SHARE: Strategies to Help Your Parents Feel at Home in a Retirement Community Moving your parent(s) into a retirement community can be a very difficult process. We’ve met with hundreds of families and have put together some of the best tips we’ve seen for children to make the transition easier. Your family worked together to help your aging parents make a big decision: moving into a retirement community, like assisted living or long- term skilled nursing care. Their lives are about to become safer, simpler, and more rewarding, and the transition to a retirement community does not need to be stressful. Our quick tips guide can get you started on moving elders with ease. Yes, moving a parent to a retirement community is a big change—a change for the better. These benefits include more opportunities to socialize, make new friends and engage in meaningful activities, with caring supportive staff...
SHARE: The last thing you want to worry about when adjusting to retirement living is money. We guide you to retirement planning resources and certified senior advisors to make your golden years stress free. Planning for retirement means making sure you have the resources you need to secure the care and comfort you want. Depending on your expected MaineCare benefit, financing assisted living may take advanced planning. A certified senior advisor can help you forecast your assisted living costs and find financial freedom in retirement. Understanding long term care expenses and assisted living costs in Maine can be complicated and confusing. The price of services varies greatly across the state and MaineCare Services covers very specific levels of care and services. Whether you anticipate aging in place and accessing home care or moving into assisted living or memory care assisted living at some point in the future, life is unpredictable....
SHARE:Trying to decide between assisted living and memory care for someone you love? We’ve put together some resources to help you make the best decision for your aging parents. The signs that an older adult is struggling to live independently at home can be subtle or they can be sudden and striking. Many seniors do not want to be a burden on their families and may try to hide that it is getting harder and harder for them to keep up with home maintenance, housekeeping, errands, or personal hygiene. Steep declines in health or repeated falls can signal a problem. Social isolation, depression, financial difficulties, forgetfulness, emotional outbursts, and poor personal hygiene, nutrition, or home maintenance are common signs, too. There are many reasons older adults may struggle to age in place, ranging from fading eyesight and stiffening joints to the onset of dementia. Understanding why your loved...
SHARE:At The Cedars, we learned early on that changes in the way healthcare is delivered during this pandemic needed to be immediately adopted to protect our staff and those we care for. Having closed our community to non-essential healthcare providers and limiting physician appointments to those deemed a medical necessity, The Cedars needed to find ways to continue to provide ongoing medical care and connection to outside care providers. In our efforts to reinvent our healthcare services, telehealth emerged as one of the major tools to deliver clinical services via telecommunications technology. Through our Telehealth Program, staff is able to easily coordinate medical care for our patients and residents with primary care and specialty physicians, clinics and services. Additionally, telehealth has been utilized for interdisciplinary team meetings. This program has assisted in maintaining continuity of healthcare to our patients and residents, avoiding additional negative consequences from delayed preventive, chronic...
SHARE: Moving elderly parents to an assisted living facility can be a scary step for everyone involved. Our five-step checklist is easy to follow, eases the transition to an assisted living community, and will put your whole family at ease. The steps for transitioning someone into a nursing home or assisted living facility are not as difficult as they seem. In fact, the hardest part is simply getting started. No one wants to share with aging parents that they no longer seem to be thriving in their home and many adult children struggle to express their concerns about health and safety with their loved ones. After all, our aging parents have always taken care of us. When we suggest a transition to assisted living, we start taking care of them. At The Cedars, we offer a full range of award-winning living options for elderly parents. We see every day...
SHARE:For over 90 years, The Cedars has helped to transform aging. We have found a wonderful mix of activities, hobbies, and events that will keep you healthy during your stay at an assisted living facility. When you move from aging in place to life in senior living communities, there is no need to slow down or stop enjoying treasured hobbies or activities. In fact, one of the biggest assisted living benefits is the way it frees older adults to pursue their passions in a safe, stress-free environment. Ready to make the most of assisted living? Read on! Healthy Aging Tips for Seniors Staying Active in a Community for Older Adults Many older adults choose to move into senior living communities when they realize keeping up with housekeeping and the activities of daily living has become more difficult and less rewarding. Now that mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, and cleaning,...
SHARE: Sitting down for a delicious meal is something we all look forward to, both to nourish our bodies as well as to gather with friends and families. At The Osher Inn Assisted Living, our residents look forward to joining in our dining room that is elegant yet intimate and feels just like home in our small community of 30 apartments. For lunch or dinner, we often have family members join their loved ones to catch up on busy lives. Breakfast time is an opportunity for our residents to plan their days and visit with friends over a lingering cup of coffee. Our Dining Director, John Roy, prides himself on planning his menus around seasonality and variety. “Living in Maine gives us access to the best seafood, produce, and meats,” he explains. “And we don’t want even our most popular dishes to feel repetitive. In every way, we try...
SHARE:When Nancy Meyer arrives at the Osher Inn at The Cedars Retirement Community, she unpacks watercolor paints, brushes and paper. Eager hands await the materials, ready to get to work adding color and personal flair to the watercolor paper. Teaching and facilitating watercolor painting with seniors has had a great effect on Meyer, a New York native who now calls Baldwin home. “It’s so rewarding,” said Meyer. And the Osher residents love it, her many loyal attendants wouldn’t miss her class. Nancy focuses on nature in her watercolor sessions, bringing pieces of the natural world inside especially for those who are unable to go out-of-doors. It may be apple blossoms, flowers or pumpkins. These special still-life subjects are sure to bring smiles, said Meyer. “I learn from them,” she said, of her students. Some smile, paint and have a great time. Others are slowed down by the details. Others...
SHARE: BOB NEEDED A PLUS ONE. His daughter, Kathryn Callnan, President and CEO of The Cedars, wanted him to join a family birthday celebration in Old Orchard Beach. He’d only been living at The Osher Inn for one month, but he knew exactly who he wanted to bring. “I’d noticed Lauretta in the dining room,” he explains, eyes twinkling. “This was my big chance.” “And we’ve been together ever since!” Lauretta says. Talking with Bob Callnan and Lauretta Torraca, they feel as though they’ve been together for years, not less than six months. Both widowed, they had each raised large families with loving partners before life brought them to The Osher Inn. When they found each other, they knew right away what a precious thing they had. “We just melded our lives together,” Lauretta beams. “At this stage of our lives, we get to do what we want. There’s...
