A Few Examples of Unusual, Humane Senior Care

by LAS

Here are a couple examples of humane senior care programs around the country. These are not the only ones out there, but we just wanted to let you know that you have choices when it comes to placing an aging parent in some kind of facility.

DAY CARE – at NIGHT

The Elder-Serve at Night program offered by The Hebrew Home in the Bronx, New York.

Similar to senior day care where adult children drop off a parent while they go to work, this one allows adult children to sleep when the senior is prone to wandering at night.

Patients can just socialize with the other patients, paint, do yoga, listen to live music. Therapies are offered – physical therapy, light therapy, and even aromatherapy.

Staffers are present at all times to provide services, and dispense medications if needed.

NO RULES for DEMENTIA PATIENTS

The Beatitudes Campus in Phoenix is flexible enough to accommodate patients who want a late dinner and a bath at 3 am. There are nurses who can play the piano, so that patients who remember little else can sing the lyrics to old songs. If a patient does better without medications, then he or she may be taken off the drugs.

The Campus provides a calming atmosphere that helps everyone to remain calm and engaged in things that they enjoy.

RURAL RETREAT for SENIORS

The Life Care Cneter of Nashoba Valley is a rural facility in the Littleton, MA area. A resident llama named Travis allows residents to pet him.

Staffers work at figuring out what triggers upsets and what kind of prop or activity will soothe them. For one person, music is soothing. For another, who was a former librarian, just holding a book is comforting.

Best wishes in finding the right place for a beloved but brain-damaged or senile parent.