November 2015 Events in Williamstown, NJ: Cherish The Journey

Family is a simple word, with complex meaning. To some family is the people you are related to by blood, but to some family is the people you choose to hold in high regard, and to others family isn’t people at all, but animals – our beloved pets.

Regardless of the definition, family plays an important role in our personal journey. As the saying goes, “Family is what you make it.” Whether made of blood relatives, friends, colleagues or pets, your family can offer you the support you need to thrive.

This month we celebrate family and reflect on our personal journeys while creating new memories for the future. Join us as we reminisce about these journeys through autobiographical journaling. Plan to share with those less fortunate through our annual food drive from November 1-30 with all non-perishable food items being donated to a local food bank. Also interact and share with others through our community support groups, and know that you are not alone. Throughout the month we will also be hosting several family events as we celebrate family and give thanks. We encourage you to review our calendar and join us for any or all of our events and Cherish The Journey!

Our fabulous November 2015 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown include our:

§  Annual Community Candlelight Vigil as we will join together to celebrate the lives of our precious family members and friends that have passed on during the year and come together in friendship, honor, and memory to dedicate this time to them and the lives they lived so well, as we gather in prayer, with gentle music and refreshments on November 5^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

§  Family Support & Physical Health Presentation with our Genesis Therapy Team on how we all can support the ongoing journey of staying active and engaged in mobility at all stages of life as we carve out time to support those we love in their physical endeavors to regain strength, balance, flexibility, and overall physical health because it is always more fun when you engage in movement together with family and friends, so let’s stay fit together on November 9^th at 1:15 pm.

§  Harvest Blessing Family/Community Celebration Event as we enjoy beautiful music, seasonal harvest refreshments and the beautiful company of families, friends, and neighbors with a positive, inspirational message and special blessings from our Leading Rabbi, Priest, and Pastor in our local community on November 19^th from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

We look forward to sharing our November 2015 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown with you as we Cherish The Journey.

Benefits of the Small House Model: the Gold Standard for Memory Care

At Juniper Communities we have long subscribed to the belief that the keys to healthy aging include staying physically active and socially connected. For some of us, doing one or both can be more difficult over time.  This is particularly true of some individuals who are living with memory loss. Our job as caregivers and partners in caring is to facilitate new ways of helping residents to be connected to the community - their home - while at the same time fostering a sense of independence.

Environmental features are key in both keeping people physically active and connected with others. A 2011 study by Dr. Margaret Calkins, Ph.D., an internationally recognized leader in the field of environments for the elderly, especially those with Alzheimer’s or dementia,  found that people who lived in small group or cottage settings had less disruptive behaviors and greater socialization.  They (and their families and the staff who cared for them) were also more satisfied—happy.

Another study done in 2011 in the Netherlands by Hilde Verbeek titled Redesigning Dementia Care concurred.  Her research indicated that residents in small-scale living communities were significantly more socially engaged and displayed fewer physically non-aggressive behaviors, such as wandering, than residents in larger, traditional settings.  They experienced greater wellbeing and less stress—they were happier. The study also found that residents in this “person-environment model” developed an individually meaningful experience of choice, mastery and relationship.  They developed a feeling of “at-homeness” or happiness!

Understanding the Small House Model

Caroline Cantley in her 2002 book Put Yourself in My Place stated that there is broad agreement that desirable dementia care homes be small scale, which she defined as 6-14 residents.  Getting much larger, she and her colleagues said, is a distinct move away from a “family feel” towards something more institutional.  Different research provides other specific numbers, Dr. Calkins suggests between 9 and 24 residents, but they all are within this general range.  Larger communities may mitigate their size with their layout, such as linking several smaller houses together to achieve economies of scale.

Juniper has been well ahead of the trend as we have owned and operated two types of small house models for more than a decade.  Two of our small house models, Aurora and Louisville, both in Colorado, were purpose built by Juniper in 1999 and 2000 respectively, as part of our initiative to provide leading-edge care to residents living with memory impairments. These two communities include four small houses, each with 12 or 13 rooms, virtually all private, surrounding a town hall area. Each town hall provides destination locations consisting of multiple familiar spaces such as an office suite, game room, library, country store, and gymnasium, where residents from all houses can go for additional services or programs. In this model, where the houses are linked, all staff are readily available to assist if needed.

Juniper’s other three memory communities although not purpose built by Juniper, were acquired between 2006 and 2014, in part based on their similar design.  All three are based on a small house or cottage model.  For instance our community in Naples, Florida is a campus with six small cottages, each home to 15 residents in a combination of private and semi-private rooms, spread across lovely grounds connected by walking paths and gardens.  Another, acquired around the same time, has three neighborhoods of 12 residents each in a combination of private and semi-private rooms, which open onto a central common area.

In both models, residents at Juniper’s communities live within a short walk to the living room, kitchen and dining areas.  The environment is homelike; there are no nurses’ stations and no medication carts that block the hallways.  Staff wear polo shirts, not scrubs, and are trained to engage residents in activities of daily living, as well as social and recreational activities.  In both models, there are large, accessible and safe outdoor spaces surrounding the community.

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Showing Our Colors

"Show Your Colors" at Juniper Village of Willliamstown!  As we welcome my favorite season of the year, Fall & Harvest Season, we are super excited here at Juniper Village of Williamstown!  We are all decked out in our harvest decorations and there is cinnamon & apples in the air, football is on the TV and we are having a blast!

This month, we will celebrate many joyous events & activities with a focus on "Showing Our Colors"!  We enjoyed a wonderful fall kick off inter-generational event with our Rowan freshman students and they are such wonderful young men and women; we are so proud of them and their goals!  We also had a game day with our grade school students and the residents now have their favorite and youngest bingo caller!  We are busy welcoming new residents to our community and helping them make new friends and enjoying the fall sports and beautiful harvest happenings within our community!

Join us this fall for many wonderful, rich and joyous events!  Happy Harvest!

October 2015 Events in Williamstown, NJ: Show Your Colors

Every October we turn our Alive in All Seasons focus to holidays and sports as we “Keep the Spirit” during this last celebratory quarter of the year. Sporting events are inevitably part of that celebration for many families.

According to Dr. Renee Clauselle, founder of Child and Family Psychology, “Bonding over sports — the highs and lows of the game — strengthens ties, helps us feel supported, and makes it easier for you to open up about personal things.” Think of sports as an opportunity to connect with others over a favorite – or even rival – team and learn more about each other. Even strangers can learn more about where they grew up, which teams they support, which sports they played and how those sports are different today. You may even learn something about your loved ones that you never knew. Perhaps great-grandma played softball in a women’s league during college. That would be something to pass along to future generations! Watching a sporting event can become so much more than plays and scores; it can become an opportunity to learn the history of someone you love.

Join us this month and “Show Your Colors” as we sponsor a local sports team, get into the spirit of the season with our Halloween Costume Party and honor those associates who go above and beyond with our annual Juniper Spirit Awards.

Our fabulous October 2015 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown include our:

§  “Show Your Colors” Sports Fitness presentation by our fabulous Genesis Rehab team about how to stay active in the later years on October 12^th at 3:00 pm.

§  Fall Harvest Celebration event with “Big Cheese Pizza” as we enjoy the changing of the seasons and welcome this wonderful time of year on October 22^nd at 3:15 pm.

§  Children’s Trick or Treat event as Halloween is a favorite holiday for many and we all enjoy seeing the cute little children in their costumes on October 31^st at 2:00 pm.

We look forward to sharing our October 2015 events in Williamstown, NJ at Juniper Village at Williamstown with you as we Show Your Colors.