[0:00] Welcome to Artful aging with your host Amy are you a senior or a caregiver of a senior looking for support and Direction best-selling author educator and expert in Senior Living Amy Friesen is here.
With the help you need while providing you with an important and valuable support,
so now please welcome the host of Artful aging Amy Friesen.
[0:30] Come on Arnie everyone sorry for the delay I'm Amy Friesen and this is Artful aging with Amy.
We are live from Bold Brave TV and on today's show I'm going to give you a glimpse.
Into who I am and also we have two amazing guests that are going to be joining us after the commercial break.
I'm so excited for this opportunity to be giving you helpful advice from our leading experts.
Whether you are looking for some extra help as a caregiver and you're just trying to make it work or if you're a senior and you need some extra assistance.
[1:04] Over the last two decades I've been working with seniors and caregivers and I've noticed one common issue.
It's really difficult for people to identify the types of services that they need but I've also noticed that
it's really difficult to find the right support
whether it's in the community with services or with your family members just generally speaking it's tough to find the services that you need and what to know about each service
no one wants to age I totally get that the most popular I comment I get from my clients is I'm going to go out feet first
which is of course their choice but there are definitely ways and services to make aging less stressful and more fulfilling so instead of just waiting for a crisis and dealing with it then I'm hoping that this show will help prepare you for that,
so as we kick off our first show I'm going to tell you a little bit more about my background and then we'll introduce our.
[2:04] So I've been working in the seniors industry over the last almost two decades in marketing and retirement living and what I noticed through my time is that there in retirement living generally speaking there are so many options
but not as much information and really what I wanted to have people learn is that they can.
Be educated in retirement living to make the best choices possible for them but then also.
You do not have to keep moving they can also find out about their care levels and whatnot so we work a lot with families who need some extra mediation
so I'm definitely working with a lot of caregivers and the seniors they love but I'm also directly working with seniors themselves.
[2:51] I always like to think about senior living as a next step in a journey and it doesn't have to be scary it doesn't have to be worrisome although I do understand it is but think about it in this way.
A lot of us have new experiences through our entire lives that are scary this one is terrifying I'll tell you and I've never done this before and I know what it led up to be to get here today but.
Once you have an experience things get easier and so think about you know when you got your driver's license and think about how excited you were to do that but also remember that learning to drive is scary,
and it's terrifying for many but you learned how to do it and then you've had years of compounding experience.
To make sure that you know it sets you up for all the things that come with driving and that's the same with anything else as experience grows but I have to tell you.
[3:47] That most people don't have experience looking for retirement living most people have not had to look for services,
as theirs or their loved ones care has changed and so this is a new experience for everybody and so.
Again I'm trying to use this show to show you that you don't have to be alone.
There are resources in the community there are resources here on our show and hopefully,
each of our people will allow you to put another piece of the puzzle together and help you to make a plan for the next things that are in your life obviously it's not going to be retirement living for everybody but
things come up with People's Health all the time and so being able to make a plan is super important.
[4:37] We're going to have a lot of different advice here through our show and so please stay tuned until the commercial break but it looks like we're going to have
time right now to take that break so when we come back I'm going to be speaking with Debbie pillow and Aaron lanciano and we are going to have a look at the very important topic of isolation and steps that we can take to lessons its effects.
[5:01] Either in your home or in the community I'm your host Amy and you're watching Artful aging with Amy on Bold Brave TV.
[5:11] What if they were a super tiny device that could diagnose the brain and is smaller than a single human hair.
What if you could see inside the brain to help an epilepsy patient during surgery or to help the fight against Parkinson's disease dr. Patricia Prue.
Is proud to announce the Broderick probe a biomedical and electronic breakthrough
imagine a probe to help with the understanding and potential cure of brain related diseases to learn more listen live to the easy Sense radio show
with host dr. Broderick Wednesday's 7 p.m. Eastern on The Bold Brave media Network and TuneIn Radio
and to help support the Broderick Foundation please go to easy sense.com and learn how with your help we can fight these horrific brain disorders
that's easy sense.com to learn more and help support the Broderick Foundation.
[6:12] Author radio show host and Coach John M Hawkins reveals strategies to help gain perspective,
build confidence find Clarity achieve.
John M Hawkins new book coached to Greatness unlock your full potential with Limitless growth.
Published by iuniverse Hawkins reveal strategies to help readers accomplish more he believes the book.
Coach them to Greatness Hawkins says that the best athletes get to the top of their sport with the help of coaches mentors and others.
He shares guidance that helps readers reflect on what motivates them we discover and assess their core values philosophies and.
Find settings that allow them to be the most productive and track their progress towards accomplishing goals.
Listen to John Hawkins my strategy Saturdays 1 p.m. Eastern on the BBM Global Network and TuneIn Radio.
[7:15] Welcome back to Artful aging I am your host Amy and we are coming to you live from Bold Brave TV
my guests today are joining us from Royal Ottowa Place long-term care and have many years of experience helping families navigate not only long-term care but also addressing seniors needs to be involved and
and what happens in the senior and what happens when seniors become isolated Debbie
is a director of patient care services and as a strong believer in the notion that long-term care
sorry that a long-term care home is a place that seniors or others who need Specialized Care can Thrive and have a quality life
and Aaron a recreational therapist is passionate about using Recreation as a therapeutic tool she enjoys helping the residents
reach their individual goals and prove their quality of life and strives to be and strive to be the best version of themselves.
Now as I mentioned a few minutes ago I worked in this long-term care and retirement Industries for almost two decades these two ladies are so delightful I'm really happy to have them
they care so much about the seniors in their lives and really you two ladies are my type of people so a big welcome to Debbie P long and Aaron langella know
and thank you for joining me today I can hear the Applause from here ladies everybody's clapping so thanks for having us.
[8:42] Oh it's a pleasure and I'm glad that you're here so many people have their ideas about what long-term care is and in fact this is the number one question I get asked what is the difference between retirement living in long-term care because that's my specialty.
But long-term care is also known as nursing homes as well still so maybe we could bring everyone up to speed and start with explaining what long-term care is.
[9:07] And what the benefits can be for both individuals needing the service and for the families sure yeah so yeah in
in Canada they're typically called long-term care and in the states are typically called nursing homes I've worked in both environments so that's for sure what they how they're defined
within the two countries but the simplest term for long-term care it's a place where adults live who require.
Help with their activities of daily living so always question is what is an activity of daily living.
So an activity of daily living are things like needing help with dressing and eating and bathing and grooming and we often think of it as a place for seniors to go.
When they have care needs that are beyond their ability to care for themselves at home or for their families to care for them at home.
Or even getting the support from the community that they need they don't have it's beyond those needs from.
From there so but in reality and Ontario anybody that is over the age of 18.
[10:06] Is eligible for long-term care so we don't think of that a lot we always sort of think of a typical senior and long-term care but it's actually anybody who requires
help over the age of 18 and we provide 24-hour nursing care but it also provides a lot of social opportunities and a new support system that a lot of people don't have if they're at home alone.
In Ontario the average age for long-term care is approximately 85 years old and over seventy percent of people in long-term care are women.
[10:38] So you ask what some of the benefits are for families so,
again like I said some of the benefits are that it's a place that does provide medical care 24/7 so family will know that when they put their loved one in a long-term care home that the person is safe.
There's somebody always there to watch them to make sure if they have a fall that there's somebody in that will notice that they've had a fall and a lot of.
Caregivers as well themselves are elderly so.
When somebody's trying to take care of somebody at home is really difficult if they're also 85 and they're not physically or mentally able to take care of that person anymore.
[11:18] So but what are the benefits to the long-term care resident themselves is that they get the care that they need
right there followed by medical professionals
all the time like I was just talking to Aaron we were talking about it yesterday we're saying the difference with the pandemic is that for all of our residents like we were very lucky we did not have one case knock on wood.
Of covid and our home but like our residents were monitored daily like at one time we were doing temperature checks on all of our residents twice a day.
And looking for any sign and symptom of covid and if there was anything there was immediate action put in place to make sure that.
The person was put on isolation and they were not interacting with anybody else and that we were calling the doctor and making sure so so that.
[12:08] The biggest thing is that they're constantly observed and checked they also have access to services and programs that they might not have at home so things like
spiritual care right in-house Physical Therapy they don't have to go anywhere for that occupational therapy and of course
but Aaron does best recreation therapy and then also the in the interactions that they have with others again if there are home
they're isolated Maybe by themselves especially in the wintertime when it's hard to get out when you're living in the long-term care you're living with an R k63 other residents in the home.
So it becomes sort of a family of its own.
[12:47] And also in long-term care there's no physical barriers so that they need assistance like they have a lift that they need to use the washroom we have all those devices.
Army the meals and housekeeping are provided.
And the medications the big thing for both the families and the residents are medications that the medications are provided so that they're taken on time on a timely manner that they're the correct dose is given that they're not forgotten they're not missed.
And then the last couple things here is the biggest one of the biggest things is I think that the connections that they make with staff so they have a support system that they might not have at home or
sometimes I have a great support system at home but there's a lot of residents unfortunately as they age that you know they their support system really isn't what it used to be.
[13:35] I think it's a really important point to right and that's the same with me and retirement living right people don't understand that it's a whole community and.
This is why we were talking about isolation to it's a whole community and.
And there's people around and you don't have to do it on your own like I said you know when I came on today you don't have to be doing things all the time on your own and taking the hard route right and then you know has.
On that note kind of what has come up in your experience as as main misconceptions can you just give me maybe one before we go to commercial break
yeah so I think one of the biggest misconceptions in long-term care is that it's a place that you go to die and we really like to look at it as a place where residents go and live and they get to have new experiences meet new friends,
you know have things that they maybe wouldn't have at home so I think that's the biggest misconceptions.
Pressure yeah and it like again just you know just people around and I think in the pandemic definitely hasn't
help you know generally the community is more scared than anything but we'll talk more about that in a minute coming up on Artful aging with Amy Debbie and Aaron
are going to discuss ways families can cope with this post pandemic world that we're now living in like I said people are a little bit scared and we're going to talk about that in.
What are the new hurdles and the struggles that seniors and families are facing.
[15:01] I'm your host Amy and you're watching us on Bold Brave TV and we'll be right back.
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[17:08] Welcome back before the break we were chatting about misconceptions about long-term care let's continue to now with Debbie and Aaron
as we are now living in a post pandemic world I'm seeing a lot of people stuck in the pandemic
thinking what are some of the issues that are that you are addressing at the home as people start to dip their toes in again is there a Common Thread amongst families where I know that we're dealing with this all the time
with our clients so tell me about it from your point of view.
[17:40] Yeah so many of our residents were nervous but also very excited to get back into the world and be able to go into the community again in long-term care we had a lot of regulations that were set in place
the regulations were set in place to keep the residents safe
because we were seeing many outbreaks and deaths within long-term care but these restrictions were difficult on the residents and family members and staff as well,
because many of their Lifestyles changed so for instance we have a lot of independent residents that went out on a daily basis they took the bus to their local mall
and all of a sudden couldn't do that and couldn't you know we had different restrictions living in the community we were able to still shop for ourselves and do those things.
So that was one of the biggest things that the residents struggled with was not being able to purchase their own things so that kind of choice was taken away from them.
Um so when we looked at addressing our residents getting back in the community it was so important that we gave them the tools.
[18:43] And I'm going to talk about that a little bit later of how we accomplish that but.
I think one of the most difficult things was when family and friends and volunteers can come in a lot of our residents also lost.
Kind of those connections so it was so important for us to keep them connected so we set up a zoom and Skype and
daily meetings when the restrictions lifted a bit we were able to do outdoor visits and and honestly it was just so heartfelt to see people being able to visit with their loved ones again even if it was from a safe distance
so now that residents can go out again families are excited
again some families are nervous I think that's like anyone dealing with covid there's different people who are at different levels but they're taking their family out again they're taking them from meals or taking them shopping they're taking them to family gatherings
so it's really great to see the residents kind of get back into some of their their their activities they enjoy before covid-19.
[19:43] For sure and it's you know I remember like the pandemic
you know Public Health type of announcements even in the retirement industry kept changing you know almost on the daily right and it's like what if what if families do they can come they can't come what's happening the other thing I found on my end of when I was helping clients is that,
and let me know if you're fighting this as well it's a little bit different a long-term care but a lot of them
we're waiting way too long to get help in the community so a lot of our people
just stop the bus right if they were you know waiting to go into long-term care waiting to go into retirement or to get services from care providers and things like that people were just very much everything was on hold
which then of course as you ladies know causes a ripple effect right and everything was on hold they're not they're not planning they basically just got stuck
and so you know again it's different for long-term care but did you notice that as well like people were just kind of
what do we do okay well we're going to hunker down and then you know and then what right things have lifted and then what do they do.
Yeah well definitely during the pandemic we didn't have as many apathy I can't hear you you can't hear me can you hear me now.
[20:59] Can you can you can you hear me.
[21:25] Hi everyone well you know if the first show doesn't fail then we're in a good track record to really make this work so thanks for hanging in for me welcome back to Artful aging with Amy we've been discussing long-term care
and then new world we live in with Debbie and Aaron I'm just going to jump right back in So Debbie and Aaron,
isolation has been such a huge issue with seniors especially since covid what are some of the issues that you're seeing as folks transition from their home to long-term care.
Well for sure isolation.
And all long-term care residents happens but especially with seniors it's very common when they move to long-term care
so this transition is all around very disruptive and often times we see people isolate themselves as a response to such a drastic change so pre-pandemic.
[22:20] When people would come in we would be really working with them
introducing them to everybody else in the home trying to make them feel welcome taking them to the dining room introducing them maybe to a special somebody that they could meet as a friend friendly face you know and then the pandemic happened
and when the pandemic happened it was a totally different kind of isolation because these poor people were coming into our home and this was
prior to having any vaccinations they would have to be put on isolation for 14 days so immediately coming in their families weren't allowed to come with them.
[22:54] They weren't allowed so their families would usually bring all their staff and prepare their room and make it look nice and none of that was happening.
They would come in they would be put on isolation for 14 days and then the first people they would see would be a staff member coming in and full PPE.
So they would be wearing gowns would be wearing gloves they were wearing goggles they were wearing masks at the time and so that's not very friendly not very welcoming right.
So that really did not help with the isolation for sure.
So their families can come in to support them and then I was like as Aaron was saying earlier we lost all of our one-on-one
people that would come like our volunteers and our students we had none of that happening so they didn't we didn't have any volunteer support we didn't have any Community programs,
right so a lot of our residents go out we have programs in house many programs in the house but,
they also we would part of Aaron's job is connecting them with Community programs if that's what they're interested in our church programs so all of those things stopped as well
the family connections at the beginning there was none of that families come in come in to visit there was no outings and at the very beginning writer and we even didn't have any in person programming we were told to cancel
all programming do not have a newspaper outside the bit that they could share so the isolation it really was impactful to the isolation for sure.
[24:18] Yeah and I remember even more so as well as when that two-week isolation came on all of our folks who had cognitive issues
also had to isolate on the secured floors and memory care which is probably the same with you as well and it's you know that's a very very tricky
isolation. For someone who has cognitive issues that can understand right so
tell me what are some of the warning signs that seniors can look for and themselves that can give them a heads up that there might be some issues.
[24:50] Yeah so I think when you're looking at a new resident or even a resident that's lived in long-term care a big part of that is knowing who they are.
So oftentimes sometimes staff tell us you know this person's isolating and but the reality is is you know mrs. Weber wasn't really so.
[25:07] So in recreation therapy we do an assessment to really get to know who the resident is because our job in long-term care is to provide opportunities for social engagement.
[25:17] But if that's not your personality just because you've moved into long-term care you're not going to change.
So again if mrs. Weber didn't like baking before she moved into long-term care we're not going to invite her to baking.
Because we want to make those connections with her and have her want to come to groups that show enjoy that's meaningful and purposeful
but I think what seniors can really look for is if they're they are socially isolating so say their daughter calls them every Monday and all of a sudden they're not picking up that call they don't,
like talking they can also look at things like they're not doing their independent Hobbies.
[25:51] They're anxious if they're about to leave the home so some of our residents prior to covid wordy anxious and we had to give them support and that's normal for them but if it wasn't a normal feeling.
Then it's important to keep going and get out in the community.
I think also lack of motivation being more tired so if you're taking more naps sleeping more often if you've had a change in appetite
another really big one in our home that I notice is the weather the seasonal change so if it's a rainy gloomy day I'm trying to gather people for groups often they're refusing so I think just being aware of the weather
changes and if a resident is all of a sudden refusing a lot of things you need to touch base with them so we have a resident at our home who always comes to our relaxation program
and all of a sudden she's refusing it so I need to touch base with her and see why so what's going on and remind her that it's a program that she can really benefit from.
[26:50] So I think those are some some great excellent points.
And like from what you said before as well Aaron it's hard because where is the line right if someone you know everybody generally
was isolated right and so if someone if you're looking at a senior who never really did participate and the families trying to judge if like is this a situation where they're isolated or is this a normal situation so.
How do families recognize if their loved one is at risk in the home either physically or mentally.
[27:23] So some of the things that they can look for our like.
Similar to what Aaron was saying is changes in behavior and again that's difficult like what that pandemic for the last 20 months they maybe have in Iceland and so this is maybe their new Norm
right but they can look at if they're not engaging in the hobbies and activities that they loved in the past,
if they are having increased Falls and their home.
If they're having accidents with like cooking things like that also if they're looking very disheveled when you go to visit somebody and maybe they always used to wear their jewelry and put on earrings,
or always made sure that their hair was brushed nice and when you go to their home all the sudden they're looking not the way that they used to lock right so that's a warning sign for sure.
And one of the another big thing is if you notice an increase in substance abuse.
So if the person is a smoker and maybe now they're smoking two packs a day versus half a pack.
Or that they were never much of a drinker before but now you're noticing that they're consuming more alcohol than they used to so that is definitely a warning sign as well.
[28:27] I always find it so interesting because you know a lot of families tell us like they want to step in and they want to help but at the same time they don't want to.
Right and it's like how do you find that line from being a caregiver and wanting to be Hands-On and not wanting to parent your parent
and let me tell you that does not go over very well with any of the seniors I work with right how do you find that line but then also you know for the
for their own good for their mental good right like a lot of people
we're coming to us with significant cognitive issues during the pandemic a lot of them more than I've ever seen in my entire career and it was
it was pretty wild I have to say and so the families were trying to balance you know how do I keep mum
independent and not overstep but then also you know I think something's wrong but I don't help yeah I know you like what do I do.
Yeah it's very difficult if it's difficult situation for sure and I think it's just being there and.
[29:32] That's the biggest thing is just being constantly around so that you are more aware and you can see those changes so I think it's more noticeable when you've got like I definitely noticed it even.
In my own personal circumstance when you haven't seen somebody in a year and then you go and you see them a year later there you see a significant change sometimes you don't notice those changes when you see somebody every day.
As much as when it's a longer period of time.
[30:01] Yeah for sure well after the break we're going to go and talk about prevention and give you some tips.
To keep everyone a little safer also Debby and Aaron are going to tell us more about the Royal Ottawa place.
I really looking forward to it again I'm Amy and this is Artful aging with Amy on Bold Brave TV see you in a few.
[30:22] What if they were a super tiny device that could diagnose the brain and is smaller than a single human hair.
What if you could see inside the brain to help an epilepsy patient during surgery or to help the fight against Parkinson's disease dr. Patricia prata.
Is proud to announce the Broderick probe a biomedical and electronic breakthrough
imagine a probe to help with the understanding and potential cure of brain related diseases to learn more listen live
to the easy Sense radio show with host dr. Broderick Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Eastern on The Bold Brave media Network and TuneIn Radio
and to help support the Broderick Foundation please go to easy sense.com and learn how with your help
we can fight these horrific brain disorders that's easy sense.com to learn more and help support the broadrick foundation.
[31:23] Author radio show host and Coach John M Hawkins reveals strategies to help gain perspective built confidence find Clarity achieve.
[31:35] John M Hawkins new book coached to Greatness unlock your full potential with Limitless growth.
Published by iuniverse Hawkins reveal strategies to help readers accomplish more he believes the book.
Coach them to Greatness Hawkins says that the best athletes get to the top of their sport with the help of coaches mentors and others,
he shares guidance that helps readers reflect on what motivates them we discover an assist their core values philosophies and.
Find settings that allow them to be the most productive and track their progress towards accomplishing goals.
Listen to John Hawkins my strategy Saturdays 1 p.m. Eastern on the BBN Global Network and TuneIn Radio.
[32:25] Welcome back everyone we have been having.
Informative discussion with Debbie and Aaron we were just talking offline how we've been having technical difficulties for some of the last segment I didn't even I couldn't even hear her Debian Aaron
we're figuring it out but it's interesting we were speaking about how this is exactly how people
had to live through kind of going online going on Zoom going on Skype and communicating with each other lots of technical difficulties,
new software so it's interesting we can relate that way hopefully you can too so let's discuss prevention.
If a caregiver watching is noticing something is not quite right.
Their loved one might be acting differently or not going out as much what can a caregiver do to help.
So at home as a caregiver I think one of the most important things that you can do is to continue just to provide support.
Encouragement and choices number one thing is to continue to provide choices for a person remembering that it is their life.
[33:27] And if you were doing things and helping them
with some of the things that they're interested in and things that are meaningful for them definitely that they're more apt to get involved
in the long-term care home one of the things you can do if your loved ones in a long-term care home is make sure that you do stay connected with the person so that they don't feel abandoned.
[33:48] Sigh you so again this there's many ways you can do that you can come into the home you can,
make a phone call send a letter residents still love getting letters
something in the mail loved one you know the new thing is like we were saying FaceTime and Skype and that's been a you know there's many things that we can't wait after this pandemic for them to be gone,
but there's some things that we've started to use that we're like oh my gosh this is a tool we're going to continue to use and FaceTime like we're now faced timing and connecting with,
people all over the world with resident so it's great like we have family members up in the Yukon and family members of Alberta
that we always never saw their faith and now the residents are able to see their face so that's a good thing but continue to do things that are meaningful for the resident so for example if a resident comes into a long-term care home and they
get their hair done every Friday they have for the last 30 years by their hairdresser continuing to take them out to their hairdresser in the community.
To get their hair done every Friday I think things like that will help ease the transition into a long-term care home and help with isolation for sure.
I'll keep some of the familiar routine right,
personally I'm a big fan of the meetings virtually only because I feel like our industry was behind and so now when I'm helping clients and families I have people in Saskatoon I've people in the state.
[35:10] I have I have people in hospital.
Everybody has tablets everybody like everybody there was a run on tablets right so everybody including all your social workers and your families and the seniors everybody has them.
So now they can join us.
On tour if they're out of town or in the hospital and that's something that as in the retirement industry and I'm long-term care would be the same we didn't have and I think it's
I think it's awesome because we're still using it right to to tour still without a province people or out of country people.
So what types of programs and activities are most impactful to get seniors out and about.
[35:47] Yeah so at Royal Ottawa place I'm going to kind of toot my own horn here but we have an exceptional recreation therapy team we work really hard to build trust with the residents and get to know them so we can really work one-to-one with them and get them involved in programs
it's because of these relationships we build I think that we can really get them doing the programs that they enjoy.
When it comes to programming like Debbie said the main the most important thing is making sure they're doing what they want to do.
We're not you know we're not taking them out so say a resident wants to go on an outing and they want to go shopping but the outing that days to Timmy's.
What I'll try and do is I'll say you know what let's go to a mall that has a Tim Horton's so the resident can shop and the other residents can maybe have a Tim Horton so it's really meeting the needs of the clients.
Should make sure they're doing what they like to do I think what another thing is that people need to understand is
getting out to seniors can look different it depends on what the individual wishes and desires so some of our residents aren't interested in outings but they love going out to our Courtyard,
and you know working on the flowers or having a visit or some people like just going for a simple walk around the neighborhood.
Or a Community Drive they're not interested in getting out of the bus but they're interested in getting out of the facility.
And then you know the residents that enjoy getting out it's important to make sure you're taking them places that they want to go.
[37:15] Pressure and a lot of people you know as we've progressed through and into the that post pandemic you know still a lot of people are uncomfortable still around crowds right like we're not supposed to necessarily be too much around crowds anyway but,
people just didn't want to go out and I think that just getting them out for a walk getting some fresh air just that does help right so.
I also know that the Royal Ottawa place has some specific programming around Leisure and travel training can you tell us a little bit more about that Aaron.
Yeah so,
before covid we had a huge travel training program we have OC Transpo we're in partnership with them and they provide us with passes and they've actually brought a bus
so we could teach our residents one-to-one to be able to use the city bus and be comfortable so one.
[38:05] The restrictions were lifted in the residents were able to go back out that was really important that the residents knew the changes in the community so they could be successful and comfortable going back in the community so we started with a Leisure education that basically taught the residents the changes
so you know following the arrows
using your hand sanitizer making sure your mask is on properly so all those good things that we were doing for year a year or two and now that the residents had to do
the second part of that program was actually doing the travel training,
so if the client used the OC Transpo bus that was the means we took them we took them on the bus we showed them the changes if they didn't use.
[38:44] The Community Transportation they used our transportation because I have a bus that I drive the Residence Inn then we took them on that bus check them shopping
show them the differences and then the key point to kind of tie that all up was an evaluation so what we did is we sat with the residents and went through
kind of evaluation and how they did within the community so did they use their hand sanitizer in and out did they give people personal space
and so we were able to give them feedback of what we saw and that enabled them to ask questions and you know if they had any you know if they were nervous or had any questions they could ask that and we did that
on a one-to-one basis and in a group basis so maybe some things came up the residents weren't thinking about that other clients brought up.
So it was it was a great program and I think it's really helped our residents get back in the community and be successful and and feel comfortable which is very important.
[39:43] I think that is super important well on that note ladies I'd like to thank both of you for joining us today.
And giving us some helpful information that I hope that both caregivers and seniors themselves can start to implement,
you can find more information about both Debbie and Aaron over on Artful aging with a me.com.
[40:01] And well if you haven't figured it out by now I'm all about planning and prevention so the last segment is really up my alley it's important to plan as much as you can.
So when we come back I'm going to go through some tips of the day and tell you about next week show stay tuned you're watching Artful aging with Amy on Bold Brave.
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[41:19] Music.
[41:27] I wonder if being a caregiver is making you sick are you worried about taking time off work to care for elderly parents and balance work life and caregiving,
has caregiving become exhausting and emotionally draining
are you an aging adult who wants to remain independent but you're not sure how I'm Pamela D Wilson join me for the caring generation radio show for caregivers and aging adults
Wednesday evenings 6
it's seven Mountain 8:00 Central and 9:00 Eastern where I answer these questions and share tips for managing stress family relationships Health well-being and more
podcasts and transcripts of the caring generation are on my website Pamela D Wilson.com plus my caregiving Library Online caregiver support programs,
and programs for corporations interested in supporting working caregivers.
Help and support for caregivers is here on the caring generation and Pamela D Wilson.com.
[42:25] Hi everyone we're back.
Thanks again for joining me today we've covered a lot and we had some weird breaks in between so I'm going to sum up what I think the top tips are from today.
So one of the first tips is check in on your loved ones and watch for some of the signs we.
Have a look and see if their you know in their same routines you know we generally like to shake up our routines and that's okay but if people aren't really.
Doing well they're going to tend to follow to the routines are going to sleep differently they're going to act differently so really kind of keep an eye on and watch out for them.
[43:02] Number two don't give up on your loved one all it takes is one yes to start the wheel going I know this from my own experience.
[43:10] Definitely their you know when I used to work in the retirement homes definitely people turned us down all the time to do stuff.
And it's the same with your loved ones if you're a caregiver you know they may not want to do something but.
Keep encouraging them don't lose faith it just really does take one yes and you're.
[43:28] Number three when you are looking for an assisted living community be a cheerleader for your loved one you know if.
If they want to move and they're going towards that then help them do that you know really be in their corner.
So that they know that they're being supported one of the worst things I see happening is one of the when the senior decides to make a move.
And they let the family know the family says Oh no you're not ready for that and then the senior gets off track so really you know if long-term care or retirement,
as in your loved ones future make sure that you're a cheerleader and and you understand that you.
See everything that is going on a number 4 can you guess
plan plan plan plan all day long plan again plan again again I'm all about planning you'll get to learn that and that's really why we're doing the show the more that you can put a plan together
and re-evaluate it the better off I find
that you're going to be at the end of the day right and nothing is it doesn't have to be stable it can be fluid as long as you've got something to work from and you tell people about it or at least help people if it's written down were to find.
[44:42] Really that's kind of it for today I know that we've had some fun difficulties and I hope that most of you have stuck around.
You know it's just going to get better from here we're trying to cover all aspects of downsizing and hoarding next week so you don't want to miss that.
[44:58] If you're struggling to get pieces of your information together if you're trying to figure out the retirement living sector or just the mindset.
That you should begin to look for retirement living or long-term care you can head over to Artful aging with a me.com
and on there there's links to the book that I published called breadcrumbs hopefully that'll give you some help as well and then
as well on TN toast dossier which is my company you're going to see you free resources on there as well,
and and because I jumped the gun back to artfully aging with Amy you're also going to head over there to find out bios on our guests like Debbie and Aaron from today you're going to find their contact information,
as well is you're going to see who our upcoming guest is so especially you know if it's something that's close to you you'll be able to tune in that day and again we're going to we're going to go live every week so
hopefully you can come along for the ride with us.
And always feel free that if you have any questions or concerns that something has come up and you just want to pick someone's brain,
you can always send me an email right now my email is a me at tea and toast dossier which is my company and we'll be putting up an Artful aging with Amy email shortly,
so again if you're struggling head over get some free resources.
[46:27] From all of us at bold Brave TV thank you so much for joining us it's been Artful aging with Amy and remember the best laid plan.
Is really a plan that is followed.
So make sure that not only are you making these plans but you're following through and don't deviate because you're making a plan right when you've,
I thought in the process okay we need to make this plan and you're in right space of mind to do so so when crisis hits put the plan in place.
Again like I said the best laid plan is one that's followed so from me to you I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.
[47:06] You've been listening to Artful aging with host Amy.
Many folks just like you feel they're alone in their journey and helping a loved one or.
So tune in each week and let a me show you that help is around the corner and it's just one conversation away here on Artful Aging with Amy.
