Two more stops

On Friday I went to Eagle Crest Arbor((preshomes.org), an assisted living with memory care. This place was awesome, outdoor courtyard, thoughtful floorplan for dementia residents, a private dining room to have family dinners, a childcare center next door that visits often, pet therapy, beauty shop and other amenities. The place is six years old, about 7 miles from home and it accepts Medicaid. The unit has three 'houses' with 9 to 15 residents in each and they are all connected. The waiting list is 4-6 months.

Today I went to RiverVillage East(catholiceldercare.org) also an assisted living with memory care, also totally rocked. The amenities here were comparable to Eagle Crest Arbor with the added bonus of a spa, a guest room on campus that can be rented for $50/night(basically a swank hotel room), painting classes and an art gallery that displays the residents' work. They even have art openings with wine and cheese! I told the marketing director that I wanted to move in. The memory care unit has 11 residents and they join the rest of the campus for lunch, dinner and some other activities. The campus is connected to, you guessed it, a catholic church so the residents can walk or wheel to service. RiverVillage East is only two years old and about 6 easy miles from home. There are currently three people on the waiting list.

I have one more place to go on Wednesday, and I've been considering visiting the St. Paul Rakhma home; however, it seems the bigger places are better for mom, more room to roam, less stairs. I've put a couple calls out to find some info. on a decent eldercare attorney. Maybe I just need an informed worker in the health care system that can let me know the details of transferring Medicaid from state to state. The admissions director I met with at The Village at Walker Methodist said that Medicaid transfers with the patient, there's no waiting period or penalty. I'll still have to follow up on the info. but that sounds like good news.

The Old Among Us

Two facilities today, alot to take in. I went to Lyngblomsten (www.lyngblomsten.org) this morning, a nursing home with a memory care unit as part of a larger campus. Only 3 miles from home and a short walk from my favorite park in the city, I had high hopes going in despite the byline "Influenced by Christ, Lyngblomsten provides a ministry of compassionate care...".
I knew I was in trouble when my tour guide took me into the unit and all the residents were in a sing-along of 'Amazing Grace'. Not that I have anything against the song but I knew this would be about the time that mom would fart and ask for a beer. Not exactly a great fit. And besides, it was basically a sterile hospital environment...nothing special.

Next stop, Crest View(crestviewcares.org). This place is about 6 miles from home and it's an assisted living with a memory care unit, a rare commodity. The unit itself has twelve residents and one stumpy black dog named Sadie, who I fell in love with. It's small and cozy but there's still plenty of room to move around. The residents have access to an outdoor garden and patio, very nice. The place was built in the last few years so everything is new and clean. I really like this facility the best by far. It has the intimate feel of Rakhma but no stairs and more room. At Crest View the TV isn't on very much, a big plus, and the residents are in various stages of dementia. Some folks were mobile and chatty and kind of looked out for the others. There's planned activities throughout the day and the staff makes a point of getting everyone up and into the main room for the day. No sleeping the day away. There's a room available and I'm seriously thinking of putting a hold on it even though I've got a few other places to see in the next week. I think mom would do very well at Crest View.

The Village at Walker Methodist

Day three of touring elder care facilities and it just gets more interesting. Although this is a nursing home the memory care unit was redesigned in the last few years to accommodate dementia residents. The design of the memory care unit is well-planned and comforting and there's plenty of room to roam. It's a long figure eight with curving walls, has two smaller dining rooms, a fireplace, an outdoor deck with plants and little nooks for a few people to sit and chat. The place is laid out like a little village, hence the name. There's a barber shop, an ice cream cart, a "fruit" stand; kind of like being in a very mellow amusement park. The exit door blends in with the walls so the residents don't fixate on it as a way out. There's a plenty of small details like this throughout the unit that make it pretty pleasant for the residents. Another bonus is that there's lots of men at The Village for mom to get her meathooks into.

The Village (walkermethodist.org) is on a campus with other care centers so there's lots of amenities: a gift shop, ice cream carts, a chapel and a coffee shop. There is also large rooftop patio with plantings and a greenhouse which I think is a fantastic idea. Kind of like the VA where Dad was.

Of course, Henry was a big hit. All the residents thought Henry was an excellent choice for a name. After all, it was one of the most popular baby names in 1903. One woman said: "I hope you didn't name him one of those nonsense names. Like my granddaughter named her kid God knows what." With that she rolled her eyes, shook her head in disgust and waited for my reply. Fortunately, the name Henry passed muster.

Another woman tried to sell me a few postage stamps because she needed a dollar. I was unsure whether or not she was a resident because she had an ID tag on and looked like she was dressed for work. Nevertheless, I was impressed by her ingenuity and happily would have obliged her if I had any cash on me. The Admissions Specialist redirected her with the swiftness of a pro so she may be a lifer. I'll never know.

I'm going to hold judgment on The Village until I check out some more places. I'm hitting two care centers tomorrow. Wish me luck and a sense of humor.

Cerenity as euphemism

The Cerenity Care Center was not very serene. Turns out "Care Center" is elderspeak for "End of the Yellow Brick Road". I was expecting an assisted living with a memory care unit but instead I got a secured nursing home on the 4th floor of a building in a campus of sorts. The staff was nice enough but the place was basically a hospital and many of the residents were pretty far gone. There were a couple folks that yelled out intermittently, adding to the all-around bleakness of the place. Not good.

There were some hilarious moments, of course. One of the residents stopped to ask me how he could get out, he couldn't seem to find an exit. Ironically, he was standing directly under a glowing red 'EXIT' sign. One of the staff members chirped in that brunch was beginning soon and he brightened, moving on to the dining room.

In a nutshell, Cerenity is not an option for mom; too end-stage, too many yellers, no access to the outdoors without an escort.

Tomorrow, another nursing home...I'm interested to see if they're all the same. Mom seems to be on the cusp as to which facility is best for her. Incontinence is a big issue regarding where seniors should be placed because the staffing ratio is much less in an assisted living. Ah, the learning curve, she's steep.

Rakhma kind of rocks

I visited Rakhma today.(www.rakhma.org) The house holds 10 residents and two staff people at all times. Good ratio. The Minneapolis location is three blocks from a creek that has wheelchair accessible trails(many miles of them) and half a block from a coffee shop. The home is big and old and quirky and in a great neighborhood about 8 miles away from 1033. There's a dining room and living room and most of the residents were in the living room watching a giant TV. Oh well. My only concern with Rakhma is that there's not alot of room for roaming. Maybe she won't feel the need to wander if she's got work to do at home. Mom can go outside to a secured yard when the weather is nice or she can hang out in the living or dining rooms.

Rakhma also has extensive use of volunteers-over 100 of them. One volunteer was setting up an activity for the residents when I got there and stayed for about an hour. When I arrived I met the director and who I thought was another staff person, named Donna I think. Donna was very happy to see Henry and basically shadowed us during the whole tour, remarking on how cute Henry is(of course). I didn't realize she was a resident until she showed me her room! Funny.

The upside is that mom will have plenty of jobs to do and people to take care of. The kitchen is off the dining room and the staff encourages the residents to help out in any way they can. I met a few of the folks that work there and they all seem very patient and attentive to the residents. Many have been at Rakhma for 5+ years.

Double rooms are basically two beds in a room with a curtain between them. Most are decorated like Mom's, lots of pictures.

I drove by the St. Paul Rakhma Home(about 5 miles from 1033) and I liked it better from the outside; quieter street, better yard. That home is close to shops and the Miss. River. Also a great neighborhood-one of my favorites in the city.

There's two people on the waiting list now...not bad. One resident at Rakhma looked like she was about to take her last breath-no kidding. She was propped up on the couch swaddled in blankets...dust in a dress.

I'm touring a place called Cerenity tomorrow at 10am. It's a little further away but what the hell. Henry seems to dig it.

Look out the window, will ya?

So, this is my first stab at a blog, in honor of Mom. "Look out the window, will ya?" is what mom said to my brother Ken when we were bumped off yet another flight home after another Odyssey Cox-style. Ken was bugging the crap out of everyone and ma wanted him to just calm down; we were all going nuts, being trapped in an airport. Ma, in desperation, blurted out "Look out the window, will ya?" in her West Virginia accent and we all laughed at how true that was. Just look out the window and deal with it.