Alzheimer’s Walk: Scott Houghton, Fieldstone Communities
Scott Houghton is regional director of operations at Fieldstone Communities, a major sponsor of the Alzheimer’s Walks in Washington.
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*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.
The following is a podcast from a qualified senior care provider part on the answers for elders radio show. And Welcome back everyone to answers for elders radio. And I am here with Mr Scott Houghton and he’s the regional director of operations at fieldstone communities, which is a major sponsor of our Washington state walks and I’m so glad you’re here, Scott. Thanks for being here. Thank you, Susan, me too. You know, I’ve heard a lot about feel stone communities and you guys do pretty much extensive memory care type facilities and obviously work with seniors that one on one that have Alzheimer’s, and so the fact that you’ve stepped up to be a sponsor of this show are not the show of Alzheimer’s walks. Tell me a little bit about that commitment. Oh goodness. I think it all stems from one of our founders, Doug Ellis, in part of the ownership, where in the very beginning his father, who was a prominent physician in Yakima, took him into senior senior care facilities at the time they call them, and he just, I think, from they’re new in his heart that he wanted to make a difference. Right, he saw interesting conditions back in the S and now that’s another statement. Yeah, you know, and you bring up a really valid point, because I think there’s a lot of listeners out there that think, quote unquote, that memory care facilities or skilled nursing facilities or anything like that are like the old nursing homes. And still it’s amazing how the industry is evolved, because it’s not like that anymore. But especially memory care, I think something so important that we emphasize the quality of care that a loved one actually gets in a facility. Tell us a little bit about what happens in memory care. Well, for us it’s really about dignity and respect and, foremost, quality of life. You know, somebody’s experience different things with my father. You know you want to have that the best environment for somebody to be there, but it’s usually not hard on the individual or the resident itself. It’s harder on the family. So and knowing that they’ve got amazing meals a great place to eat. When our care twenty four, our care, medical care, exactly, what train staff on that can understand those you know, the things that happen, you know, and as the disease progresses, and I think that’s what’s so important up absolutely well. And I think on top of that, exercise activities, things that help them continue their trend their life. Yeah, going out on bus trips, for ice cream, for lunch, for a museum trips, so important. Exercise in the morning, sing alongs current events. They’re engaged in that on a daily basis in our environment and I think it’s just really, really critical to their care. MMM, and certainly having that kind of engagement can help to slow the progress of the disease. It’s like, you know, how many times do I talk to families that say, well, I’m just going to take care of mom or dad at home, and the first thing that my heart just goes, you know, because I know that the isolation can certainly escalate the symptoms of, you know, Alzheimer’s and understanding that there’s there’s therapies all the time that can be you know, that can make huge breakthroughs, like music therapy and art therapy and things like that that you may not, as a family at home, even know about that you can actually get have your loved one be and the best type of position possible. Yep, absolutely. Yeah. So so, Scott, you know, obviously feel stone. You guys are a presenting sponsor. What does that mean to the company? As far as you know when you’re going to be there at the walks? Tell us a little bit about your role. Well, we’re first of all, we are proud sponsors of the Alzheimer’s Association. As a chapter member. We believe that it’s a critical necessity right now to sponsor, to engage, to push people to drive for finding a cure. For All Times, we are fully invested in the process. I mean obviously with our memory cares, the work that we do in our specifically designed communities, the activities, the food, the environment, but I think more importantly, the walks themselves give people hope, you know, for us to represent that, to be a part of that, to know that we’re encouraging that we really have a hope for the future as well. And you know, we’ve talked about a lot throughout the hour about hope and and I think that you’ve really hit the nail on the head. Is As our you know, as somebody that cares for seniors, you know that are afflicted with a disease it’s also the family members and it’s making sure that they know that they’re not alone. And I remember when my mom was in assisted living. She wasn’t in memory care, she didn’t have as much, but one of the things that my lifeline as a family caregiver was the assisted living or the providers that cared for her. I don’t know what I would have done had I not had the people like you out there that could help me understand and help me, help guide me as a family member. I know that I remember distinctly, you know, my mother would get facts wrong whenever the doctor would ask her something, and it was so specifically important to me that everything was perfect that I just drove myself crazy. So I would correct her and of course I learned really quick you don’t correct somebody that has dementor or Alzheimer’s. And and yet it was okay, because I remember that, you know, the nurse Director of nursing taking me aside saying it’s okay, you know, facts at this point in their life is pretty much, you know, doesn’t matter at this point. We get it. And all of a sudden I thought, you know, why was I bending over backwards to try to you know to be overly accurate to the point where it’s just I learned to relax a little bit and I learned to kind of let go, and it was because of people like you that could coach me as a, you know, Care Family Care Provider, and I think that’s really the missing piece that a lot of families don’t realize that you’re certainly a resource for them as well. Yeah, I think that’s a critical point to make, is that the we spend more time, I think, on a percentage level, with families, friends who are dealing with the disease process and, like you said, my daughter, your mom or the residents that we care for, they just go about their day and as long as you can help encourage what they’re doing or validate what they’re doing, then they’re fine. They’re well taken care of. But it’s the families that need that support, need that love, sometimes just need an ear and we’re there and absolutely and it’s also to understand that just because you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s Dementia doesn’t mean you need to give up your life. In matter of fact, you shouldn’t give up your life. You should find that balance and don’t give up your job, don’t give you know, don’t sacrifice, you know the things that that you know you’re in taking care of yourself, and that’s what we always talk about, is that, you know, a family caregiver, the first person they need to take care of is not the person they’re caring for, but themselves, and having a resource and having a place like feel strong communities, you know, is so valuable for sure. So we are talking again to Scott Hoton and he’s a director of operations at field strong communities. And what where are you guys located? We’re located in a sequis just off of Highland Park, Huh, black nugget, and we are one of the only memory care communities that are specifically designed and a secure community for memory care only. HMM. And we have several other buildings on the east side as well, in Yakima Kennewick. But we’ve got a few other buildings that are on the verge of opening up. I know I saw Mary’Sville is coming. Yep, Marysville, puil up and Silverdale. A wow, you guys are really expanding, which is awesome. That is awesome and of course, obviously you’re participating in the walks. Are you going to be at all the walks? which walks specifically will you be at? We’re going to be on the one, at the one in Redmond. Okay, sure, in our specific community we have a booth there, but all of the staff is going to be there as well nice. We may even been bring the bus. I’m not sure, but will nice represent nice? Yeah, and certainly having being there to answer questions and to you to learn more about your community and a little bit about, you know, your expansion plans, which will be good, which are all opening in two thousand and twenty, which is pretty cool. So when you’re at the walk and what you have, is this your first year participating? Have you been participating many years? Where you at with that? been participating for about six years. Awesome with the walks and really quickly. As in closing, what is some of your favorite memories? It’s the smiles on my residence faces and the relief for the families to know that they have somebody that’s taking care of their loved one. MM. They get their life back, HMM, and their mom or dad gets taken care of. MMMMMM. I think that’s really amazing. It’s, you know, the theme for this hour, I think is really about hope, it’s about inspiration and it’s certainly about community, and not only your community but the community at large in the state here, of state of Washington. So first of all I want to thank for the bottom of my heart the Alzheimer’s Association for all the work that they do and certainly you guys support it. So they have an eight hundred number and I would like to Scott if you could share that again for people to call. We’re going to work at before we close out, make sure that we have the number to call. Yep, the numbers one, eight hundred, two, seven, two, three, zero, zero. Okay, and that is a seven number for families to call to ask any sort of questions that the Alzheimer’s Association will will be able to answer. Certainly they’ll give information as as much as needed, as far as you know, resources available, information about the walks, information about support groups, all different types of things. And then the most important thing right now we’re talking about is the Alzheimer’s Association is dependent upon funding and a big part of that is the Alzheimer’s walk. And so if just to make a donation, we really encourage you to go to the website, which is Alz dot org, backslash walk perfect, and you can give a donation, join a walk, join a team, do whatever you can and again make sure that think about right now if you’ve been touched by the disease. We want to encourage those of our listeners today to get on the phone and just make a small donation, join a team, be supportive or volunteer for some of their events. They are an amazing organization and certainly we look forward to working with you, guys and Scott again for you, for fieldstong communities. How do we reach to you can reach us at four to five, six fifty four four zero five. That’s the hisquck community number, and you can go to the website, is fieldstone Communitiescom, and you can see all of our locations and all of our new upcoming locations as well, but, most importantly, some of our support events as well. Perfect. Thank you so much for being on the show today and thanks to everyone that came forward for the special hour. I hope you’ll join a walk in new neighborhood. Answers for elders radio show with Susan Newman. Hopes you found this podcast useful in your journey of navigating senior care. Check out more podcast like this to help you find qualified senior care experts and areas of financial, legal, health and wellness and living options. Learn about our radio show, receive our monthly newsletter, receive promotional discounts and meet our experts by clicking on the banner to join the Senior Advocate Network at answers for elders, radiocom. Now there is one place to find the answers for elders.
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Originally published September 08, 2019