Farmington Community Matters March 2016

Commun ty Matters Farmington Presbyterian Manor

March 2016

Chicken and Dumpling Dinner to raise senior funds Farmington Presbyterian Manor’s annual Chicken and Dumpling Dinner is set for Thursday, March 31.

Dinner will be served from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of the Presbyterian Church, 403 W. Columbia. Diners may choose to dine in or carry out a classic chicken-and-dumplings meal with a traditional side, roll, dessert and drink. There also will be a silent auction with fantastic donations to bid on.

The dinner is a fundraiser for the Good Samaritan program, which serves Presbyterian Manor residents who have exhausted their financial resources through no fault of their own. This totals more than $950,000 in unreimbursed care each year.

Last year’s dinner raised more than $16,000.

Tickets are $8 in advance and $9 at the door. Or, you may buy 10 or more tickets for $7 each.

Home cooking Residents make old favorites in cooking club Bacon grease. Homemade gravy. Fried potatoes.

When the cooking club gets together at Farmington Presbyterian Manor, it’s their chance to indulge a little.

Every month for the past seven years, the club has been meeting to make a meal together—usually something that’s not on the menu in the dining room. They take over the RCS kitchen and whip up enough to share with the residents and staff there.

Today, there are about six club regulars, said Stacy Comstock, the activity assistant who helps the club and gathers their ingredients. The group usually decides on the menu together; their favorites are comfort food and dishes they enjoyed cooking for their families.

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Often the group will share “We cook in bacon grease like crazy,” their leftovers Stacy said. “We make a whole, full with health care meal each time, even dessert. We’ve residents, Stacy made chili, chicken and dumplings said. The club —you name it, we’ve cooked it.” usually meets on the last The club grew out of an idea Monday of the by the resident council several month unless it years ago, Stacy said, and it has conflicts with remained consistently popular.

Resident Rosemary Marler has been holidays or special events. participating for about five years.

Her favorite part is cooking dishes Rosemary said to their own tastes, which is a nice she’s enjoyed change of pace. getting to make pork chops and chocolate sheet cake again. The “I’ve always liked to cook,” tricky part about working with Rosemary said. “I like to take a a group is making sure everyone recipe, put something in it, and make it good.” knows what to do, and not to do.

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Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Farmington Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org Jane Hull, executive director Heidi Beyer, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact hbeyer@pmma.org Telephone: 573-756-6768 Fax: 573-756-6014 Address: 500 Cayce St., Farmington, MO 63640-2910 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

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Community Matters March 2016

“They could add too much of something or not enough, and then you’ve got a mess,” Rosemary said.

But in this kitchen, there are never too many cooks.

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When should you ‘talk’ differently to someone with dementia?

By Eileen Beal for Next Avenue

If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, you will notice that as the condition worsens, so does your loved one’s ability to initiate or participate in conversations; understand and process information; and communicate wishes, wants and needs.

Behavior changes, such as forgetfulness and confusion, mood swings, frustration or anger are red flags that they have reached the “moderate” stage of dementia.

They are also red flags telling you that you need to change the way you’re communicating and interacting with your loved one.

“The old ways aren’t going to work anymore,” explains licensed social worker Crystal Wallace, the assistant director of the Adult Day Program at Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, “so it’s up to the caregiver to change the way they communicate—their behavior, their attitude, their approaches—to accommodate a loved one’s changed communication needs.

“Don’t think of this as manipulating them,” she adds. “Think of it as providing a positive and supportive environment where they are comfortable and can and will have good experiences.”

Talking without words Probably the most important change caregivers need to make is in their body language.

“Non-verbal communication —an open, accepting smile, a gentle, reassuring touch, not grimacing when they say something inappropriate—is very important

at this stage,” says Wallace. “It doesn’t just improve communication.

Since it may be the only ‘communication’ they understand, it reassures a loved one, affirms who they are and makes them feel loved.”

Listening to music or participating in activities (drawing, knitting, paging through a photo album) are also powerful communication resources. “These kinds of activities,” says Wallace, “can help calm and reassure them because they are attached to memories of good times.”

Enable positive experiences Non-verbal communication works in almost any setting, says Wallace, but it works best when you are both in a quieter, less-stimulating environment.

“Closing a door, moving chairs to a quieter corner of a room, or turning off the TV will make it easier for both of you to ‘be present’ and for communication and experiences to be positive,” she adds.

To help create those positive experiences, Wallace shares the following tips: • Always approach from the front, and where possible, make sure to make eye contact.

• Enter your loved one’s world because they don’t have the ability to come into yours.

• Be aware of their non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions, body

Courtesy of ThinkStock

language, anxiety levels.

• Don’t rush things. Slow your speech, give lots of time for responses, use gestures and be patient.

• Limit options to encourage decision-making. For example: “Do you want to go out to eat tonight at Restaurant A or Restaurant B?” rather than “Where do you want to eat tonight?”

• If decisions need to be made, phrase questions to elicit simple “yes” or “no” responses.

• When you are just chatting, stick to topics from the past, such as family, pets, travel or a former job.

And finally, keep in mind that when a loved one has dementia, it’s usually not the only medical condition impacting their ability to communicate.

“There’s a whole host of medical conditions that contribute to communication problems,” says Wallace, “but the three worst are hearing and vision loss and arthritis.”

Make a point of learning how your loved one’s specific medical conditions may impact their ability to communicate.

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Everyone knows fitness is important How have you taken steps to be fit? What’s your regular fitness routine? If you’ve started a fitness routine late in life, what advice would you have for others? How do you think you benefit from regular exercise?

If you’ve got a story to share about getting or staying fit, contact Marketing Director Heidi Beyer and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.

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