Successful aging is demonstrated through purposeful engagement with others. According to the research by the Mathers Institute, “Older adults who have a higher sense of purpose live happier, healthier, and longer lives.” Lifetime Wellness offers programming to enhance culture while encouraging senior living residents to build meaningful and lasting relationships through highly engaging activities. Intentional programming that will promote social interactions of senior daily living is often the more successful.
Research proves that the relational quality of the senior adult paves the way for a positive mental and emotional healthy person.
Initiatives driven to engage family and friend interactions are some of the best practices for staff. lifetimewellness.com welcomes the opportunity to serve YOU through a variety of packages designed to meet the needs of YOUR community.
Connect the Dots
Relationships among senior living residents are not unlike other age groups living in community. There are common interests and connections that can be formed through various events and gatherings. This creates bonding experiences that uplift and empower beautiful friendships. However, there will be occasional conflict and negative interactions that can precipitate negative emotions. Monitoring the relationships between staff and resident, as well as resident to resident is crucial to the emotional health of the senior.
The Great Divide
Fractures that can often occur between these relationships can deteriorate well being and overall wellness. An awareness of the mood and emotions of the senior can alert the wellness staff to serve as the advocate for everyone involved. If negative interactions occur, this can disrupt purpose in the lives of seniors. This can lead to an overall lack of joy and happiness in the culture of the environment. A consistent measurement of the pulse of the residents through activity engagement can give valuable insight into the relational joys and strains of community living.
A turnkey approach for wellness staffing made possible through www.lifetimewellness.com team members can lead to positive and healthy relationship building.
The Proof is in the Research
A recent study was conducted with 106 older adults in Zurich, Switzerland, with up to 15 daily measurement occasions per participant. Participants reported on the quality of their most recent social interactions every morning, afternoon, and evening, and on their sense of purpose every evening. They did this for five weekdays. At six and twelve months later, they repeated the process for the same length of time. The researchers then evaluated whether having more positive or negative social interactions each day predicted how purposeful a participant felt on that same day.”
The study offers three primary findings:
- People who had better social interactions generally had a stronger sense of purpose.
- On days in which an individual had worse social interactions than usual, they felt less purposeful than usual, and on days in which they had better social interactions than usual, they felt more purposeful.
- The association between daily positive social interactions and daily sense of purpose differed based on whether an older adult was employed or retired.
- This research proves the validity of excellence in programming for activities within skilled and assisted living communities.
Aging successfully requires more than one component. Holistic wellness has several dimensions. The program offerings through www.lifetimewellness.com are research based. The residents will find purpose and meaning while rediscovering their passion throughout the layers of wellness curriculum. Make an appointment with our team today to help your community be the best version it can be!
In these challenging days of the continued COVID-19 pandemic, senior living and health care facilities that have been hit hard by the virus are searching for new ways to connect residents with the outside world.
Karly Zelaska, wellness director for Lifetime Wellness – a leading provider of whole-person wellness programs for senior living communities – is helping to implement a revolutionary digital health initiative that enables resident connection with families and health providers.
Nearly half of all Americans are reporting significant increases in symptoms of depression stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Seniors are particularly vulnerable to this pandemic-related depression.
When a person first moves from home to a senior care setting or transitions from one community to another, the change can feel overwhelming. For some seniors, change brings fear and anxiety, and for residents living with dementia, it can trigger agitation and aggression.
Exercise is essential to keeping seniors healthy, active, and motivated. But getting them on board with a well-rounded exercise program can be a challenging task. Senior living providers are looking for fresh approaches to engage residents in fitness – with easy-to-implement group programs that still meet individual needs.
Short-term rehabilitation, or “rehab,” centers provide critical medical follow-up for patients in their first days after a hospital stay. These facilities are key to ensuring a continued high level of care that helps patients regain health, strength, and mobility. They can mean the difference between a frustrating rebound to the hospital and a seamless return to home.
Recovery requires more than just top-tier clinical care. It also involves providing opportunities for purposeful activity and engagement. One best-practice innovation is “Wellness on Wheels,” a mobile concierge program offering a range of portable activities for residents and their families.
Once upon a time, activity and recreation programs in senior communities were typically low priority. Yet as the senior population surges, and seniors seek to stay active as a way of life, today’s senior living providers are rethinking their offerings to include wellness and life enrichment programs. In expanding their focus, many are finding they can’t go it alone. They’re looking for trusted partners to extend in-house resources and design an engaging, person-centered experience.
For the 5.7 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) – and their families – days can be filled with feelings of angst and isolation. We’re working to lessen those feelings and provide a non-pharma approach to memory care.
A groundbreaking program called Music & Memory™ has brought life-changing hope to people who suffer from ADRD, helping to trigger memories, build bridges, and improve quality of life. Launched in 2006 by Dan Cohen, the program took the spotlight with the 2014 documentary, “Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory,” and was recently endorsed by legendary singer-songwriter Carole King. With the therapeutic effects of personalized music, many people living with ADRD become more aware, animated, and “alive inside.”