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Memory Care at Emerald Heights: Elevating Lives Through Compassionate Support

admin-transfer on January 8, 2024

what is memory care

At Emerald Heights, we believe every stage of life should be celebrated. That includes providing exceptional care and support for individuals facing memory-related conditions.

Our memory care program is not just a service; it’s a commitment to enhancing the lives of our residents living with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other forms of memory challenges. In this article, we’ll take you on a journey to understand the essence of memory care at Emerald Heights, highlighting its unique features, purpose, and the profound impact it has on residents and their families.

The Heart of Memory Care at Emerald Heights

Of course, our memory care program provides much-needed assistance, but we don’t stop there. We’ve created a warm, nurturing environment where residents can thrive, find comfort, and continue to lead fulfilling lives. We understand the complexities of memory-related conditions, and our approach is rooted in compassion, respect, and expertise.

The Foundation of Memory Care at Emerald Heights:

  1. Expert Caregivers
    Our memory care team includes dedicated, trained professionals who specialize in memory-related conditions. They’re not just caregivers; they are companions and advocates for our residents, providing significant care and support.
  2. Safe and Secure Environment
    Safety is paramount in our memory care community. It’s thoughtfully designed to aid in the management of wandering, improving our residents’ well-being and offering peace of mind for their families.
  3. Tailored Engagement Activities
    At Emerald Heights, we believe in the power of engagement and stimulation. Our residents enjoy a wide range of activities designed to enhance cognitive function, boost creativity, and foster social connections. From art therapy to music sessions and gardening, we offer a holistic approach to well-being.
  4. Medication Management
    Many individuals with memory-related conditions require medication management. Our staff is trained in administering medications as prescribed, ensuring residents receive the right treatment at the right time.
  5. Nutritional Excellence
    Proper nutrition is vital for overall health. Our memory care dining program is carefully crafted to meet the dietary needs of individuals with memory conditions. We provide balanced meals and personalized assistance with feeding, when necessary.
  6. Individualized Care Plans
    We believe each resident is unique. That’s why we create personalized care plans through comprehensive assessments. These plans are continuously updated to adapt to changing needs and preferences.

The Benefits of Memory Care at Emerald Heights

Memory Care here at Emerald Heights is about fostering an environment that promotes a fulfilling and enriching life as much as it addresses the challenges of memory-related conditions. Here are some of the benefits we offer:

  1. Safety and Security
    Our secure environment reduces the risk of wandering and ensures residents are comfortable in a protective and caring atmosphere.
  2. Specialized Care
    Our memory care staff are experts in their field. They can effectively manage behavioral issues, provide emotional support, and offer interventions that enhance residents’ quality of life.
  3. Enhanced Quality of Life
    Through engaging activities and personalized care, we elevate each resident’s overall quality of life. Cognitive stimulation, emotional connections, and a sense of belonging are at the heart of our approach.

Choosing Memory Care at Emerald Heights

Selecting the right memory care community is a very personal decision. When you choose memory care at Emerald Heights, you’re choosing a commitment to excellence, compassion, and the well-being of your loved one.

What Sets Us Apart:

  1. Location and Accessibility
    Emerald Heights is in close proximity to medical facilities and conveniently located, providing easy access for family visits.
  2. Expertise and Compassion
    Our staff members aren’t just professionals; they’re passionate about what they do. They’re dedicated to enhancing the lives of our residents, and their expertise is second to none.
  3. Engaging Amenities and Activities
    Our memory care community boasts a variety of amenities and activities that contribute to a vibrant and fulfilling life. 
  4. Positive Feedback
    Don’t just take our word for it; listen to the experiences of our residents and their families. They can vouch for the exceptional care and support they’ve received at Emerald Heights.

A Dedicated Extension of Your Family 

Memory care at Emerald Heights is more than just a service; it’s a dedication to enhancing the lives of individuals facing memory-related conditions. As you explore your options, remember that at Emerald Heights, we’re not just a community; we’re a family dedicated to supporting yours.

Featured Image: Robert Kneschke / Shutterstock

5 Steps to Right Sizing — and Several Good Reasons to Start Now

admin-transfer on October 31, 2023

tips for rightsizing

For many older adults who decide to move to a senior living community, it means selecting a smaller home. It’s also an opportunity to go through all of the “stuff” they’ve accumulated over the years and purge what they no longer want or need, a process commonly referred to as downsizing.

You may have also heard the term “right sizing.” Sometimes it’s used interchangeably with downsizing, even among people who work in senior living communities. But there are some distinct differences between the two.

Right Sizing vs. Downsizing

Both terms come from the corporate world. In business, downsizing refers to permanent staff reductions (and possibly departmental consolidations and other restructuring efforts). The main purpose is to cut costs so the company can remain profitable.

When companies undergo right sizing, their focus is on becoming more efficient. They might downsize in some areas, but they may also expand in others. For instance, they might eliminate certain products, services or locations that are not performing as well as others, while adding new employees, infrastructure and lines of business they see as central to their core operations going forward.

Applying Right Sizing and Downsizing to Our Lives

These same business concepts can be carried over to our personal lives — whether or not a move is in our future.

For individuals, downsizing usually has practical purposes, such as clearing out clutter, giving away items we no longer use so others can enjoy them, or, in the case of an impending move, making sure our belongings will fit into our new place.

What is right sizing for individuals? It’s the process of taking stock of our lives and seeing what changes we can make to align with the future we envision for ourselves. The true focus is on the lifestyle we want to have, rather than stuff we do have.

Using this rightsizing definition, you can see how the rightsizing process can benefit people of all ages, including seniors choosing to live at home instead of moving.

Benefits of Right Sizing for Seniors

Older adults who shed possessions they no longer need will feel lighter psychologically, as if a weight has been lifted. Reorganizing their home and streamlining their routines will help them (and their loved ones) feel better prepared for whatever lies ahead.

Seniors who move to a living space that’s better suited to their anticipated lifestyle will feel more satisfied. For instance, those who intend to spend a lot of time traveling or engaged in activities outside the home may prefer a smaller abode that serves as a place to rest and relax between trips or at the end of the day. A smaller living environment can also feel “just right” for couples and single adults.

Two Thoughts to Keep in Mind

It can be overwhelming to think about sorting through everything you’ve collected since your last move, especially if that last move was decades ago.

  • You don’t have to do it all at once. If you start now, you can whittle away a few items every day. The key, though, is to put the wheels in motion instead of waiting for life to push you into making decisions. That can limit your options.

  • You don’t have to do it alone. You can enlist the help of family and friends, or you can turn to professionals for assistance. There are businesses that specialize in working with seniors to make downsizing and moving a positive experience from start to finish. 

Right Sizing Simplified Into 5 Basic Steps

Step #1: Envision the Future You Want

This crucial first step creates the springboard you’ll need to get from where you are to where you want to be. Before you can evaluate what changes to make, you need to determine what you want the next chapter of your life to look like.

  • Do you want to travel more and explore other places and cultures?
  • Do you want to live closer to your children and grandchildren?
  • Do you want to develop new interests or resume old ones that fell by the wayside?
  • Do you want to volunteer or become more involved in your community?
  • Do you want to expand your social circle or reconnect with people from your past?
  • Do you want to continue your education? (It’s never too late to keep learning!)

These are the kinds of questions to ask yourself as you begin sketching the map to your future. Have a heart-to-heart conversation, or several, with family members and others who have a stake in seeing you achieve your future best life. Their support can be invaluable.

Step #2: Decide Whether to Stay Where You Are or Move

Once you’ve completed the first step, this next one should, in theory at least, be easier.

  • Can you accomplish what you want to do if you remain in your current home?
  • Do you want to remain where you are?
  • Would it be easier to do what you want if you lived elsewhere, even if it’s close to where you are now?
  • Are you ready for a change of scenery and a fresh start?
  • If you choose to stay in your current home, how easily could it be modified to accommodate your needs as you get older?
  • Will you be able to maintain your home in years to come or hire someone to do it for you?
Step #3: If You’ll Be Moving, Research Your Options

In some ways, figuring out where you want to move will be similar to previous moves you’ve made. For example, you’ll want take into account the proximity of your new home to the priorities you’ve identified in Step #1.

You’ll have additional considerations this time as well, such as making sure you’re prepared in case your health status changes in the years ahead. Choosing a Life Plan or Life Care community can provide precious peace of mind.

Timing is another factor to bear in mind. Putting off moving can limit your choices later, particularly if health issues arise in the years to come.

This step will take time and legwork, which is all the more reason to get started now!

Step #4: Begin the Culling and Decluttering Process

This step can make a tremendous difference, whether you move or stay where you currently live. If you’ve been in your home for even just a few years, you’ve more than likely accumulated things you don’t use or need.

Clearing these items out of your home can free up space you can put to better use, and someone else may be happy to have them. If you’ll be moving, there’s no point in taking a lot of stuff you won’t use or need in your new home.

As noted earlier, there are professionals who can make this step much easier. At Emerald Heights, we partner with two businesses that have years of experience assisting older adults with this task and more: Eliminate Chaos® and Moves Made Simple.    

Step #5: Follow Through — Do the Downsize!

You can sell, donate or discard belongings you don’t want to keep. If you have items with sentimental value or family heirlooms that take up space, think about passing them along to loved ones who will appreciate them — it’s easy to do this if friends and family members help you with Step #4.

If you hire professionals to assist you with Step #4, they can help you with this step, too.

How Much Home Do You Need?

The whole purpose of right sizing is to match your living environment to the lifestyle you’ve set as your goal.

Older adults who move typically choose a smaller home because there’s less to take care of. Many take it a step further and move to a community like Emerald Heights, where the staff handles repairs, maintenance and landscaping.

If you’re planning to move to a senior living community to take advantage of the social activities and other opportunities to enrich your lifestyle, consider how much time you’ll be in your home and how much space you’ll actually need.

A one-bedroom residence with or without a den could be just the right size, and you may be surprised to see how spacious our floor plans are at Emerald Heights.

Does the idea of living in a brand-new apartment appeal to you?

A few of our new Courtyard Apartments are still available, including the one-bedroom Butchart floor plan, which features a separate den and a powder room.

The Courtyard Apartments will be ready for move-in in spring of 2024. By placing a deposit on one before the end of 2023, you can avoid the increase in entrance fees next year. To learn more about our community, our Courtyard Apartments and how we can assist you with the rightsizing process, contact us or call 866-822-0916.

Featured Image: Andy Dean Photography / Shutterstock

Being Healthy Versus Being Well

admin-transfer on September 5, 2023

healthy aging advice for seniors

When someone greets you in passing and asks how you’re doing, do you take a moment to actually consider your response? Or do you automatically say, “Fine, thanks,” and think nothing of it?

Although a quick, courteous reply is often the appropriate choice, you can still use the opportunity to think about how you truly are doing.

“I’m Doing Very Well, Thank You.”

What does it mean to be healthy? And what is healthy aging?

Many people think of health in terms of their physical status. They would say being healthy is being free of illness or disease.

Some might also include mental health and emotional health, which in the medical field are sometimes combined and referred to as behavioral health. Others might add spiritual health as a component of overall health.

If you’re in good shape in all of these ways, then you’re well, right? Maybe, but let’s take it a bit further. Let’s explore the concept of well-ness.

Wellness is more than a state of being in good health, even if you take mental, emotional and spiritual health into account.

Pfizer (yes, the pharmaceutical company) offers the following definition of wellness:

The act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes, so that instead of just surviving, you’re thriving.

While this definition focuses on physical and mental health outcomes, it also addresses a couple of salient points. First, it implies that we play an active role in our own wellness, and second, wellness is about growing and flourishing.

In short, it’s about more than being healthy as we age. It’s about aging well. If you’d like to take a deeper dive, the National Institute on Aging offers some excellent healthy aging tips. 

A Holistic View of Wellness

At Emerald Heights, we encourage and make it easy for residents to enrich their lives. We support their endeavors through a holistic approach that encompasses seven aspects of wellness.

Naturally, fitness is one of those aspects. We offer activities and classes for all residents, regardless of their level of ability, to maintain or improve their physical well-being. And, like nearly everything that goes on in our community, there’s a social element to our fitness classes and activities — because maintaining social connections is so vital to healthy aging.

With an emphasis on fresh, locally sourced foods, dining at Emerald Heights also combines the social and physical aspects of wellness. Getting together with friends and neighbors for lunch or dinner is a guaranteed good time.

Along with physical and social wellness, we believe there are spiritual, environmental, emotional, intellectual and vocational components to wellness. By combining them all into a deeply satisfying lifestyle, our holistic approach covers all the bases on how to age well.

Collaborative, Intentional, Resident-Driven Programming

Something we believe sets us apart from other senior living communities is how closely our staff members and residents work together to make Emerald Heights a place where everyone feels welcomed, included and valued.  

The teams who lead our various departments collaborate to ensure activities and programs are developed with these intentions in mind. Several key committees include both staff and residents so that a variety of perspectives shape the personality and culture of our community.

Nicole McCarthy, director of resident services, says one of the things she liked most when she interviewed with us before accepting her role in December is that Emerald Heights “feels like a home, even though the campus is huge.”

To illustrate her point, she notes the artwork that hangs in our hallways — a group of residents decides what is displayed. Another resident group creates floral arrangements to beautify the common areas and atriums. There are resident committees that enjoy maintaining the nature trail and planting flowers around the campus.

“The residents are so active and invested in the community, and it runs well because of that,” Nicole says. “They want it to succeed.”

The volume and quality of the interactions between staff members and residents also add to the home-like feel you’ll find at Emerald Heights. At many events, you’ll see the staff having as much fun as the residents.

“It’s like family,” Nicole says.

A Prime Example: Our Fun & Fitness Games

Each July, we have our own version of the Summer Olympics. It’s a week full of fun, complete with an opening and closing ceremony. The games this year ran the gamut from lawn bowling, water volleyball and musical chairs beach ball to an outdoor scavenger hunt, brain games, balloon badminton and a bucket brigade relay.

While there’s some friendly competition, the real focus is on having a good time. The range of activities, and the modifications that can be made to many of them, ensures all residents have lots of opportunities to participate.

During the games, residents help each other and cheer one another on. Staff members do more than encourage and assist — one of this year’s back-to-back noodleball events in the pool was specifically for employees.

The video recap we played at the closing ceremony captured a lot of silly moments and the joyful essence of the weeklong event. We’re already looking forward to next year’s Fun & Fitness Games!

Exercise for the Brain

Our newest fitness specialist, Chris Wilson, has created a class called Brain Games. It combines the intellectual and social aspects of wellness into a lively, team-structured activity designed to fortify residents’ cognitive capabilities. Groups of 3-5 residents compete in timed rounds to solve a variety of puzzles, mazes, riddles and trivia questions. As with our Fun & Fitness Games, the primary purpose is to have fun.

We offer plenty of other stimulating educational events and activities, such as:

  • Classes, lectures and presentations (live and remote) by guest speakers on a broad array of topics
  • Streamed documentaries and movies every week on our in-house TV channel
  • Resident-led book club discussions
  • Trips to local venues, including museums, live performances and docent tours

Connecting With Others for Spiritual and Emotional Wellness

Along with weekly worship services and community prayer meetings, Chaplain John Waltner facilitates support groups for partners of people who have Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, Parkinson’s disease or other health challenges.

Chaplain John also oversees a program called Faiths in Our Neighborhood. Each month, he invites a local guest speaker who represents a different religion or world view to come give a talk at Emerald Heights.

Recently, Chaplain John invited speakers from Braver Angels. The organization helps people learn how to respectfully communicate with others who have different viewpoints.

Vicky Neil, trips and events coordinator, also plans activities for residents who are interested in learning more about diverse cultures. Sometimes, new friendships blossom, especially when residents discover they share common ground. At the very least, residents typically gain more insight into, awareness of and appreciation for others who live in and beyond our community.

We Take Wellness Personally

Each person’s journey to wellness is different, Nicole notes. We make a point of getting to know new residents as soon as they move in, learning “what aspects of wellness they would like to improve upon, build on or share with others,” she says.

Then, as residents continue living in our community and their needs change, it’s up to us to find ways of keeping them engaged in what makes them happy.

We hope you’ll take some time to explore all of the dimensions of wellness. The more you expand your wellness awareness, the more likely you are to thrive. Eventually, when someone asks how you’re doing, maybe you’ll enthusiastically reply, “I’m doing very well, thank you!” If you’re interested in learning more about our multifaceted approach to wellness and how easily you can increase your wellness quotient as a member of our community, let us know. We’ll be happy to arrange a time for you to come visit.

Featured Image: Jake Johnson Pictures, 2021

Emerald Heights Dining—An Experience You Don’t Want to Miss

admin-transfer on August 8, 2023

With delicious food that matches the warmth and care of the community, Emerald Heights offers a unique dining experience to residents. Not only is the food delicious and nutritious, the Emerald Heights dining staff strive to create a welcoming environment for residents to connect through food.

Emerald Heights features a pay-as-you-go dining program which gives residents the flexibility to dine when they want and only pay for the meals they choose. Unlike communities offering standardized meal plans, Emerald Heights seeks to give residents exactly what they want – under their control.

Emerald Heights has three dining rooms with a variety of food options for Independent Living residents: Copper & Hook, Madrona Dining and Cascades. Each dining room has a distinctly different atmosphere.

Copper & Hook offers brand-new 80-inch flat screen televisions, a fully stocked bar, and delicious bites. This is the perfect place for watching the Seattle Seahawks in the fall or dining casually with friends any day of the week.

Madrona is a slightly more formal dining option that will be perfect for date nights or a nice evening out. The location also offers private dining spaces to host family functions and meetings. In a recent renovation, Madrona was upgraded with new furniture, curtains, and automatic shades.

The third dining option located in Independent Living  is an alternative to the traditional sit-down experience. Cascades offers premade meals, snacks, pastries, soup, coffee, smoothies and more for residents on the go. There is even ice cream from local creameries with freshly made waffle cones available at Cascades.

“Food is such an important part of all of our lives,” said Matthew Lecours, director of food and beverage of Emerald Communities. “I hope residents experience amazing service, delicious food, and an ambience that reminds them that this is their home.”

There are also dining options specifically for residents in memory care, skilled nursing and assisted living. Residents can also modify and place special requests based on their preferences for the day making it accessible and hassle free.

Fireside Grille is the dining space for skilled nursing residents. The option serves all modified diets to provide exactly what residents need for a healthy recovery.  Wildflower Point dining is specially designed to serve residents within our Memory Care neighborhood.

Lastly, Rainier Dining is a newly revamped option for assisted living residents. The space has a fully loaded kitchen giving a wide variety of meal options for residents.  

Wildflower Point, Fireside Grille and Rainier Dining also allows residents to order off any menu offered throughout campus.

Almost all dining options at Emerald Heights received upgrades recently and are constantly adding new items to the menu. The chefs at Emerald Heights make it a priority to listen to what residents like and dislike to make the dining experience the best it can be.

“With such a broad spectrum of palates, diets, and needs, we want to offer as much variety as possible,” adds Lecours. “On any given day we offer an average of 21 different sides and 8 different proteins as static options. You can find anything from soup to Wagyu steak bites and, of course, options for any dietary restrictions.”

While Emerald Heights has some of the best dining in the Puget Sound, the only way to truly understand is to try it yourself.

If you would like to find more information on the dining options at Emerald Heights, visit emeraldheights.com/dining.

Featured Image: Rice Fergus Miller, 2023