On February 4, independent and assisted living residents of MorseLife Health System celebrated National Hemp Day, participating in interactive hemp displays and enjoying hemp-infused foods like mini hemp nut butter “uncrustables,” hemp seed oil vinaigrette salads and hemp milk.

Since 2019, MorseLife has led the way in senior care innovation by offering cannabinoid-based therapies when they became Florida’s first senior living provider to introduce medical marijuana and CBD treatments. These therapies have significantly helped residents manage chronic pain, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances.

Led by Melanie Bone, M.D., FACOG, Director of Cannabinoid-Based Therapies at MorseLife Health System, the medical team is at the forefront of this groundbreaking approach. Dr. Bone consults with patients to determine the proper dosage, tolerance level and best method for administering the treatment. This varies patient-to-patient and is reevaluated and adjusted as necessary.

Prior to beginning cannabinoid-based therapy, the education component is essential so patients, their families and doctors can assess the pros and cons to make an informed decision. That’s why events such as National Hemp Day are important to showcase options and benefits. Residents can explore their curiosities and overcome the stigmas and fears associated with using medical cannabis.

Dr. Bone has been a Certified Cannabis Physician in Florida since 2016 and joined the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) faculty as a clinical affiliate assistant professor in 2021, where she teaches medical students about cannabis.

“Cannabis doesn’t provide a cure. It doesn’t make a diagnosis go away after taking the medication for a period of time. Cannabis provides a treatment to alleviate and reduce symptoms of conditions such as insomnia, chronic pain and anxiety,” Dr. Bone said. “Cannabis offers a fantastic alternative to addictive opioids and antidepressants, all while increasing our residents’ quality of life.”

MorseLife’s cannabinoid therapies are just one example of how the health system is redefining senior care, helping residents live with comfort, dignity and improved quality of life.

Residents find more fun at MorseLife! New Putting Green in Place for National Senior Health and Fitness Day

Residents are now enjoying a new putting green located at the MorseLife’s independent Living, the Levin Palace.

While National Senior Health and Fitness Day is celebrated every year on the last Wednesday of May, residents can be seen every day of the year enjoying all the leisure activities offered on campus.

According to data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is now the fastest-growing sport in the country. The game is fun and social with rules that make it easy for beginners to learn while experienced players vie to win fast-paced games. All levels of players can be found on our pickleball courts.

Residents enjoy swimming and luxuriating in our heated indoor and outdoor pools all year around. If it’s raining or just plain too hot to be outside, our state-of-the-art fitness center offers great classes and the latest workout equipment.

No matter what physical activity you enjoy, at MorseLife, you can relax in the inviting spa and wellness center.

Of course, health and fitness also are enjoyed by getting together with others and participating in the many activities and classes offered throughout the month, such as painting, beading, and discussions of current events.

At our new putting green and throughout the campus, residents get in the swing of enjoying life at MorseLife.

MorseLife Health System Introduces Virtual Reality (VR) Technology

 

MorseLife has launched a new three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) program to provide residents enhanced opportunities for engagement and inspiration.

“With VR you can travel to Paris, fly in a hot air balloon, swim with dolphins or even visit a childhood home. These visually-rich experiences elicit excitement, educate, stimulate memory, uplift the spirit and so much more,” said Keith Myers, President and CEO of MorseLife Health System.

Virtual reality is a powerful tool that immerses immobile and cognitively impaired residents in visual experiences outside their physical realm of possibility. While all MorseLife residents can benefit from VR, its transformative benefits among the memory impaired living at the Memory Care Residents at MorseLife have been particularly noteworthy. Areas of the brain closed off by the disease process are stimulated through VR sensory experiences, evoking healthy physical movement during the interactive process. Psychological problems and mood disorders are also reduced as residents immerse themselves in the program where they can enjoy vibrant 360-degree surroundings, discover new places or reminisce about their past.

VR is easily customized to each patient’s passions and interests with an extensive library of content and experiences, including interactive games, apps, and a family engagement platform. Participants need only a viewing headset to take museum tours in foreign countries, attend bucket-list cultural events, fly across the globe, climb a mountain or even visit the church they were married in.

“One unanticipated delight has been the connection with families,” said Robert Holway, MorseLife Life Enhancement Coordinator. “The VR system offers a Family Portal, which allows families to contribute to their loved one’s viewing events by uploading personal photos and home videos. It’s a beautiful way to get the grandchildren and children of our residents involved.”

The Memory Care Residences at MorseLife Introduce iN2L Technology to Engage Seniors

Simple Touch Technology Offers Opportunities for Connection, Learning and Fun

The Memory Care Residences at MorseLife continue to introduce innovative new programs and therapies to encourage joy and personal fulfilment among residents. One new program recently introduced to counter the isolation experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic is iN2L, an easy-to-use engagement technology that caters to each resident’s wide range of abilities and interests.

iN2L requires no computer experience.  Residents simply touch a picture on the screen and begin enjoying fun activities that encourage conversation, interaction, and learning with each other, their caregivers, and family members. The iN2L library of activities includes history, travel, movies, classic television, music, trivia, quizzes, games, puzzles, fitness programs, spiritual content and more.

For memory care patients, the new engagement technology program particularly helps to:

• Facilitate easier connections between residents and their loved ones. Video visits on large screens only require a few pre-programed basic taps and loved ones can leave pre-recorded messages to provide comfort to residents at any moment.

• Redirect residents who may be feeling anxiety, depression, or loneliness to a more positive experience such as viewing cherished family photos and videos, playing a favorite game, watching a movie or listening to an uplifting tune.

• Remember events, people and places from their past lives, which is an important aspect of memory care. iN2L programing provides residents and caregivers quick access to a personalized profile full of positive visual and auditory activities that impact mood and the quality of daily life.

The Memory Care Residences at MorseLife offer residents access to other exciting and cutting edge cognitive therapies such as the Music & Memory ™ program, where residents engage in ballroom dancing, music and art therapy, and have access to iPods with personalized playlists that connect them to the music they love. To find out more, visit https://morselife.org/memory-care/.

An Update on Cannabis Care at MorseLife

Dr. Melanie Bone Discusses the MorseLife Cannabinoid Initiative with Cannabis News Florida

Dr. Melanie Bone, medical director of the cannabinoid initiative at MorseLife, recently shared the project’s many successes, initial findings and obstacles in a column published by Cannabis News Florida. The cannabinoid pilot program was authorized by the state of Florida and introduced at MorseLife in 2019, offering cannabinoid-based therapies to senior residents in a variety of care settings.

Dr. Bone touches on the varying attitudes and perceptions of senior residents toward cannabinoids, ranging from fear to curiosity. She also details the surprising obstacles to enrolling patients in the program, such as expired driver’s licenses and other forms of identification, which are necessary to apply for a medical marijuana card.  Furthermore, only one caregiver can be designated per resident to legally deliver and administer treatments, which poses a challenge in a nursing home environment where one caretaker often administers care to multiple patients.

She also notes positive observations from her work at MorseLife, which include residents reporting using fewer opiates, anti-anxiety drugs and sleep medications when using cannabis.

Dr. Bone’s hope is that through grassroots adoption more residents will join the program and the knowledge gained from their participation will help guide protocols for usage at other senior care communities across the country.

To read more, please visit https://cannabisnewsflorida.com/update-on-cannabis-care-at-morselife-health-system/.

10 Warning Signs of Memory Loss

You’re talking to someone you know well and all of a sudden you can’t remember their name. Or you walk into a room purposefully, and then forget why you did it in the first place. You draw a complete blank, and your mind immediately defaults to “Alzheimer’s.”

Don’t worry; these are just normal signs of aging, or typical of a brain that is on information overload. More seriously, it may be a symptom of depression, side effects of medication, stress from retirement, or the death of a loved one or even having an underactive thyroid.

After a certain age, almost all of us are concerned about our mental acuity and progressive memory disease, whether in ourselves or our loved ones? When should we begin to worry?

According to the Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org there are ten warning signs that you should not ignore.

1. Disruptive memory loss

As the term indicates, disruptive memory loss is persistent, progressive memory degeneration. Typically, it negatively impacts daily life and includes forgetting recently learned information, important dates or events, asking the same questions repeatedly, and increasingly relying on reminder notes on the refrigerator, medicine cabinet, or family members for everyday things.

2. Difficulty planning or solving problems

While it’s normal to make occasional errors, working with numbers, following recipes and cooking, keeping track of monthly bills, or taking much longer to do things may become significant challenges that impede quality of life and even present potential hazards.

3. Struggling with familiar tasks

With today’s complex technology, recording your favorite TV shows may be confounding, but not necessarily a sign of memory disease. However, forgetting the way to familiar locations, trouble writing a grocery list, or remembering the rules of a favorite card game could be cause for concern.

4. Confusion with time or place

Forgetting the day momentarily but figuring it out later is normal. We all do it.  But losing track of dates, seasons, or the passage of time is common in those with early Alzheimer’s. They may also forget where they are or how they got there, or have trouble understanding something if it is not happening in the present or immediately.

5. Trouble with visual images and spatial relationships

Problems judging distance, determining color or contrast are common cataract problems, but when present with other symptoms could also be an indication of Alzheimer’s. Vision problems that lead to difficulty with balance or reading may also be a sign of Alzheimer’s.

6. New problems with words in speaking or writing

Often, those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s may want to avoid other people or lose interest in socializing because they begin to have trouble following a conversation, or they regularly struggle for the right words when speaking with others or have difficulty naming a familiar object. If this is new behavior, it could be a sign of the disease.

7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps

We all have trouble finding our car keys from time to time, but usually, just retrace our steps to find them. A person with Alzheimer’s may put things in unusual places, e.g., car keys in the freezer or oven, and are unable to go back over their steps to find them again. As the disease progresses, they may suspect others of stealing their missing items.

8. Decreasing or poor judgment

Who hasn’t made a bad decision or mistake? On it’s own, its unlikely to be a symptom of Alzheimer’s. Still, those with progressive memory loss may experience uncharacteristic changes in judgment or decision-making, such as when dealing with money or neglecting grooming and personal hygiene.

9. Withdrawal from work or social activities

As mentioned in #6, a person living with Alzheimer’s disease may lose the ability to hold or follow a conversation, causing them to withdraw from hobbies and social activities. Or, they may have trouble with things that once gave them pleasure, like keeping up with a favorite team or activity.

10. Changes in mood and personality

It is often said that as we get older, we become more “set in our ways.” But individuals with Alzheimer’s may demonstrate profound mood and personality changes, or become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful, or anxious at home, with friends or when out of their comfort zone.

MorseLife Health System is a not-for-profit national leader transforming perspectives on aging by designing a dynamic integrated model of residences, healthcare, and services to optimize and reaffirm life for older adults at every stage.