Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Seniors Enjoy the Benefits of Senior Living Communities



MorningStar at Arcadia


As it turns out, many seniors are quite happy with their decision to move into an independent senior living or assisted living community.  In part, that may be due to the fact that typically today’s senior communities are loaded with numerous amenities and activities.   As a resident, you are provided with a lifestyle of comfort and community as well as a sense of safety and security.   

When seniors move out of their family home into a senior community, they find themselves freed from lots of responsibilities.  Owning a home requires routine care and maintenance such as mowing lawns, shoveling snow, pulling weeds, and other housekeeping chores. 

Furthermore, seniors often live alone and experience feelings of loneliness and isolation.  Also as people age, many are reluctant to drive, which means they end up spending a lot of time at home by themselves.  This is something that is not a problem in senior living communities.  While activities are optional, there is generally something of interest for everyone.   

For seniors who do not drive anymore, senior living communities usually offer some form of transportation.  In addition many communities routinely schedule day trips to activities such as plays, museums, shopping malls or other events. 

We also know that many seniors who live alone do not eat well.  In some cases, preparing food has become more difficult as well as grocery shopping.  Most assisted living communities make healthy, nutritious food a priority and serve residents three daily meals.  This is especially important for residents with dietary restrictions as most diets are accommodated. 

Another frequently overlooked benefit of seniors moving into senior living communities is they do not need to depend on their grown children or other family members as they did when living on their own.  This allows both parties to just enjoy one another again.  Grown children no longer find themselves in the position of have to parent their parent as the senior is getting needs meet at their “new home.”

Finally we cannot forget the importance of socializing and making new friends at any age.  Even for individuals who value their privacy, there is still the comfort of having other people around.  If the event of a fall or medical emergency, help is always close at hand for residents at an assisted living community.     

At MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care at Arcadia, we offer residents a safe and secure place to age in and to enjoy our many amenities and activities.  Contact us to schedule a tour and discover for yourself why our residents are happy to call MorningStar’s senior community “home”.

MorningStar at Arcadia’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options.  Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve.  Set in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities, MorningStar at Arcadia invites you to give us a call and schedule a tour to learn more about Phoenix’s best assisted living community.

Source:aplaceformom.com/blog/why-seniors-prefer-senior-living-communities/

Friday, January 8, 2016

Like Physical Exercise, Seniors Need to Exercise Their Brain




MorningStar at Arcadia's Life Enrichment Room


As we age, engaging in memory exercises is just important as physically excising our bodies. The Alzheimer’s Association offers recommendations on some easy ways to daily exercise our brain with activities that include reading, writing and doing crossword or other puzzles, playing games and attending events such as lectures or plays. 

They state that there are four areas we can work on to help reduce our risk of cognitive decline: physical health and exercise, diet and nutrition, cognitive activity, and social engagement.  In fact research has found that simply by keeping our brains active, we can actually increase its vitality and may even help to generate new brain cells.   

An article on the “6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age” from the Harvard Health Publication outlines ways to help prevent cognitive decline and reduce your risk of dementia.  The article stresses the importance of continuing to learn as challenging our brains with mental exercises is “believed to activate processes that help maintain individual brain cells and stimulate communication among them.”

MorningStar at Arcadia could not agree more.  Our senior living community is loaded with activities that are not only fun but also help to stimulate our brains.  Just a quick look at our monthly calendar shows an abundance of activities such as word, board, and trivia games that help to challenge our brains.  Residents at MorningStar enjoy games such as Yahtzee, trivia, Jeopardy, Bingo, Scrabble, The Price is Right, or Uno.    

Regardless of personal interest, our seniors find plenty to do to keep them interested in life.  With a range of activities such as reading and knitting groups, arts and crafts, and fun-filled card games, residents stay social and keep their brains active. 

MorningStar at Arcadia’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options.  Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve.  Set in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities, MorningStar at Arcadia invites you to give us a call and schedule a tour to learn more about our beautiful assisted living community in Phoenix.

Sources: alz.org/we_can_help_stay_mentally_active.asp
health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/6-simple-steps-to-keep-your-mind-sharp-at-any-age

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Heart of MorningStar is Our Staff





At MorningStar at Arcadia, we understand that our senior community’s success lies with our caregivers. This is why one of our founding principles is to invest generously in our team members, including providing the necessary development and training required to create leaders with the ability to provide the best life possible for our residents. 

We are proud of the fact that our staff is comprised of people who champion our mission and have a sense of calling to serve seniors.  They are a group of unique individuals who do the right thing when no one is watching and work diligently to perfect the art of anticipating the needs of our residents.  In addition they not only believe that Senior Living, at its best, is love in action but do it every day. 

As a part of our commitment to bringing together an exceptional staff, we offer generous compensation and benefit packages to each employee in an effort to recognize caregiving as a respected career choice.  We have found that our vetting of employees has paid off as we have a staff that works hard to ensure MorningStar at Arcadia’s residents feel loved and cared for in every way possible. 

Furthermore, all of our in-coming staff receives Radiance training, which is reiterated every day at our Team Stand-up.  The Radiance program celebrates an attitude of selflessness that comes from a deep and sincere place, like a beam of light and reflects the way we deliver customer service at MorningStar - with warmth, sincerity and depth.  The program provides a tangible and purposeful way to advance our mission of honoring, valuing and investing in others and allows us to take our professionalism to the next level.  We encourage you to schedule a tour of our gorgeous community to experience firsthand all we offer.

MorningStar at Arcadia’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options.  Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve.  Set in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities, MorningStar at Arcadia invites you to schedule a tour or give us a call to learn more about the best Phoenix area assisted living community.