Father Bart is a thoughtful, kind, and spiritual man who worked not only as a nursing home chaplain, but trained as a Certified Nursing Assistant prior to his four years in long term care. He graciously consented to be interviewed for my blog, despite having moved on to other pursuits. What follows is an intimate … Read more
The July 2009 report, Trends in Mental Health Admissions to Nursing Homes, 1999 – 2005 notes that “the proportion of nursing home residents with mental illness, in particular depression, has overtaken the proportion of those with dementia”. According to a July 1, 2009 article by Liza Berger in McKnights.com, “younger mentally ill people now account … Read more
The Last Post in a Three-Part Series In the first two posts, I outlined why most Resident Council Meetings fall short of their potential (Why Most Resident Council Meetings Are a Sham) and offered suggestions for nursing homes to improve them (How to Run Effective Resident Council Meetings). Today’s post is for the residents. Since … Read more
My blog posts are now being picked up by the National Senior Living Provider Network, an online community for news and career opportunities for professionals involved in the Senior Living Marketplace. You can find my bio among their bloggers here.
Part Two of a Three-Part Series (Part Three: For Residents: Reclaiming the Resident Council) Resident Council Meetings, as I discussed in my previous post, Why Most Resident Council Meetings in Nursing Homes Are a Sham, often can be improved to become a powerful tool for change in nursing homes. Giving residents a true voice within … Read more
The First of a Three-Part Series (Part Two: How to Run Effective Resident Council Meetings; Part Three: For Residents: Reclaiming the Resident Council) *If you don’t know what a Resident Council Meeting is, see the Prequel, posted earlier today. I must confess, the only time I’ve actually been to a Resident Council Meeting was when … Read more
Prequel to a Three-Part Series For those of you who don’t know what a Resident Council Meeting is, I offer this brief explanation. If you have additional information about the meetings, please add it to the comments section. Each floor/unit/neighborhood of the nursing home has a resident who acts as the representative to whom others … Read more
My Grandma Lily lived for several years in a nursing home, and toward the end of her life she became quite confused. While this was disturbing to me and the rest of the family, I found when I changed my approach and expectations of our time together, our visits were more successful. Between that experience, … Read more
My blog posts are now being picked up by Long Term Living Magazine, a resource for those working in long term care. You can find my bio among their bloggers here.
I asked some experienced nursing home residents if they had any advice they’d like to share with residents who were just arriving, in order to make their stay more pleasant. I was surprised by the diversity of their responses and the speed with which they gave them. Please add your suggestions to the comments section. … Read more