Is Having A Community Health Fair And You Are Invited!

The Standish Village will be having a health fair in honor of World Health Day.  This event will be held from 1:00-3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 7th. We encourage our community to stop in and receive information from local businesses and enjoy giveaways, raffles, demonstrations, and delicious healthy snacks.

Exhibitors will include: Caritas Carney Hospital, Elder Service Plan, YMCA, Partners Homecare, Eastern Therapeutics, Senior Companion Program, Partnership for Heart Healthy Stroke-Free Massachusetts, Milton Co-Op Adult Day Health Care, and Stil Mee Alzheimer’s Coaching Services.

Location: The Standish Village Assisted Living, 1190 Adams Street, Dorchester, MA, 02124.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include decreased judgment, lack of initiative, challenges in solving problems, difficulty completing tasks, and withdrawal from social activities.

Residents at Senior Living Residences' Standish Village organized a fundraiser to benefit Haiti Relief.

I have a different picture of Alzheimer’s for you today, shared with me by Brooke Patterson, Memory Support Neighborhood (MSN) Program Director at Standish Village, a community owned and managed by Senior Living Residences.

Most days Brooke begins her day by encouraging the residents, living on the MSN, to come to her daily activity program. The day after the earthquake in Haiti, she came into the community and asked the residents to do just that. The residents all looked at her and asked, “What are we going to do?” She smiled and replied, “Something fun,” the response she offers on most days. The residents looked at her and said “Don’t you know what is going on in the world? We shouldn’t be having fun, we need to do something to help!”

More residents of Standish Village who are organizing a food and water drive to benefit haiti Relief efforts

Hearing about the tragic earthquake that occurred in Haiti, the residents were driven to action to offer compassionate assistance to those in need like many of us across the globe. Responding to the crisis, they have organized a community-wide food and water drive to donate to the Haitian Relief efforts.

The resident-directed drive was organized by individuals who are actively engaged, directed in their purpose, and proud of their compassionate efforts. Each one is living with Alzheimer’s disease.

I have recently been inspired by a group of residents, living with Alzheimer’s disease, at Neville Place, a community managed by Senior Living Residences (www.SeniorLivingResidences.com). The residents have spent the last three months working on an exercise program with two students from Tufts University’s Occupational Therapy Department.

The student interns and the residents worked on building endurance and strength with exciting results. In the exercise group, the students asked the residents to do a little more each week, pushing them towards a new, but reachable goal. Over a period of ten weeks, the residents increased the amount of time they spent exercising, increased their repetitions in the movement group, and enjoyed the results.

Prior to the work with the student interns, the residents had participated in daily exercise, but they were all willing and able to do a little more. Research shows that exercise is an important part of maintaining cognitive health and may slow the progression of cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Having enjoyed all of my holiday celebrations, I now begin to think about the new year. It certainly seems that exercise should be a priority.  And, do I have some motivation!