloved spouse had them reeling with insecurity and grief. Social circles and close friendships\u00a0were fading away. Family struggled to make time to visit, go on outings, or help with chores.
\nMuscle tone and balance had deteriorated.<\/p>\n
It is amazing to see how a person\u2019s outlook and health improves after a few months of eating\u00a0balanced meals, accurately taking medications, and participating in stretching and toning\u00a0exercises. But the biggest reward of all is seeing the smile of someone who is surrounded\u00a0with peers and new friends as they share a joke or life experience. Widows serve as natural\u00a0support groups for each other. Church services and hymn singing is available for those who\u00a0want to participate. Meals and snacks are prepared for a variety of diets. Most assisted living\u00a0communities offer fun and educational things to do such as shopping excursions, entertainers,\u00a0speakers, crafts, games, and parties.<\/p>\n
Each month I will discuss assisted living or other senior care topics in this column. Topics\u00a0will range from local costs and new laws to fall prevention and caregiving tips. Email me at\u00a0achievis@cox.net if there is a particular subject you would like covered.<\/p>\n
Joyce Clark<\/strong> is the CEO of Achievis Senior Living Associates. Achievis is a development and<\/em>\u00a0consultant company to a variety of long-term care providers. <\/i>www.achievisseniorliving.com<\/a>\u00a0Email: achievis@cox.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After 16 years of working in senior living, I am still refreshed to see the positive impact long-term care has on the lives of so many people. From staffs who genuinely enjoy the people they\u00a0serve to exhausted families that can now focus on quality time with mom, senior living is a\u00a0benefit to many. Assisted living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/achievisseniorliving.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}