Topeka Community Matters December 2018

Commun ty Matters Topeka Presbyterian Manor

December 2018

Topeka Presbyterian Manor on U.S. News and World Report Best Nursing Home list Topeka Presbyterian Manor is on the U.S. News and World Report Best Nursing Homes 2018- 2019 list. The senior living community received the highest score of High Performing to make the list, available at www. usnews.com/best-nursinghomes/search.

The U.S. News and Report list uses information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the government agency that sets and enforces standards for nursing homes. CMS assigns one to five stars to each community for how well it performs in health inspections, nurse staffing and level of quality care.

U.S. News now uses the CMS star rating for staffing rather than the overall star rating to determine which communities are given the LIST, continued on page 4

Sales and Marketing Director Chelsea Watgen shares her holiday traditions.

Time-honored traditions Christmas is a time to enjoy with friends and family, and many of us have treasured traditions we enjoy. Enjoy learning more about how some of our staff members celebrate: “Our family always opens one present on Christmas eve, typically a book or an outfit for Midnight Mass. We always have tamales for dinner, then we open the present, then go to mass. After mass, when we were younger, my three siblings and myself would all ‘sleep’ in the same room, but really we just stayed up really late/early until we knew Santa had come. Our parents typically found us asleep by our Santa gift when they finally got out of bed.” ­—ChelseaWatgen, director of sales and marketing “Our family celebrates birthdays early in the morning with cake for breakfast. This started when our children were little and has become TRADITIONS, continued on page 2

TRADITIONS, continued from page 1

a fun tradition in our home. For Christmas morning, we celebrate Christ’s birth by eating Jesus cake! The cake itself is nothing fancy, butter recipe yellow box cake mix with chocolate fudge icing. A few years ago, we found a cross cake pan, so now the cake is always made in this design. What makes this special is the time we spend together on Christmas Eve preparing and decorating this cake (the kids love adding the sprinkles ... lots of sprinkles). We then enjoy it Heather Pilkinton Christmas morning before anything love this family tradition!” else and spend time talking about Jesus and God’s great love for us. We ­—Heather Pilkinton, executive director

Community Matters

is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org.

Heather Pilkinton, executive director Chelsea Watgen, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Chelsea Watgen, marketing director, cwatgen@pmma.org.

Telephone: 785-272-6510 Fax: 785-272-0496 Address: 4712 S.W. Sixth Ave., Topeka, KS 66606-2284 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

TopekaPresbyterianManor.org

Community Matters December 2018

“For me and my kids, we wear matching pajamas to bed Christmas Eve.” —Laura Ortiz, activity director

3 ways to find love and friendship ... later in life

By Wendy Sue Knecht for Next Avenue There’s no question of the importance of personal interactions and connections with friends as an important source of our well-being.

This is especially true as we age, and much has been written about the challenge of making friends and finding love in the later years.

Looking for love, or even just hoping to make a new friend, can seem intimidating when you’re older. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are a few insights that may be helpful in finding love and friendship

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Laura Ortiz

as we get older: 1. Re-frame old mindsets It’s all how we frame things in our minds that affect our vision. With LOVE, continued on page 3 Like us on Facebook

LOVE, continued from page 2

the right mindset, it is easier to find love and friendship.

Although it is often said that as we get older we get more stuck in our ways, this doesn’t have to be true.

We learn more about ourselves as the years go by, and our tastes become more distinct; but that doesn’t necessarily imply that we have to become more rigid. As I’ve experienced, it is possible to become more open-minded as we age.

it is much easier to accept other people for who they are. Not only do I not expect anyone to be perfect, I would hate for anyone to expect that of me.

3. Don’t let others define you When we were younger, many of us chose friends a lot like ourselves.

Hence the “cliques” in high school, where everyone was pretty much alike. Back then, we needed to be alike to be accepted.

Once we have the self-assurance

of age, it is no longer necessary to find a partner or a friend to define ourselves.

You can appreciate others more fully when you realize they are not a reflection of you.

Differing opinions and tastes can make things more interesting if you are open to listening without judgment. For example, the famous friendship between Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Anthony Scalia comes to mind.

When I got married for the first (and only) time at age 47, I can’t tell you how many comments I received from well-meaning friends and acquaintances: “Really, wasn’t that difficult?” “Weren’t you used to living alone?” and “Weren’t you set in your ways?”

“No!” I would emphatically answer.

Being single for so long made me ready to welcome change. Having more self-knowledge made it easier to feel open to new experiences.

I realized that being set in my ways was a choice and served no purpose.

I made a conscious decision not to be “stuck” in a rigid mindset.

2. Don’t expect others to be perfect With age comes confidence, and hopefully, the acceptance of our own imperfections. Personally, in my younger days, I had strict standards that everyone had to live up to.

My friends used to tell me that I was “too picky” regarding men, which was a nice way of saying “too critical.” Once you come to accept your own faults and imperfections, Like us on Facebook

Become an “Angel for a Day” by making a donation to the Good Samaritan Program.

To earn your wings, stop by our front desk today for a donation envelope.

A bell will be added to our Christmas tree in your honor.

Topeka Presbyterian Manor

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Topeka Presbyterian Manor 4712 S.W. Sixth Ave. Topeka, KS 66606-2284 Return Service Requested

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Celebrate the season!

Join us at one of the following Christmas parties: Dec. 12: Health care party from 2-4 p.m.

Dec. 13: Assisted living/ Independent living from 4-6 p.m.

Dec. 14: Staff-only Christmas party from 6-9 a.m.

High Performing designation. This decision reflects expert opinion on the importance of staffing in quality of care, as well as the availability since April 2018 of more accurate data on nurse staffing levels in each community or center.

More than 4,300 nursing homes received CMS’ top rating of five stars, while just 1,844 nursing homes earned the top Overall rating issued by U.S. News, according to the U.S. News website.

All Medicare- and Medicaid-

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Community Matters December 2018

certified health care centers were evaluated by U.S. News. To be eligible for an overall rating, a center must have received an overall star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July 2018 and a staffing star rating in either April or July 2018.

To learn more about the U.S. News and World Report rating system, visit their FAQ page: https:// health.usnews.com/healthnews/best-nursing-homes/ articles/faq-how-we-ratenursing-homes.

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