When Alzheimer’s disease becomes part of a marriage, or a family, caregivers can usually find resources to support the member facing memory loss or to support the family caregiver seeking peer connections and information. Yet, until the last few years, there wasn’t much designed to support the evolving spousal or parent/child relationship itself.
Earlier this year Hebrew SeniorLife Communities sponsored the “Senior Living Communities of the Future Forum” at NewBridge on the Charles as an opportunity for our residents’ adult children to hear from experts in their fields on the future of senior living communities.
We sought insights to some of their most significant concerns as they relate to aging as well as important questions about their vision of the life they want to lead in later years. Concerns such as:
Matthew Hollingshead recently joined Hebrew SeniorLife as the executive director of Assisted Living and Memory Care at NewBridge on the Charles. His energetic, resident-centric approach and skill in leading large teams is already making a difference in the lives of our residents. I recently spoke to Matt about the rewards and challenges of his work.
Whether it’s a fall, a wandering episode, death of spouse, or loss of a dependable caregiver, too many families find themselves making decisions about assisted living in “crisis mode.” Up until turning points like these, there is often some level of denial about the possibility that a more supportive living environment could someday be needed. Yet beginning a search for assisted living at such a moment is far from ideal.
Orchard Cove, Hebrew SeniorLife’s continuing care retirement community in Canton, MA, celebrated a new beginning in June with the opening of its innovative Enhanced Living environment designed to maximize personal independence and nurture community for twenty-eight residents who require slightly increased support to enjoy their best lives.
On a gentle spring morning, the Charles River winds and flows its way through the 100-acre nature preserve on the NewBridge on the Charles campus, quiet but for frogs on the shore and birds in the air at this time of year.
Center Communities of Brookline resident Annie Burrows, age ninety-eight, has found a “peaceful haven” at CCB. Moving to CCB was a wish of her late husband of sixty-six years, an avid golfer, who wanted to live in Brookline. Since his passing, Annie has embraced every facet of life at CCB. Once a chronic non-exerciser, Annie wakes early each morning and heads off to the CCB gym. Her life is filled with opportunities for enrichment. “I’m able to do things alone that I didn’t know I could do,” she says.
