Foundational Principles of Wellness, Part 4

*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 podcast is provided by an approved senior care provider. On the answers for elders radio network. And welcome back everyone to answer for elders radio network, and I am here again in our final segment for today, but only for categories to start our three. We cover three, we’ve covered three, we covered three, so we have five more to go next month. So you guys have to stay tune. But in the meantime, Elena is the vice president of the Western Region Morning Star senior living and I am so glad we’re spending this time together. I’ve learned so much about Morning Star just, you know, talking to you. I could I could stay here all day. So, Elena, fill me in on we talked about in our last segment. But what’s the next foundational proved principle of wellness? So the next financial principle of buannas is probably safe. Well, and one of my favorites is safety. Okay, and safety. So safety is is literally just with the word says, it’s feeling safe and your environment, feeling care for, taking care of protected. It’s being safe again in in your environment, basically. So so we’re going to talk about safety today. Okay, and safety, obviously is a big issue for seniors right other and they all have again, different needs, right. Rather it is safety in mobility is is. Maybe it’s medication, right, maybe it’s they need safety in their living environment, right, you know, they may have need to support in their activities and daily way, all of those. It’s also it’s also outside, outside safety. So I have a resident who is in a bad time part of town. It just increasingly gotten worse and with the riots that happened a year and a half ago, it became progressively depremental to her to stay at home. So her safety was in jeopardy. So she ended up making a move into one of our communities because she was no longer safe right living it in her environment and her community, which is which is always sad, but that’s why she moved into one of our communities for that type of safety. So, but we do there’s a lot that goes into safety. You mentioned so many of the core issues of wife. Folks visit our communities. There was a fall, you know, my mom for for a short while she had a double actually double bypass surgery and she was no longer safe in her environment. She couldn’t just get at she just couldn’t get out of a chair. So she needed that assistance for that time to be safe in her environment. And so even myself, I’ve consequently, I don’t know if you know this, but I’m staying here on side and one of every one of our apartment homes, me too, and the reason I love it’s because I’ve never gotten better sleep. Yeah, yeah, I’ve never gotten better sleep. There is it feels like a warm blank I don’t even know how to describe it. I’ve done this periodically through my twenty one career and seen your loving. I remember my first time staying in a community was in Beverly Hills, and beautiful areas Beverly Hills, but I was staying in one of the apartment homes when I was in there and man did I feel safe. There was safety and knowing that there was twenty four hours staff available. I can come down and there was always staff available. So if anything happened, if I was restless, I can come down and just just moves. Yeah, just moves. There was, there is security. Annoying. I can call anybody if I wanted to. Yeah, right, there’s always one of the front us. Or is there someone like there was a care staff or care manager available at my back in need. Heaven forbid if I had a fall in my own apartment. All right, but that could happen. You’s to my heels. I can, and you know I’m clumsy by nature. I can add a trip, but I but I had a call button or had to push push button on the walls that I can call for help if I can get to the phone and just as safety of knowing I had I was surrounded by neighbors. Well, you know, it’s interesting when I first when you first mentioned to me the safety factor. Yeah, I was thinking to myself, I was going back to the massle’s hierarchy, need saying, and safety securities at the bottom. But what’s interesting about that? You guys made it the third principle, because fear will often set you know, and prevent people from doing things that make them safe. Oh my God, odd. And so when we when you were talking about, you know, your resident is stayed in her home for way longer than she probably said because but it got the fear of remaining there was higher than her willingness right to step out into the unknown. So it’s really strategic on you guys. To put that the emotional piece first, in the fact that once that I feel comfortable that I can make that move right, then the next question I’m going to ask myself is, will I be fear? Oh well, I be safe, and so that’s really interesting. I can see why you did that. You know, it’s funny that you mentioned that. It’s when we look at someone who’s ready, to quote unquote, ready to make that move, we look at is is the fear or the need to make a move right? So is it greater than the need to? Is a fear of staying at home greater than the fear of making a move right? So rabbins talks about it. It’s the fear of remaining the same. The same will allow you to find me it. When that comes higher, then then you will make a decision and make a change. And that’s it. And it has to you have to basically get pushed to a corner to finally make that move, and it’s some people, unfortunately, way too long to make it because it’s kind of scary. But the safety factor is huge. When safety of of staying at home, when you’re no longer able to dress yourself, bathe yourself, Cook for yourself. You know how many seniors are getting meals on wheels, but that’s a wonderful and delightful service. Some residents don’t even have that opportunity to get meuse on wils, and so they’re constantly eating frozen foods. The sodium that goes into those frozen meals is not good for us, nor are they can in socialization with any with others. Well, and and it goes right back to the pandemic, I think that when we have been through what we have, I mean most of our seniors were pretty much isolated for two years right, and I mean I remember talking to some of our communities and it’s like you can only play Hobping, go to yea many times. You know, there really wasn’t a lot of things. So they stayed in these you know, in their apartments. Yeah, and they couldcooned and my watch TV. But you know, the flip side of it, which was good, is they had the opportunity to learn technology, like we’re on zoom right now, which is great. So they learned that and they’ve so we’ve learned a lot of different types of opportunities right in the process through adversity, which is great, but I think the other side of it is is that finding a way to connect again needs to be understanding that it’s also a safety factor. Yeah, we’re them and and a lot, I know. You know we’re seeing so many more cases of like hoarding and situation in Senior’s home since they were lucked up, you know, basically in quaranty and quarantine here, depression, like you said, the hoarding, which becomes an environmental factor because now they’re tripping and having more falls. Sadly, I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard of someone fell in their own home, were on the floor for hours, even days, before someone found them or before someone was able to call for help or they were able to call for help. And these are to trick, the tragedy stories that we continue to hear, and it’s the pain of moving has to be greater than the pain of staying at home, right, or the pain of staying at home has, I’m sorry, the pain of staying at home has to be greater than the pain of moving, and so some people wait too on for those pains for that safety factor to reach enough, like a pandemic person for themselves. And so safety is is key to our survival is feeling safe, feeling well, taking care of, you know, peace of mind for our families, knowing that so many of our families have not been able to take vacations. Yeah, because her families are not safe at home and they have to stay nearby because they’re not safe. And so they they push back their vacations, they push back the things that they were wanting to do. I can’t remodel my house because if I do remodel my house, I don’t have the time to take care of my mom or my dad. So they push back these things that they would otherwise do because our family Jiz, say, at home. And it goes to mention that when you come into your community, the staff is still wearing masks. Yeah, you know, you still go through a process as reading process, right. You know, we want to make sure that anybody that works here is vaccinated and that are absolutely you know, living. It is the best right possible. I’m sure your staff is still coma check covid tract. And you know, what most people don’t realize is when the pandemic first hit us, are seenior living communities were well equipped over saying at home, because we had the supplies and we had access, direct access, to some of our suppliers. So from, believe it or not, tolet paper was a big one. But we had a surplus in our communities, but just a simple supplus you don’t even think about. And so even within our pursecution, and now I know where to go exactly, just kind of us. We have a yeah, we have it well stopped. Yeah, well stock for those emergencies, not even knowing so, and even now we’re still well stopped. And so there’s a stafe factor there too, being being able to survive even a fire, earthquake, a pandemic. You know, we’re equipped here at our community to be able to do so so and within the comforts of someone’s home. So while some of our someone of our seniors and families were isolated from being able to go out, we still had dying programs, activities and programs happening on a daily basis here our communities. It wasn’t even funny of us. Nice thing about it is like this is their home right and you know, maybe it was hard for friends and family from the out right, but you also, in many cases made it so cool because they were able to do last time right and or virtual ourself outside. There was some some communities that had little talking boots. You know that you sit. So there’s all different types of ways in which you’ve done what you can to keep residence safe. Cry And you still do right, and not to mention full staff. Nursing, medication, right help all of those things and that helps seniors with their activities and daily living. Absolutely, bathing, dressing, etc. Absolutely and by the grace of God, we’ve maintained a kept the majority of our staff members and that’s, and I do say it by the grace of God. We’ve and and while we continue to hire, you know, as we continue to grow our communities, you know we’ve had staff and so our residents have the security, like you mentioned, from our nursing cares staff to our dining staff, are housekeeping staff, maintenance staff and just our management staff all available to support go overall wellness of our residence of family members. That’s awesome. Well and Lana, it has been such an just a tonue pleasure to have you with us this hour and next month, I promise all of our listeners we’re going to Tuch tackle the the rest of the five foundations of wellness and certainly we’re looking forward to working with you for many months to come, and and other communities, with our morning star, we’re going to be talking with as well, and so we’re so thrilled to be a part of your world. Thank you so much to them, and be well everyone. Yes, and to each and every one of you this following week, make sure that you reach out to a loved one, maybe ask them what’s most important to you. Mom Or dad, how can I think about those three concepts we talked about, whether it’s environmental, whether it’s emotional or whether it’s safety. Think about what’s most important to men and until the next week, everyone be good to each other. We at answers for elders. Thank you for listening. 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