“So what’s it like to ride 100 miles with 4400 feet of vertical climb on a really hot, humid day in July?”
That’s the question I heard most often following Saturday’s Alzheimer’s Memory Ride. And I’d like to answer it here: like many athletic challenges, the key to success is psychological – you have to be crazy! Fortunately, I was the right man for the job, and was joined by more than 50 similarly-minded folks. I’m not a skilled cyclist – Concord has dozens of people who ride faster and farther and more challenging routes than I do – but I do it enough that I knew I’d be fine, and I really enjoyed the ride.
Here’s a sweet video about a local volunteer for Minuteman Senior Service’s Meals on Wheels program– he’s been nominated for national recognition. Congrats Staff Sergent Mickey Ireland and Minuteman!
(I would like to point out that Minuteman’s volunteer coordinator shown on this video, Debbie Barr, is not me! People who don’t know us both often confuse me with her and visa versa. Just remember: Barr, tall and blonde. Bier, short and dark.)
The Home Care Alliance (HCA) has worked hard to create the first certification for Home Care agencies in Masasachusetts. This is a voluntary move for this state-wide trade organization. Caring Companion has been a member of HCA since the start, and we are proud to be among the very first in the state to apply for this certification, first announced just last week.
For an article in the Metro West Daily News about this certification, go here.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Our caregivers are often the main shoppers for our clients. As such, we fill a very important role in their lives through maintaining their supplies. In many instances both daily and occasional home “operations” cannot go forward without necessary supplies. If you look at the rhyme above, you’ll see how this is no minor thing. And since we are so often working the with frail, it doesn’t take very much of a missing nail to truly negatively impact the client.
On Saturday, July 24, Caring Companion Connections will join hundreds of others at the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Ride, as we work toward our commitment to a world without Alzheimer’s disease. The Memory Ride generates awareness and raises money for Alzheimer’s research. We hope you will join the fight with a pledge. Any amount helps. Don’t think it doesn’t matter; individually, none of us can cure Alzheimer’s disease – but together, we will. Click here to donate.
CCC will sponsor a rider (that’s me!) for the 100-mile ride. It will be a difficult but doable challenge, just as curing Alzheimer’s is a difficult but doable effort. We hope that you will also rise to the challenge and join with us and others by donating now so that the later years of our large aging population can be ever richer.
90% of money raised by Memory Ride participants funds grants awarded through the Alzheimer’s Association’s research grants program. 10% of the proceeds stay in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to help fund programs and services that assist families affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
As a home care agency on the front lines of elder care, CCC focuses on wellness and on improving the lives of our clients and their families. We daily see first-hand how many of our clients and their families have been affected by Alzheimer’s disease. We are committed to helping our clients live each day to its fullest, and to improving the lives of their families. Please join us in this important effort.
Here are recent some recent comments we’ve received — all spontaneous and unsolicited. We are grateful that our work is hitting such high levels of satisfaction! We have been sending out postcards to many people with these (click on the image of the postcard above and you can download a printable/emailable version of it)
“I was amazed at the improvement in our client. The service you are delivering is clearly a cut above what other agencies offer!” Local elder protective services social worker
“You have no idea what a relief it is that your people are there. I can breathe again! Best of all, Mom’s become happier than she’s been in years!“ Daughter, Concord, MA
“I definitely notice that the Caring Companion system can provide a higher level of care than the typical home care company.” One of our experienced caregivers
I was planning my next technology post to focus on currently-available products that can help reduce the overall cost of home care by reducing the hours required to pay a home care agency for data collection and monitoring. There is a range of products – from medication dispensers to home systems with motion sensors and cameras – that can provide security without invading privacy, and that do so at a fraction of the cost of in-home care. These products are mature, available, and they can be valuable tools to families, but I’ll have to write about them later because the attached it just too much fun to discuss.
A recent New York Times article describes a lab project that is NOT yet widely available. Used with dementia patients, it is modeled after a baby harp seal, and it “trills and paddles when petted, blinks when the lights go up, opens its eyes at loud noises and yelps when handled roughly or held upside down.” It’s a pet without the mess! It is well-known that many dementia sufferers improved and find it very soothing to devote care-giving to pets or to plants; according to the Times article, many of these benefits can be derived by interacting with “Paro,” whose name is derived from conflating the words “personal robot.”
Here is an article a social worker friend sent me about a dozen years ago. Every so often, I come across it among my papers, taking the opportunity to re-read it… and learn from it anew. It’s a beautiful formulation of the profound difference between helping, fixing, and serving by Rachel Naomi Ramen, MD called In the Service of Life: http://www.rachelremen.com/service.html.
Remen is one of the earliest pioneers in the mind/body holistic health movement and the first to recognize the role of the spirit in health and the recovery from illness. She’s also the author of the best-selling books My Grandfather’s Blessings and Kitchen Table Wisdom
“Creativity is a new paradigm for aging that articulates the idea of seeing older people for their potential rather than their problems. In later life, creativity strengthens morale, enhances physical health and enriches relationships. Creative engagement also constitutes the greatest legacy older people can leave their children, grandchildren, and society as a whole.
“Older people have functioned historically as keepers of culture who pass on the history and values of a community to the next generation. Therefore, creativity develops culture; and, culture builds and sustains community life through the positive engagement of older people in the arts.
