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Activities, support, and therapies help older citizens
Senior services advocate, support, and care for older population social-emotional well-being
MT. PLEASANT — Multiple senior care agencies throughout Henry County support this specific segment of the population in a multitude of ways including caring for the emotional and mental well-being.
One of these agencies includes Henry County Health Center’s Senior Life Solutions which meets the needs of individuals typically over 65 years and older experiencing depression or anxiety related to life changes associated with aging.
According to Mental Health America, more than 2 million of the 34 million Americans age 65 and older suffering from some form of depression.
Senior Life Solutions supports this population by offering services which include group and individual therapy along with working with primary care physicians to provide medication management and aftercare planning.
Currently, Senior Life Solutions is engaging in a campaign to raise awareness concerning suicide as a part of National Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 10-16 by connecting the public with information for five action steps to help prevent suicide from the #BeThe1To campaign.
According to the National Council on Aging, 45—64-year-olds exhibit the highest suicide rate with the second-highest rate occurring in those 85 years and older.
For the year 2022, the Center for Disease Control recorded 10,433 suicide deaths for those over 65 in the United States. This exceeds the number of deaths for 10-24-year-olds by nearly 4,000 for the year.
The action steps shared by Senior Life Solutions include asking questions such as “Are you thinking about suicide?” “How do you hurt?” and “How can I help?”
BeThe1To says that asking these questions “communicates that you’re open to speaking about suicide in a non-judgmental and supportive way.”
Another action step includes simply being there for a person in need of assistance.
“This could mean being physically present for someone, speaking with them on the phone when you can, or any other way that shows support for the person at risk,” BeThe1To states on their website.
Third, they suggest helping to keep them safe by learning more to establish their immediate safety by asking questions to ascertain if they have already attempted anything, if they think of killing themselves, do they have any specific plans, dates, or methods?
“The help keep them safe step is really about showing support for someone during the times when they have thoughts of suicide by putting time and distance between the person and their chosen method, especially methods that have shown higher lethality (like firearms and medications),” BeThe1To states.
Finally, BeThe1To advises helping those in need to connect with resources such as 988 and then following up by leaving a message, sending a text, or giving them a call.
Other ways this segment of the population receives support is through care centers like Parkview Home of Wayland, Addington Place of Mt. Pleasant, and Sunrise Terrace of Winfield.
Each of these homes offer lifestyle practices that engage their residents and offer natural supports for their mental well-being.
According to Parkview Home Executive Director Ron Semler, some of the mental health struggles specifically for residents revolve around the drastic change in their lives from continually growing in independence and caring for others to requiring care and depending on others.
“For anybody, any change of life brings struggle, brings a lot of mental processing to do,” Semler said. “…It is a reversal of sorts. People who used to be caregivers end up being cared for.”
In order to assist residents in this transition and support them in this emotionally and mentally challenging transition, Semler says creating individualized care plans play an important role in providing appropriate support.
Some of the ways they do this are simply returning some of that lost autonomy to their residents.
“It runs the gamut,” Semler explained. “Here's an example, we have an individual who come in, and this person doesn't want to really interact with anybody, and we have to respect that. Would we as caregivers like to see them socialize? You bet!”
While Semler says Parkview staff looks for signs of depression, they want to ensure they respect their residents' wishes when they say they are happier to be along.
“We care for them the way they want to be cared for,” he said. “…On the other side of the coin we have a lady that comes in, and she just wants to be the social butterfly and we encourage that.”
In a nursing home setting, meeting some of those social needs can range from a myriad things.
For this residents at Parkview, Semler says they will give her additional duties and ask for her input in where else she would like to take the lead.
“You have to understand it’s not just a body in a bed, it is a person that comes into a nursing home,” Semler said. “And a person, just like in the outside world, has individual tastes and needs, and we try to care for them and plan their care and plan their days and help them plan their days by understanding them as a person.”
Daily facilities like Addington Place, Sunshine Terrace, and Parkview offer simple social interactions to further bolster positive mental health such as meals together and simple activities like group exercise, music, and games.
These homes, however, also take it a step further by knowing their residents well and offering individualized opportunity for autonomy.
Addington Place does this with their extravagant Dare to Dream outings for boating trips, train rides, and sweet dinners out along with equipping their residents with the support to do things such as reading to children at the local child care center.
Sunrise Terrace goes a step further providing normalcy for their residents with the center’s live-in pet Poppy the puppy and the opportunity to get out in nature and work in a garden.
“We have a lady who used to live and work in Las Vegas casinos,” Semler shared. “We have a bus and her desire is to get us to take her to a casino.”
“Well, you know, we’re going to honor that,” he said. “We have a trip planned in the next 30 days to the casino.”
Other ways Parkview bolsters their residents’ spirits is through shopping trips, birthday parties, and trips to see the Christmas lights in Mt. Pleasant.
“It is a big shift from what they’re used to,” Semler said. “SO, we try to make that shift as palatable, loving, and kind as possible in an environment where they can flourish as best they can, and this is a great place to do that.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
