Changing Attitudes About Dementia

 

While a 2012 survey found that more Americans fear Alzheimer’s disease than they do cancer, many professionals are starting to rethink their attitude toward the disease. Bill Thomas, a geriatrician who is trying to reframe people’s view on aging, says for many the disease has been “swathed in shame” and stuck in what he call “the tragedy narrative.” Without dismissing the challenges of the disease, he and other experts say that it may be beneficial to both caregivers and patients to take an adaptive approach to dealing with Alzheimer’s that is more flexible, spontaneous, and expansive.

Mary Fridley, co-creator of a workshop called The Joy of Dementia (You’ve Got to Be Kidding!), stresses that in spite of the fact that we know dementia to be extremely painful, she feels too much time is spent on medicalizing the disease. Rather she truly believes “it is an opportunity, if people so choose, to be improvisational, to be silly, to play, to free ourselves from the constraints of truth and knowing and assumptions.”

One study out of Canada supports this premise by reporting that dementia patients’ symptoms declined and their psychologically outlook greatly improved after 12-weeks of visits from “elder clowns” who engage them with empathy, humor, and improvisation. Another recent study from Australia found that “dementia-care staff with positive attitudes and ‘person-centered’ strategies felt more competent about their ability to provide care.”

MorningStar at Jordan provides compassionate, individualized care for those with mild to advanced memory impairment in Centennial, CO. Our holistic approach to memory care is designed to comfort and heal as we find ways to help residents celebrate life and experience spontaneous moments of joy. If a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, we are here to help, please contact us.

MorningStar at Jordan represents the very best in senior living with our distinct mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.” We are dedicated to providing a true home for residents amidst a beautiful, serene setting by creating a foundation built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Contact us to learn more about exceptional assisted living and memory care in Centennial, Colorado.

Source: mercurynews.com/2019/02/21/a-joyful-existence-with-alzheimers-yes-joyful/

Are You Looking for Assisted Living in Centennial, CO?

 

If you are looking for assisted living, Centennial, CO’s MorningStar community is one of the best places to start. Offering 55 suites for assisted living with a choice of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom floor plans, MorningStar at Jordan also offers all of the amenities and services to ensure your every comfort. You may recognize the MorningStar name. In addition to a number of senior living communities throughout the Western U.S., nearby locations include MorningStar of Littleton, MorningStar at RidgeGate and MorningStar of Parker.

We encourage you to visit our website as we have lots of information available along with photos that capture the full beauty and inviting warmth of our community. There you will find a great description of our home, brief comments from our Management Team, a map showing our location as well as pictures to illustrate the detailed attention to our welcoming spaces and beautiful design. The page also has a button to Amenities and Suite Amenities that describes many of the community’s resort-style amenities and highlights the comforts of our private suites.

Our private suites have been designed with all of the conveniences and safety precautions needed to ensure both your comfort and safety. Each bathroom is handicapped accessible and all apartments have an emergency call system. Throughout our large common areas just some of the amenities include a bistro, general store, chapel, theater, massage therapy room, salon, and fitness and wellness center. To enjoy the outdoors, we offer a fireside patio and all-season porches.

As a resident in assisted living, your care plan will be based on a thorough assessment of your medical history and personal preferences, and routinely evaluated to ensure it is relevant to your care needs. Range of services include assisting residents with the activities of daily living (ADLs) as well as life enrichment and hospitality services, which we consider to be important to one’s overall health. Also, families get peace of mind knowing trained care managers are there to help navigate any changes in the health and wellbeing of their loved one.

Please visit our website for contact info and give us a call to inquire about availability and pricing or connect with us online. We look forward to meeting you and your family.

MorningStar at Jordan represents the very best in senior living with our distinct mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.” We are dedicated to providing a true home for residents amidst a beautiful, serene setting by creating a foundation built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Contact us to learn more about our exceptional assisted living and memory care community.

This Month the US Commemorates the 57th American Heart Month

 

Each February, American Heart Month is celebrated by motivating Americans to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent heart disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. Many organizations such as the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health use this opportunity to raise awareness and spread strategies for preventing the disease.

Some of their suggestions for prevention include small lifestyle changes such as flavoring food with spices rather than using salt as well as adopting overall healthier eating habits. They recommend staying active (or get active) and maintaining a healthy weight. Also, to control cholesterol and blood pressure levels. If you smoke, quit and avoid secondhand smoke. If you drink alcohol, do it in moderation. It is also important to manage stress.

Remember you are at a greater risk for heart disease if you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, are overweight or obese, and are not exercising and following a healthy diet. Genetics may also put you at a higher risk as well as your age. If you had a father or brother with heart disease before age 55 or a mother or sister with the disease before 65, it may indicate a family history.

The most common type of heart disease is coronary heart disease (CHD), also known as coronary artery disease. This causes the coronary arteries that carry blood to the heart to become blocked by cholesterol and plaque buildup. Chest pains or a heart attack are a sign of a blocked artery.

At MorningStar at Jordan, a Centennial, CO assisted living and memory care community, we take our residents wellbeing very seriously, which is why we serve delicious, nutritional meals prepared largely from scratch using the freshest ingredients. In addition, we have a range of wellness programs and activities that support and enhance physical, mental, and spiritual health. Please visit our website for more information about our beautiful community.

MorningStar at Jordan represents the very best in senior living with our distinct mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.” We are dedicated to providing a true home for residents amidst a beautiful, serene setting by creating a foundation built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Contact us to learn more about our exceptional assisted living and memory care community.

Source: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/heart-month

Come Join the MorningStar Family

 

At the MorningStar senior living communities, we know that seniors have gone through many trials and triumphs throughout their lives and handled them with fortitude and grace, which it why we feel privileged to serve them. Furthermore, many of us have been blessed to have the opportunity to build loving relationships with our own grandparents or other elderly relatives and love the opportunity to give back.

Guided by MorningStar Senior Living’s mission statement that honors God in our business practices and relationships; values all seniors as gifted and contributing individuals; and invests generously in our team’s ability to serve; the Denver area MorningStar communities strive to live up to those goals. One way we do this is by recruiting and retaining an extraordinary team of service professionals and recognizing each team member is essential to our success.

Our beautiful communities have an array of open positions in Denver and the surrounding area that will allow you to make a difference in the lives of our residents. Openings are available at MorningStar of Arvada; MorningStar at Jordan; MorningStar of Littleton; MorningStar at RidgeGate; MorningStar of Wheat Ridge; and MorningStar of Parker. Some of our positions are caregiver jobs while others are essential to the smooth operation of our communities. Current open positions include Care Manager, Server, Community Relations Associate, Medication Care Manager/QMAP, Driver, Housekeeping jobs and more.

In addition to one of the most generous financial compensation packages in the industry, MorningStar offers a host of other benefits including comprehensive insurance coverage. This includes health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, telehealth coverage, life insurance, and supplemental insurance (disability, accident, critical illness).

Please visit our website for a complete list of rewarding positions, detailed job descriptions and an easy-to-use online application. While our career opportunities are diverse, all require individuals with big hearts and a love for seniors. Please come join our MorningStar family!

MorningStar Senior Living’s unique mission statement: “to honor, to serve, to invest,” sets us apart from other senior living communities. We are committed to a foundation built upon honoring God and valuing all seniors, and are actively recruiting staff with a felt calling to serve seniors. If you would love to serve, please visit MorningStar’s Career page for information on current openings (including caregiver and housekeeping jobs) in Denver, CO.

Learn More About MorningStar of Boulder

 MorningStar of Boulder’s goal is to be one of the best retirement communities Boulder has to offer, and we are committed to the comfort, wellbeing, and safety of our remarkable residents.  Once you learn more about our community, we are sure you will agree that MorningStar of Boulder is senior living at its best.  In fact, the MorningStar Senior Living Company was founded by Ken Jaeger as the fulfillment of his dream to create senior housing defined by the human touch and a sense of family.  We believe our community has achieved that dream and is a true home for our remarkable residents.  

To ensure we meet our residents’ needs, we are deliberate about the individuals we hire to become part of our distinguished team.  Every new employee is carefully vetted and chosen for virtues such as kindness, selflessness, and character.  We look for people who are committed to perfecting the art of anticipating needs and willingly go the extra mile to serve.  

Once team members are hired, they are trained in “Radiance,” which is much more than just a customer service program but rather an attitude of the heart.  With a tagline of “Service Becomes Us,” it is used to guide the way we deliver service – with sincerity and depth of purpose.  Also, its precepts enhance the loving atmosphere of our home.

We encourage you to visit our website and view our virtual tour that shows off our beautiful spaces as well as background on some of the guiding principles of MorningStar Senior Living.  Throughout our community, you will find inviting areas to sit and have a chat with friends or family or the perfect spot to find some solitude and just enjoy the day.    Looking at the stunning images, can you imagine yourself sitting in our attractive dining room eating meals served restaurant-style and expertly prepared by a professional chef or spending a morning getting pampered in our onsite salon? 

MorningStar of Boulder offers 48 bright, private assisted living suites in a variety of floor plans to meet our residents’ preferences and needs.  In our Reflections Neighborhood, we provide another 46 secure suites devoted to the individualized care of those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases.  Please contact us for more information.

Our mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other retirement communities Boulder offers. We have built a foundation on honoring God, valuing our seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Set in a warm, loving atmosphere with beautiful surroundings and resort-style amenities, MorningStar of Boulder provides outstanding assisted living and memory care.

Grieving in the COVID-19 Era

 For far too many, the holidays and the months that follow will be spent grieving a loved one.  In normal times, the death of a loved one meant gathering family and friends together to support the bereaved and to honor the deceased; but now families have had to settle for much smaller funerals or put off funerals and memorial services altogether until sometime in the future.  Also, being at home alone in a house that was once shared by someone who has passed away makes the grief that much stronger.  

Grief expert Robert Neimeyer, a psychologist and director of the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition in Portland, Oregon, explains that this can result in a “broken web of connection, which creates what we psychologists call unfinished business in bereavement.”  Moreover, experts say COVID-19 has caused other types of grieving such as the loss of financial security, the loss of close contact with family and friends, and the loss of our sense of freedom to move about.   

The AARP reports that these types of grief are contributing to what psychologists call “complicated grief, one that's more difficult, intense, prolonged and disruptive than usual.”  This is why professionals stress the importance of people reaching out to make contact with those in the grieving process through phone or video calls.  If a family member seems to be struggling with accepting the death, it may help to have them setup a telehealth visit with a grief counselor or to join an online support group.  Other strategies that may help include anxiety-reducing exercises such as yoga or tai chi, meditation or relaxation techniques.  

At the MorningStar of Boulder assisted living and memory care community, we provide the support services and physical environment to enable older adults to live as comfortably and as safely as possible.  In addition to 24/7 Care Managers, licensed nurses, medication management by Certified Med Care Managers, and wellness activities, we routinely do Health & Wellness Evaluations and Care Plan reviews.  If you are looking for one of the best retirement communities Boulder has to offer, we encourage you to visit our website to learn more about MorningStar.

 

Our mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other retirement communities Boulder offers. We have built a foundation on honoring God, valuing our seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Set in a warm, loving atmosphere with beautiful surroundings and resort-style amenities, MorningStar of Boulder provides outstanding assisted living and memory care. 

Source: aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2020/covid19-changes-grieving.html

Career Opportunities at Senior Homes Defined by the Human Touch

 

Our beautiful Denver senior living communities are proud to be part of a parent company, MorningStar Senior Living, which was founded on the premise of creating senior loving homes defined by the human touch. From the start, our communities were designed to feel more like your grandma’s house than nursing homes of old. Thus, we strive to create a culture defined not only by what we do but by the kind of people that bring it all to life – our dedicated team members.

The MorningStar Company will celebrate its 18th anniversary this year, and now has 25+ senior living communities throughout the Western US and several more under construction. Our tremendous growth and the trust we have earned in the cities in which we reside is due to staying true to our brand. This includes the belief that MorningStar’s homes are exceptional places where seniors are viewed as heroes.

Career opportunities at our Denver communities include roles that let you work closely with our residents such as our compassionate caregivers who assist residents with their day-to-day personal care. We also seek medication care managers and techs to help to see to it that residents safely get the medications they need. Other openings include dining room servers and housekeeping jobs. Team members in all of our positions are encouraged to build relationships with our residents as well as their families and fellow team members. Moreover, as you get to know our delightful residents, you will discover the things they are passionate about and have the opportunity to hear wonderful stories they are waiting to share.

Morningstar is proud to support our valuable team members with a very generous benefit package. Our benefits start with competitive wages, plus bonus and incentive opportunities in some positions, and extend all the way through comprehensive insurance, training, and employee leave and support programs. No matter what our employee’s needs are, MorningStar has a benefit program designed to support our most valued asset – the MorningStar employee family!

The Denver MorningStar communities include MorningStar of Arvada; MorningStar at Jordan; MorningStar of Littleton; MorningStar at RidgeGate; MorningStar of Wheat Ridge; and MorningStar of Parker. Each community is committed to providing loving care to our residents who deserve to be treated as valued and contributing individuals. If you wish to be part of something extraordinary, please visit our website or give us a call to learn more about our beautiful homes.

MorningStar Senior Living’s unique mission statement: “to honor, to serve, to invest,” sets us apart from other senior living communities. We are committed to a foundation built upon honoring God and valuing all seniors, and are actively recruiting staff with a felt calling to serve seniors. If you would love to serve, please visit MorningStar’s Career page for information on current openings (including caregiver and housekeeping jobs) in Denver, CO.