Team Assisted Care: Intellectual Wellness

Residents gathered with Joe to discuss his travels through Italy.

It was a wonderful way to learn something new in an afternoon of

Fun and Function.

What is a Wellness Moment?

St. Leonard's wellness teams have been providing wellness moments for the residents, staff, visitors and volunteers that stroll through the halls of St. Leonard. Wellness moments come in all forms, and as you stop by the posters, you may experience moments to reminisce, smile, challenge the brain, or you may get to know someone better than before. Being able to redirect the brain's focus away from current problems or work tasks can be incredibly refreshing while building a social context that has a sustained affect on morale, community, and stress reduction.

Team Watchdogs Wellness Moment

Learning occurs best in social environments, and according to research, we have a brain-based drive to collaborate with others in a socially supportive and caring environment.

Team Asian Arts: Tai Chi

Threading the silk, Holding the Urn, the Single Whip and Parting the Wild Horse's Mane are all balance poses that help a person relax and find their inner peace, joy and tranquility. Tai Chi students work hard united together as they encourage each other to learn forms and learn to breathe and find their inner peace.

Team Wellness: Inspirational Quote

from Dawn Arrowood

"Exercise is like a savings account.

The more you put in, the more

you're going to get out of it"

-Ron Ekovich,

Team JBR: Dominoes

Regulars gather often for this social scene to play an intense game of Dominoes!

Team JBR: Social Dining

The healing power of preparing and sharing a meal together....

Team Bella Vita: Wellness Moment

Name that Baby Contest!

Take a moment from your day and try to guess which baby picture belongs to which adult! Residents, staff, visitors, and volunteers are enjoying this wellness moment together!

Team Healthy Living: Smoking Cessation Story

Team Healthy Living: Smoking Cessation Story

Team Healthy Living: Smoke Free Facility

As announced last year and following regular reminders at open forums and in our newsletter, St. Leonard will become a Smoke Free Campus effective May 1, 2010. We have offered reimbursement of up to $100 to employees to assist them with smoking cessation classes or smoking cessation products. We will also be announcing other assistance in the very near future. Please use this opportunity to remind your employees of this date and to take advantage of programs already offered in the community at hospital sites such as Kettering and Miami Valley. This policy does not affect residents smoking in their independent cottages or garden homes, but does prohibit smoking in any public areas

 

 

 

Team Leisure and Fun: Country Bluegrass Music

20-30 musicians and 75-100 country bluegrass music enthusiasts

meet every Tuesday

for a country bluegrass evening

of sharing songs and the memories that they bring...

Fun and Function

Team Fitness Gurus: Yoga

Yoga Strong!

Team Life Long Learning:Spelling Bees

Fun and Function

Program design by

Sister Christine Doerger

Spellers…spellers!!! We’re looking for those residents who enjoy spelling and would like to gather to have some fun with WORDS. Each area (independent, assisted care, health care) will have its own spelling club run by Sister Christine. If you are interested, pick up the spelling lists from your activity areas to get an idea of what we’re studying. Sometime this week, the earlier the better, let Sister Christine or Joanna or Sister Pat or Rhonda know that you are interested in being a member of this fun and challenging club. As the time goes on, we may even be challenged by each other to sooner or later discover who St. Leonard’s best speller really is! On March 24 each area will have their own little spelling bee—the first of many. Sister Christine has welcomed all residents to the beginning of a new adventure at St. Leonard--Spelling Bees! This is a way to challenge residents intellectually while, at the same time, allowing them to have fun with words. This wonderful and exciting experience will aid our facility in becoming the most vital, healthiest community in the country! (cartoon by Gary Larson)

Team Leisure and Fun: Sing-a-Long

One Energetic Song Leader

+

One Dedicated Pianist

+

30 People

who Love to Sing and Socialize

= Fun!

Team Noah's Ark: Social Moments

There's never enough time!

Disney Social Walk Program: Fun and Function

We have grown to 224 walkers and some walkers are entering Missouri!

Click to enlarge

We have walkers that have logged miles through walking, mall walking, treadmill walking, underwater treadmill walking, NuStep, snow walking, chair marching and bedside stepping. The motivation and excitement is high as each new walker motivates another to join in the fun and function model of this Vital Life Beta Community!

Why Vital Life?

Why is the Vital Life Community Different?

The Vital Life wellness concept is different from anything that is out on the wellness-driven market today because it mobilizes people to action to develop key relationships as they pursue optimal wellness in the eight "ecologies of life." Adherence and motivation are unique concepts used with wellness programs as these terms often revolve around programs for diet and exercise. What most people do not realize, is embedded in the meaning of these concepts are transparency, accountability, and measurement and this is where the Vital Life concept differs from most wellness programs.

The structure of the Vital Life program, based around the dimensions of wellness, creates councils of equals where everyone has a say and can very quickly connect with a team or other key partner to develop wellness programming that is tailored for the membership's specific culture and norms. Through assessment of the different mini cultures, teams can determine their best course of action and begin to measure their progress, outcomes, and satisfaction ratings to determine the direction of their next wellness focus. These performance groups are called upon to share, learn, teach and create social models geared for stealth health. According to Bill Witte, Executive Director of Vital Nation, "a wellness program composed of a motivated collective, living in a community setting, has the best chance of evolving individually and collectively as being "fully human and fully alive."

Team Asian Arts: The First Test

Team Asian Arts is on a journey toward their black belt and finding their balance, determination and internal power in the process. Their first step was to test for their yellow belt, which means that they are in the spring of their training. Even so, the months to prepare gave them the focus and confidence for the test.

Team Lifelong Learning: Facebook

Team Lifelong Learning is learning about Facebook and the possibilities to socialize and keep in touch electronically. Students learn how to create a profile page, begin using photo-sharing tools, and play games. Keeping in touch with children and grandchildren requires today's technology and refresher courses for "how to's" as new tools develop to challenge the mind and provide social fun and function.

Team Home and Garden: Relieving Stress

Team Home and Garden has a yearlong mission of fun and function as they plant indoor gardens and sanctuaries for meditation and reflection. In warmer weather, this horticultural therapy expands to include garden plots and raised gardens. The bounty of the harvest is a reward for everyone and the floral gardens provide relief from stress and a break from our tiresome multitasking culture.

Taking time for Reflection

from Debra

As you read the postings for this blog, you may have noticed that there is a theme that has unfolded as we move through the Vital Nation Certification process for becoming the Healthiest Community in America. This process involves making sure that everything we do supports St. Leonard's mission and core values. Using this as a guide, this theme involves gathering and releasing resources. The resources being our skills and competencies and our commitment for directing our talents and energies toward reducing chronic conditions, disabling conditions, and reducing chronic disease risk factors by creating a social community model that is healthy.

We are still in the beginning stages of this process, which involves "gathering" and we have done this through beginning a social walking program and developing measuring processes for the many wellness teams that are developing throughout the campus; involving residents, staff, and volunteers and families. We wanted to create this in a celebratory format as we gather and release teams; however, this has been the easiest part of the entire process. St. Leonard is a community that thrives on supporting the human spirit and being a part of something outside of ourselves is the natural and right thing to do.

The releasing part involves building flexibility into team building so that as we grow in knowledge and understanding; together each team can decide on the wellness moment or program that is right for them. Teams are releasing their strategies and goals within their areas and beginning without hesitation, as we have much work to do. The Wellness Advisory Team is offering their personal wellness philosophies so that you can meet the team behind this process and identify with their passion to reduce fraility and failure in all areas of the campus of St.Leonard. Case studies are being released so that we can find the threads that keep us close and excited about optimal wellness as it comes in many precious forms. This will take time; it will take patience, understanding, compassion, and the benefits will be immediate and long lived, helping to sustain St. Leonard by reducing the incidence of morbidity and increasing individual and group levels of satisfaction in all of the eight dimensions of wellness.

Exploring the Dimensions of Wellness Through Case Study

Case Study 5

Emotional Wellness Fun and Function Model

Trudy Lommerse lives at St. Leonard and she has an interesting outlook on wellness. She feels good at 94 and says that aging for her has been so gradual that she does not really feel any different from when she was 74. Her wellness philosophy is to do what you can about a problem and then not worry about it!

Trudy was born in Holland and after coming to the United States worked at DP&L for 28 years as a computer librarian. She and her sister Liny traveled all over the world together and enjoyed learning about different cultures and demographics. Trudy continues to stay active with outings and social events and is an avid reader, which often takes her away to foreign lands as she reads each adventure.

Case Study 6

Social Wellness Fun and Function Model

Liny Lommerse is a resident of St.Leonard and feels that her optimal wellness lies in the social dimension of the Vital Nation Wellness Spectrum. Her wellness philosophy is about feeling a deep sense of gratitude for each person she meets and definitely for her family and lifelong friends.

Liny worked at DP&L for 30 years in the payroll department and when vacationing, traveled with her sister Trudy all over the world. Liny and Trudy together filled five passports each during their travels and today this serves as a record of the vast amount of knowledge and cultural growth that they shared throughout their lifetime. Liny is currently one of St. Leonard Studio Artists who paint beautiful sceneries and aerial landscapes, bringing beauty and distant travel to our annual artshows.

Disney Social Walking Program Update

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Team Wellness: Wellness Moment

"It's never too late

to be what you might have been" George Eliot

THE GOAL by Bill Witte

The impetus of considering a transformation of an existing community to one of vital citizens is either one of forward thinking or of a reactionary response to a deep and troubling concern.

Whichever end of the triggering continuum that causes people to want to change behavior will do, because we must change our ways in the Western World, as our ways are what a U.K. study group calls “obesogenic”, they will deliver obese people with a high disposition of being morbidly overweight and therefore prone to unnecessary diseases and chronic illnesses.

Sadly very few of the life-style change programs consisting of fad diets, magic exercise equipment or pharmaceutical solutions ever sustain. Our bookshelves are lined with their books, our attics and garages show the results of very clever TV ads as we see the “equipment” that was supposed to give us “take-your-breath-away” abs or the discarded “diet pills” that we never finished taking because they weren’t effective, and possibly had unacceptable side effects.

The ads all proclaim, “IT WILL…” not, “YOU NEED TO…”. “IT” never changes lifestyle; only a conscious motivated decision wherein we are either scared of potential consequences if we don’t change, or we are just “sick-and-tired” of being “sick-and-tired”, makes us change. Or maybe we just want a better life. “WE” can change our behavior!

All we need to do is commit to ourselves, “I WILL”, realize that we must start now with – “Baby Steps”, and be patient; progress will follow!

Team Noah's Ark: Wellness Moment

Fun and Function!

Who do these hands and feet belong to?

This wellness moment was funny, fun, and challenging!

Team St. Leonard Veterans' Service Organization

Fun and Function

The St. Leonard Veterans' Service Organization honors service members and veterans of the residents, staff, and families who work and live on the campus of St. Leonard. This group is comprised of 133 members who support each other by offering opportunities to serve others and with a strong desire to create a purpose in life for its members. The St. Leonard Veterans' Service Organization is both a social group and a working group as they prepare and collect needed items for our troops and support our veterans at home with emotional and vocational support.

Team Life Long Learning: Memoirs Group

Fun and Function!

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose" (The Wonder Years). The St. Leonard Memoirs Group is comprised of experienced and novice writers who have helped each other publish their memoirs. In addition, they have published books on how to begin the process of writing personal memoirs. Led by Mary Sikora who is a professional author and retired professor from UD, this group promotes positive relationships as they meet once a week for group editing and inspiration..

Team Life Long Learning: Puzzle Club

After dinner challenge with a friend!

Fun and Function!

Team Round to Its: Wellness Moment

Match the tool with the function as you stroll down a hallway at St. Leonard. Employees and residents stopped to take on this intellectual game and found themselves enjoying the challenge!

Fun and Function!

Team Fitness Gurus: Weight Lifting

The basics of exercise adherence and motivation is working out with a friend!

Fun and Function!

Team Fitness Gurus and Wii Bowling

Fun and Function

Step Three: Resident Performance Teams

Resident Teams

Click to enlarge

Resident wellness teams are reporting in and are still forming. Some teams are under the leadership of the Wellness department and others are social groups that are forming both on and off campus. Many residents are members in more than one team depending on their interest and available time and energy. Because St. Leonard was already a very active and socially connected community, they are embracing this concept and residents are looking out for those who may be out of the loop so that no one is left behind.

Step Three: Employee Performance Teams

Employee Teams

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These teams have designated team captains and they are on their way to establishing wellness programming that is designed for their internal culture. The results from their team’s Dimensions of Wellness Assessment will help to focus their efforts so that their members can grow and learn in all of the eight dimensions of wellness.

Step Two: Team Matrix Log

Click to Enlarge

The Team Matrix Log is a tool for communication and the team captain uses this form to acknowledge, and announce team scores, and activity wellness focus. According to Max De Pree, who is a leadership expert it is true that “only through good communication can we learn the needs and demands of our customers.” The form includes the average scoring of a specific event using the St. Leonard Vital Nation Satisfaction Survey and the subjective evaluation of the program by the team captain as to the focus of the event using the eight dimensions of wellness. The information that develops over time can help us with planning and improving our design process for wellness programming. The Dimensions of Wellness Rubric mentioned earlier in the blog is an essential tool for the team captain to determine the overall focus, so that their members can improve the dimensions of wellness that were not in control and/or assist the team in growing in the “eight life ecologies.”

Step One: The Measurement Process

Click to Enlarge

Dr. Deming, a quality control expert, based his quality assurance work on the premise that it is important to “create constancy of purpose for improving products and services,” and this philosophy is very important in the health care industry as well. The St. Leonard Vital Nation Satisfaction Survey is a form randomly issued at the conclusion of an activity event and the feedback generated is utilized in the ongoing process for developing and improving programming. The attendee fills in the information such as title of the activity or event, their name, and there is a simple grading system included with an opportunity to add comments. The importance of offering the survey at the immediate end of a program provides valid and reliable data of the experience as it occurred which helps reduce bias or memories fading of the true significance of the event. In general, we survey everything in this industry, but surveying immediately offers a true advantage for creating a picture of whether or not customers of the programming are initially and completely satisfied.

Disney Social Walking Program Update

We began in Centerville, Ohio with 30 walkers and now we have grown to 156 walkers with some walkers moving into Missouri. Various challenges have been declared, but many are walking dedicating their walk to personal wellness or those who cannot begin this journey.

Methods of walking include regular walking, walking with a walker or cane, stepping from a chair, stepping from a NuStep machine, self-propelling with a wheelchair, treadmill walking, underwater treadmill walking and snow walking. The measurement process takes into consideration the amount of effort and difficulty of the methods used to progress with the walking program

Bill Witte's Fun and Function Model

Our goal is to implement wellness lifestyle programming so that individuals´ stay in the "fun" and "function" categories are longer and more meaningful, while the "frailty" and "failure" are still meaningful, but shorter in time. We believe that when the eight categories of the Wellness Spectrum, (Social, Spiritual, Environmental, Occupational, Emotional, Intellectual, Physical, and Nutritional) are stimulated and supported through design or program implementation, lives are not only enhanced, but people become passionate about life. Those with passion, desire to live, and goals they wish to achieve, by and large live longer than who age without purpose and vigor. The Vital Life Principles are designed around the premise that by providing social opportunities, individuals thrive (Witte).

Why is Socialization so Important?

from Bill Witte

The human being, as far as we now know, is the only species on the planet that enjoys such a complex and effective means of connectivity of which language is only one dimensional tool of many.

SOCIALIZATION is the foundation of THE VITAL LIFE COMMUNITY wellness program specifically, so it behooves me to suggest to all of our staff, learned colleagues, and constituents that “connectivity” not linguistic communication is the bedrock of our means for effective survival and biological dominance. THE VITAL LIFE COMMUNITY is all about socialization or as we call it “SOCIAL CONFLUENCE” of which the binding agent once we come together, is no more and no less, than effective communication. Most of our brain capacity is dedicated to this dimension, so it seems our creator intended us to have the tools necessary to succeed in life, no matter the difficulties

Team Dance Reporting In with Belly Dancing!

According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, a recent research study in 2003 found that dancing was the only physical activity associated with a lower risk of dementia. Currently, St. Leonard has five dance programs with two in the developmental stages. We currently offer belly dancing, Zumba, line dancing, Chair Zumba, ballroom dancing, and the two in the planning stage are clogging and an open dance club, such as a 50/50 dance. The physical benefits of the dance are amazing with each participant; we can see and feel the benefits in their strength and endurance and balance. However, dance offers another component of wellness that has a huge impact on our fun and function level and that is socialization, as it brings people together the common goals of being with others and having fun.

Advisory Committee Leadership: Tim Dressman CEO

from Tim Dressman

A few years ago, I attended a session at a trade conference entitled “The Perfect Storm”. I thought I was going to hear about what was perfect in long term care and senior housing. The reimbursement and regulatory environment was already very challenging and seemed to be getting worse. So I needed some positive reinforcement. What I received, as the saying goes, is what God needed me to see and not want I wanted. The session was an eye opener for me regarding the impending wave of seniors and the needs they would have when coming to a retirement community. How would the current staffing model ever be able to provide for such a large group? Well, that is how I met Bill Witte the first time and was introduced to the Vita Life concept and his dreams for the future, personally and professionally. It was a wellness moment for me in that we became friends, shared ideas, and engendered hope that this vision could make a dramatic impact on the way we age and our quality of life. I am ecstatic that this vision is finally becoming reality as we begin to pilot the Vita Life Community, which will transform the later years of our lives. Our intrinsic worth and vitality should never be measured only by what we did or achieved during our working lives. Productivity does not have to end at 65. Wellness is a personal journey that never ends but creates a peace of mind when one can honestly say he or she is happy in every area of life regardless of physical frailty, age, position, IQ, profession, education. God loves us for who we are and not what we do or don’t do or have or don’t have. This is what I hope for in my later years which begin now.

Advisory Committee Leadership: Troy Hutchinson

from Troy

My name is Troy Hutchinson and I am the administrator for St. Leonard and my wellness philosophy can be summed up in these five principles:

• Stay positive
• Feel good about one’s self
• Appreciate life and what it has to offer
• Stay active
• Focus on family

Advisory Committee Member: Sister Kateri Theriault

from Sister Kateri

My name is Sister Kateri and I am the Director of Mission Integration. When I speak about wellness, I refer to whole person wellness: physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, social, intellectual, relational and recreational. If any one of those aspects of my life are out of balance, I am out of balance. It takes considerable effort on my part to stay in balance. I believe that God made me to be in balance and to strive for balance in the part of the world that touches me.

SK

Advisory Committee Member: Becky White

from Becky

My name is Becky White. I love working for St. Leonard. I am a nurse and my current role here is in Staff Development. For me, wellness can be described as a choice. How I live my life – in all aspects - physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, and spiritually, is a choice that I make every each and every day. Each new day I get to choose my outlook, or attitude for the day. Every morning, even before I get out of bed, I get to choose to feel as well as I can. I get to choose to be as content as possible no matter what circumstances are facing me that day. I make the choice to learn something each day - especially when things don’t go the way I planned. I get to choose to be a friend rather than be lonely, and I choose to be thankful to God for all that He has done.

Advisory Committee Member: Margie Houck

from Margie

My name is Margie Houck and I work in the security Department. I came to St. Leonard 15 yrs. ago after working as a LPN in various Health Care settings for many years. I love people and thought this would be a wonderful place for me.

My family is the most important gift I have been given and I have found the residents and fellow employees to be an extension of my family. I was raised on good home cooked food. Nothing was done where there was not a full course meal – home cooked! This is a habit that I have worked on for years to change. I think that this Vital Life Community will give us the group support we need to help us all make changes.

I am an active Community volunteer and believe what you give you get back. I have spent my life working and teaching children and the fulfillment is unbelievable.

I try to live by the following daily:

Smile and laugh

Find a silent moment to reflect the moment

Give the gift of listening

Get a good night’s sleep

Exercise in some way

Try to have a balanced diet

Hold God close to your heart and pray

Forgive………don’t hold a grudge

Last, hold your friend close – touch them often and cherish your family and tell them daily you love them. Life would be nothing without them.