Page 41 - BusinessWest March 7, 2022
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 Business of Aging
 Peace of Mind
JGS Lifecare Incorporates Memory Care into Entire Continuum of Services
TBy Joseph Bednar
he connection between music and memory is a complex and often surprising one. Just ask the families of loved ones with dementia at Ruth’s House, the assisted-living residence on the JGS Lifecare campus in Longmeadow.
“We ask, ‘what sort of music did your loved one enjoy?’ Then we have volunteers come in and build personal playl- ists,” said Susan Halpern, vice president of Development and Communications at JGS. “It’s amazing to see the reac- tions — to see someone who’s agitated get less agitated, or someone who had been very quiet come out of their shell because they’re hearing something that’s very familiar to them.”
Mary-Anne Schelb, director of Business Development, has also seen the results of what JGS calls its music and memory program.
“Maybe they’re not much of a talker, and suddenly they’re singing this song. It’s hard to carry on a conversation with them, but when the music comes on, they remember every word. The artistic and creative ability is really the last to go. It’s in there — we just need to know how to pull it out.”
Or, as Halpern put it, “it’s about meeting them where they
are.” That’s why residents’ families fill out a long (around eight pages) resident profile upon admission, Schelb added.
“If they can’t stand bingo, we’re not going to try to push bingo. Or if they love hot-air balloons, we can go up to them and ask, ‘hey, do you know we’re showing a hot-air-balloon movie in the movie room?’ You see their face light up — ‘you are? I love hot-air balloons.’ The profile is time-consuming, but we really want to get to know your mom or dad, and we want to know what they like and don’t like, because then we utilize that.”
Meeting residents where they are is especially important for those with early- to mid-stage memory impairments and other dementia-related diseases who live in the Garden at Ruth’s House, a separate, secure neighborhood that caters to individuals with increased cognitive and physical limita- tions, including Alzheimer’s and dementia, and where staff members are specifically trained to care for individuals in need of memory care.
But what some might not know, Schelb said, is that JGS has, over the years, incorporated specific memory-care training across its contimuum of services, from Spectrum Home Health & Hospice Care to Wernick Adult Day Health Care; from the Leavitt Family Jewish Home to the Sosin Cen- ter for Rehabilitation.
Ruth’s House dedicates its lower-level Garden neighborhood to memory care.
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