MorseLife Memory Care is raising the bar as the first senior community in the U.S. to implement the Happiness Programme, a first-of-its-kind technology created by Social-Ability, that sparks laughter and happiness through interactive light displays, for everyone living with cognitive challenges.

Residents at MorseLife Memory Care can now experience a variety of activities like popping bubbles, playing games, painting, playing the piano and enjoy virtual scenic views from around the world without leaving the comfort of their residence. The 360-degree projector creates engaging environments displayed on surfaces including sheets, ceilings, tables and screens, that help improve physical mobility and cognitive function. “Our residents are actively participating and moving in new, purposeful ways,” shared Savannah Blevins, Memory Care Director.

The program has also helped reduce falls by keeping residents engaged and less likely to wander. Surveys show that participants experience improvements in social, physical, and cognitive well-being, along with reduced stress.

“MorseLife Memory Care leads with innovative programs that significantly impact the lives of seniors with memory disorders,” said Keith Myers, President and CEO.

Residents also enjoy music and art therapy, lectures, fitness classes, and more, all in a luxury setting with restaurant-style dining and private rooms.

Learn more at MorseLife Memory Care.

As the holiday season approaches, many of us look forward to reuniting with our families, sharing laughter, and creating new memories. For many adult children, these gatherings also offer a unique opportunity to observe changes in their aging parents that may not be noticeable during phone calls or virtual chats. Understanding these subtle signs can be crucial in determining whether it’s time to consider a transition to assisted living.

1. Changes in Home Maintenance and Cleanliness

• Observation Tips: During your visit, take note of the home’s condition. Is it less tidy or more cluttered than usual? Are there unopened mails or bills piling up?
• Why It Matters: Declining housekeeping and organizational skills can be early signs of diminishing capabilities to manage daily tasks.

2. Noticeable Weight Loss or Poor Diet

• Observation Tips: Pay attention to your parent’s eating habits. Have they lost weight? Is the refrigerator adequately stocked with healthy food?
• Why It Matters: Changes in weight or diet can indicate difficulties in grocery shopping, cooking, or a loss of interest in food due to underlying health issues.

3. Changes in Mobility and Balance

• Observation Tips: Watch for signs of difficulty in movement. Are they struggling to get up from a chair or showing unsteadiness while walking?
• Why It Matters: Mobility issues can increase the risk of falls and indicate that daily activities are becoming more challenging.

4. Changes in Mood and Social Activities

• Observation Tips: Listen to how your parent talks about their social life. Have they stopped attending clubs or gatherings they once enjoyed?
• Why It Matters: Withdrawal from social activities and changes in mood can be signs of depression or cognitive decline.

5. Medication Management

• Observation Tips: Check if medications are being taken as prescribed. Are there expired or unopened medicines?
• Why It Matters: Mismanagement of medication can have serious health implications and suggest difficulties in following complex schedules.

Recognizing these signs can be both challenging and emotional. It’s important to approach this topic with empathy and understanding. The holidays can be an ideal time to start a gentle conversation about the benefits of assisted living, emphasizing the improved quality of life, social opportunities, and professional care available.

Remember, considering assisted living is not about taking away independence; it’s about enhancing the life of your loved one in a safe, supportive, and caring environment. If you notice these signs, it may be time to explore the options and resources available.

If you’re unsure about the next steps or want to learn more about assisted living, we invite you to reach out to us. Our team is here to provide guidance, support, and information to help you and your loved one make an informed decision. Contact us today to start the conversation.

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.

Moving To MorseLife:
A Decision to Care for Herself and Her Husband

In her apartment on the fifth floor of The Tradition at MorseLife, Libby Klein’s living room is adorned with photographs of her beautiful family, including bar and bat mitzvah memories, weddings and anniversaries.  Peering throughout the room, Libby notes how blessed she has been over the years as she comes to terms with the passing last December of her beloved husband of 67 years, Seymour.

Libby and Seymour lived in Brooklyn where they married and made a home for them and their three children.  Seymour had been a successful financial advisor on Wall Street after serving in the military during and after World War II, and Libby had been a teacher and real estate broker in Manhattan for nearly 45 years, as well as a published author.

“After the children were grown, we bought a home in Boynton Beach and became snowbirds for nearly 18 years,” she said.  “However, after Seymour became progressively worse with Alzheimer’s disease, we decided to remain here full-time with the help I needed to care for him.”

Libby noted that she could have been stubborn when her children intervened and suggested that she could no longer care for Seymour on her own.  “We had a gorgeous home in Boynton and we were so happy there,” she said   “But the reality was Seymour needed more than just an aide coming to the home – and that’s when my children told me about MorseLife.”

After great consideration, Libby decided to move to The Tradition at MorseLife, with Seymour across the campus in the Memory Care Assisted Living residence.   “He received very good care throughout his time in the memory care residence, and I was able to walk over every day to spend quality time with him,” she said.   “I always felt the residence was a warm, comfortable place for Seymour with all of its care and activities, and of course, the smell of chicken soup wafting from the open kitchen!”

Libby noted that she felt it was smart to listen to her childrens’ advice as the move was the right decision for her.   “When we moved here two years ago, I knew that at The Tradition, I wouldn’t have to worry about the daily responsibilities of running a home, and even more important, would not have to take on the daily needs of Seymour on my own,” she said.  “While I did spend a great deal of time with Seymour each day, I also knew that I was leaving him in good hands when I went back to my apartment.”

Seymour passed in December, and today Libby is focused today on spending time with her good friends at The Tradition and maintaining regular contact with her family and friends in New York.   “My goal now is to visit my family in Scarsdale in August, enjoying time with all of my children, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren,” she said.  “I am looking forward to it!”

When she returns, she looks forward to finishing her second novel, a follow up to her crime novel of two years ago, Sudden Impulse, and to taking more time to be prolific and creative.