November is recognized as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, making it an important time to raise awareness about hospice and palliative care. At MorseLife, we understand that discussions about hospice care can often feel overwhelming. Many families grapple with misinformation or a lack of understanding about what hospice entails. In times of serious illness, figuring out the right type of care for a loved one can be daunting, leaving families feeling disorganized and uncertain about the next steps.

While this phase of life can be intensely challenging, hospice care can be about much more than physical comfort and medical support. It’s also a time to reflect, celebrate, and preserve the moments that define a life. Exceptional hospice care should include top-notch medical support and life-enriching services for patients and their families, such as specialty therapies, grief support, and emotional and spiritual guidance.

At MorseLife Hospice, we are committed to providing patients in Palm Beach County with the highest standard of care and comfort, valuing the dignity and legacy of each individual and their families. With our 40-year history of compassionate service to the community, MorseLife has reshaped the standard of excellence for end-of-life care, offering innovative and life-enriching programs and a unique approach to personalized hospice care.

The best care requires an interdisciplinary team of professionals who can work together seamlessly on a patient’s behalf. Quality hospice programs will employ physicians, nurses, hospice aides, medical social workers, spiritual care counselors, and bereavement coordinators who work together to improve each patient’s symptoms and quality of life.

MorseLife offers various traditional palliative care services, such as pain management and care coordination, led by highly skilled healthcare teams. It also offers unique signature programs like the Mitzvah Sensory Care program, rooted in the Jewish tradition of Bikur Cholim, which means “to visit and extend aid to the sick.” This program incorporates holistic sensory techniques to soothe the whole person. Patients engage in meditation and music experiences and receive soothing grooming and massage with scented oils and a compassionate touch.

Another important aspect of hospice is helping families create lasting memories and meaningful connections.

The ‘Cherishing Life’s Journey’ program was recently introduced at MorseLife, allowing patients to honor their memories and share their legacies with loved ones. Through tailored programs, we help patients capture their unique stories in various ways, from creating personalized keepsakes to recording life stories and fulfilling long-held wishes with virtual reality.

One of these is My Treasure Chest, where patients create cards, videos, and gifts for future milestones like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries, ensuring their presence is felt in the hearts of their loved ones even after they’re gone. Patients can also create their own music or music timelines to share with loved ones, develop an on-screen legacy with photos and videos, or even pen their autobiographies with the caring support of the hospice team.

Families and patients need a great deal of support during this difficult time. Patients don’t want to feel alone, while families want to be included in the caregiving process and may need someone to turn to when their emotions become overwhelming.

MorseLife engages with family through a mobile communication app to support this connection. The app keeps families informed with real-time updates on their loved one’s care.

Comprehensive hospice programs, such as MorseLife Hospice, offer a range of bereavement counseling services, from one-on-one counseling to support groups, helping individuals make emotional and psychological adjustments.

MorseLife Expands Parkinson’s Therapy Services in Palm Beach County

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and at MorseLife, we are taking actions to positively impact the futures of those who have Parkinson’s Disease in Palm Beach County. We recently announced the expansion of our pioneering program for people with Parkinson’s Disease, which is now available at the MorseLife campus on an outpatient basis. The expansion of Parkinson’s Therapy at MorseLife broadens access to the effective and evidence-based Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) therapy program. It offers highly individualized Parkinson’s treatment plans led by certified therapists.

Parkinson’s Therapy at MorseLife was initially created to meet the distinctive needs of MorseLife’s long-term care residents who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease or other movement-related disorders. Launched in 2020 the program has positively impacted the lives of many MorseLife patients.

Research conducted by MorseLife reports that program participants have shown significant improvements in daily functioning. Remarkably, 100% of patients report that their balance function has either improved or maintained, while 92% report improved fine motor skills, 95% report improved muscle strength, and 83% report increased success in completing daily care.

Today, MorseLife is setting a new standard treating of Parkinson’s Disease in Palm Beach County by extensively evaluating each patient and providing a highly personalized treatment plan. Parkinson’s Therapy at MorseLife relies on the holistic and innovative program known as Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT). Each plan incorporates evidence-based LSVT strategies for improved movement, speech, and emotional and cognitive changes associated with Parkinson’s and other movement-related disorders.

LSVT therapy involves training the brain to modify or adapt through exercises that lead to functional improvements in everyday movement (LSVT BIG) and speech (LSVT LOUD). Patients learn to exaggerate movement patterns leading to smoother, more significant, and safer movements, and to adjust voice levels while speaking in different settings. The result is comfort, confidence and a better quality of life for patients suffering from Parkinson’s. Certified LSVT therapists administer all LSVT treatments. In addition to treatment, MorseLife offers the unique opportunity for family and caregivers to find the support and education they need through group meetings and counseling sessions.

MorseLife Offers New Leading-Edge Parkinson’s Therapy Treatment

Carolyn Carter, OTR/L, Has Been Promoted to Chair of the Program

Someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease every nine minutes. Fortunately, with the right treatment, patients’ quality of life can be greatly enhanced and symptoms such as tremors, slowed movement, rigidity and trouble with balance can be reduced. To help residents and those in our community who suffer from this debilitating disease, MorseLife has introduced a new Parkinson’s Therapy program that will provide the highly specialized and personalized therapy that patients who suffer from movement disorders need to live a fuller life.

Carolyn Carter, OTR/L, has been promoted to chair of the new Parkinson’s disease therapy program. A lead therapist at MorseLife Short-term Rehabilitation since 2005, Carolyn has more than 25 years of occupational therapy experience treating patients in multiple care settings including skilled nursing facilities, outpatient therapy, sub-acute rehab and pediatric school-based therapy. Her clinical experience includes a wide range of practice areas with a specific interest in neurological rehab and she has advanced training in neuro-developmental treatment.

Carolyn will work to incorporate music-based movement (MbM) therapy into individualized treatment plans, which help to improve gait and gait-related activities in Parkinson’s disease patients. It naturally combines cognitive movement strategies, cuing techniques, balance exercises and physical activity while focusing on the enjoyment of moving to music instead of the mobility limitations of the patient.

Carolyn will see patients in all areas of MorseLife including the nursing home, short-term rehabilitation, PACE, independent and assisted living, and memory care. In addition to caring for those on campus, the therapist will see clients from the Kramer Senior Services Agency, a subsidiary of MorseLife that specializes in the care of seniors in their own homes.

MorseLife Meals-On-Wheels Delivers its Millionth Meal to Seniors in Need

 

MorseLife celebrated the 25^th anniversary of its Meals-On-Wheels program with CEO and President Keith Myers delivering its millionth Kosher meal to a Holocaust Survivor who depends on food deliveries made possible by the MorseLife Foundation to get by.

Myers personally delivered the one-millionth meal to 97-year-old Holocaust Survivor and original Meals-on-Wheels recipient, Gisela Fischer.

“We have much to be thankful for this year, even amid the challenges of the ongoing pandemic,” said Myers. “MorseLife has protected the well-being of the seniors in our care and continues to be a lifeline to seniors living throughout the community.”

MorseLife’s Meals-on-Wheels program was launched in 1995 with a single volunteer who delivered 100 meals per week.  Today, the program has grown to 120 volunteers who provide more than 50,000 kosher meals annually.

“We continue delivering meals and friendly visits on a weekly basis to seniors who rarely leave home and depend on us as a type of lifeline,” said Pat Stein, an 85-year-old volunteer who has been making deliveries for more than 20 years with her 90-year-old husband, Lenny.

While MorseLife’s Meals-on-Wheels program provides meals for approximately 2,500 low income, homebound seniors in Palm Beach County each year, without regard to a client’s ability to pay, the impacts of COVID-19 have increased the need for meals by more than 20 percent. Seniors with the greatest needs now receive seven meals a week instead of the three they received prior to the pandemic.

Dollie Daniels, MorseLife Cook, has prepared meals for the program since its launch 25 years ago. “When I started cooking at MorseLife I prepared around 15 meals a day, and now I cook more than 300 meals each day,” said Ms. Daniels. “My great-grandmother told me when I was young that I would be a cook and I would take care of people.  She was right, I love cooking and I feel so good about what I do each day. It is wonderful to watch this program expand, reaching more and more seniors who need our help.”

Donations to MorseLife’s Meals-on-Wheels program can be made by visiting morselifefoundation.org , or by calling (561) 462-8450.

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.

 MORSELIFE HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE SURVEY FINDINGS REVEAL ATTITUDES ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA, RELIGION AND END-OF-LIFE CARE

MorseLife Hospice and Palliative Care recently conducted an online survey to find out more about people’s beliefs and attitudes towards end-of-life care. The top three insights included overwhelming support of medical marijuana, opinions on religion when dealing with a life-limiting illness and overall understanding of hospice care. 

The results of the survey will help MorseLife determine which aspects of hospice care need the most public attention and identify opportunities to raise awareness throughout the greater community. 

The survey found that 87% of Americans support the use of medical marijuana as a treatment option for terminally ill patients, with nearly three in five Americans (58%) expressing strong support. 

Interestingly, the hospice care study also revealed that if they were terminally ill and enrolled in hospice care, nearly three quarters of Americans (72%) feel it would be important to have access to a religious leader of their faith for spiritual guidance during their hospice care.

MorseLife was recently selected to participate in a pilot study on the use of medical marijuana as an alternative treatment to manage pain. Its hospice program is the only program in Palm Beach County offered by an organization with a history of serving the Jewish community.

Findings show that many Americans are unsure or incorrect about key aspects of hospice care including purpose, length of care and costs. For example, nearly half of Americans (48%) are not aware that hospice is covered by insurance, while 40% of Americans incorrectly believe that the sole purpose of hospice is to sedate terminally ill patients to provide pain/anxiety relief. 

 

The survey also found that 58% of Americans have not discussed their end-of-life care preferences with anyone in the event they become terminally ill, including almost half (45%) of those aged 65 and older who say they have not discussed it. 

While hospice care is a difficult subject for many, there are many innovative services available through hospice, like palliative care, and art, music and massage therapy, that can improve lives. People need to know that these services are within their reach.

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