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Dr. Sharon Harris, president of IAC, introduced Elizabeth
Hausner, executive director of Community Relations for Sunrise
Assisted Living at the monthly IAC meeting hosted by Sunrise
Assisted Living. Ms. Hausner provided an overview of the
services offered by the facility, a Glen Cove landmark for nine
years. Sunrise Assisted Living recognized the need for choices
in senior citizen facilities based on dignity, respect and
spirituality, in an ethically based setting. This is a social
model of care, one that assists residents and seniors in the
community at large. It fosters independence, but assists
residents with items such as laundry and housekeeping. In
addition, there are regularly scheduled appointments with a
registered nurse, and certified care managers who do hands on
care. When residents have clinical needs requiring more skilled
nursing care, they are moved to other facilities. Services
include a support group for caregivers of seniors who have
memory loss and referrals are made to geriatric services in the
community.
Stephanie Lake, program director of the Adult Day Care
program at the Glen Cove Senior Center also spoke. Ms. Lake
stated the Adult Day Program is a socialization program serving
approximately 16 active participants. The average age of the
participants is 86. Funding comes from grants and from New York
State. The Program has applied for a dementia grant to help with
activities for the prevention of this disease. Transportation is
provided door-to-door. Activities include: Tai Chi for exercise,
crafts, current events, field trips, and shopping at the 99-cent
store. A small breakfast and a nutritious lunch are also served.
The Adult Day Care Program was devised to address a growing need
for the care of seniors who live alone. Adult children,
particularly those who have daytime employment, had concerns for
their elders, and saw that isolation produced deterioration of
the mental and physical faculties. Adult children expressed
concern about the failure of elders to eat meals that were
delivered to them. And, about the loneliness and lack of
stimulation appeared to take a toll on these senior citizens.
The program was developed to address the issues of both
generations. As adult children began to enroll their parents in
the program and to assess the results, a frequent comment has
been that these seniors now have a new lease on life, according
Ms. Lake. Sensory stimulation and socialization have improved
memory for the elders, and their quality of life has been
enhanced. Through a series of drawings, Ms. Lake illustrated the
difference between a lonely, depressed, senior citizen, and the
countenance of a participant in the Adult Day Program. The
acronym for the Day Care Program is HOPE: (happiness, optimism,
positive contacts, and energy).
The next monthly IAC meeting is the Annual Holiday Breakfast,
$16 per person, planned for Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 9
a.m. at Page One Restaurant, 90 School Street. Checks payable to
IAC should be mailed to Arlene O’Dell, Center for Parents &
Children, 12 Walnut Road, Glen Cove, NY 11542.
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