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7 reasons to partner with LifeBio if you work in senior living in 2022 September 14, 2022
Appreciating Family Stories
Many American families will gather back around the Thanksgiving table this year after last year’s cancelled or altered plans. (My family shivered around a bonfire last Thanksgiving for as long as we could stand it, and I, for one, am thrilled to be back at the table. --Laura). Perhaps we will eat and drink as much as we can fit in our bellies. The children will have too many dinner rolls and not enough vegetables. We will talk about football games, health issues, and the weather. Then at some point, there will be a lull in the conversation.
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Hope for the Future
“Our value lies in what we are and what we have been, not in our ability to recite the recent past.” – Homer
While historians debate whether the Ancient Greek poet Homer suffered from Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, it is a fact that right now more than 6.2 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease. With those numbers projected to more than double by 2050, the need for better ways to diagnose and treat the disease is abundantly clear: even if it hasn’t impacted your family yet, there is a very good chance it will. November is both National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month as well as National Family Caregivers Month, and as Alzheimer’s cases rise with the number of older Americans, we want to honor those family members providing care.
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Nostalgia for Emotional Wellness: How Remembering the Past Helps You Live in the Present
Between the falling leaves, the pumpkins out on stoops, and the smell of warm cider, autumn feels like a natural time for reminiscing. It is a time of year when it is easy to let your mind slip into the past and remember Halloween costumes from when you were little or the fragrance of your mother’s apple crumble in the oven. Reminiscing like this can feel a little sappy, a little foolish sometimes. We’re told to focus on the future; keep moving forward. But what if focusing on your past helped you move toward your future with greater resilience, energy, and mental wellbeing? What if remembering the past actually motivated you to live a fuller, better life in the here and now?
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A Change of Seasons: Reflections on Healthy Aging Month
Autumn is a natural time to think about aging. We see the leaves change color as the earth readies itself for transformation. It seems right that September is appropriate for Healthy Aging Month. The phrase “healthy aging” brings many things to mind: maintaining muscle mass, flexibility, a balanced diet and disease prevention. But there are other, less tangible parts of healthy aging that come to mind as well — social engagement, mental wellness, a sense of purpose and legacy.
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5 Tips for Using Reminiscence in Health Care and Hospice
Consider starting a life stories program in health care settings or hospice care for a number of reasons.
1) Reminiscence impacts all dimensions of wellness -- especially the emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social aspects. Even the physical dimension is touched with reports of lowered pain and increased brain activity.
Right on Time
One moment time flies, while another moment takes its good old time. We can be in a time crunch, hoping to accomplish something just in the nick of time. It may feel like there just isn’t enough time to do everything, so it may be high time we start something. Other days we have too much time on our hands, so we kill time. Sometimes we can take our time or even waste time. Other days, time is of the essence or we contemplate if we can buy ourselves some extra time. Some people equate that time is money, and there is no time to lose. We may look for ways to save time. We may set a time to do certain things. We like to be in the right place at the right time. Sometimes we wish we could turn back time. We question if things will stand the test of time. Only time will tell. Time after time…
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How to Save Family Stories
If you're concerned about saving and sharing family stories, you are not alone. The growth of the photo book industry, scrapbooking, and Ancestry.com are all signs that many people care about capturing what matters most from their own life experiences, their parents' lives, and their grandparents lives too. Photos don't tell the whole story. Genealogy is so incredibly interesting---keep in mind there is a whole life story behind every person in that family tree (and most of it wasn't recorded in the past). So there is a better way.
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Glimmers of Hope
It has been a year, and what a year it has been. Since late 2019, COVID-19 has existed in our world. It was just about a year ago in 2020, that this coronavirus strain started spreading rapidly and causing a global pandemic. Many places were closed or had to take other actions for social distancing. People were encouraged to wear face masks and stay distanced or to even stay at home. People were encouraged to wash hands and clean more frequently and thoroughly. Routines were forced to change. Former norms were no longer normal.
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Don't Just Take Our Word for It
Word is out that reminiscing and sharing life stories with a loved one can improve a person's mental, psychological and emotional health. It also aides caregivers in personalizing care and better connecting and communicating with their loved one. LifeBio supports using reminiscence to share life stories, but you don't just have to take our word for it. See what Julie Hayes, the Editorial Assistant at Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, had to say in this Guideposts article. 4 Methods for Collecting and Preserving Your Loved One’s Life Stories | Guideposts
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Lasting Legacies
This past week I had the privilege to read a book about a woman in her 90s. As was common for many people during that time, she grew up in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing. Her mother cooked on a wood stove, and her family used coal oil lamps for light. In the evenings they played games like “I Spy” to pass the time. With time, she saw the first telephone, then the first car, and eventually the first television come to her community.
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