Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

We are very excited about our programs this month that revolve around the many facets of music.  This year we will be introducing the Music and Memory Program into our Wellspring community here at Louisville.  We have three events scheduled in the upcoming months and invite you to join us!

January 19^th at 5:30 PM: ALIVE INSIDE SCREENING An inspirational and emotional story left the audience humming, clapping and cheering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. The film dramatically portrays the power of music and memory. Refreshments will be served following the screening along with discussion on how music impacts each of us daily, especially those who live with dementia. See the trailer.

  

February 2^nd at 6:30 PM: VIRTUAL DEMENTIA TOUR AND CREATE YOUR PLAYLIST EVENT The Virtual Dementia Tour is an interactive, experiential journey into the realities of dementia. It allows you to “walk in the shoes” of your loved one, enabling you to better understand their needs and behaviors. End this journey by starting your own personalized music playlist!

February 17^th at 6:30 PM: MUSIC THE MAGIC HEALER Andrea Antognoni, a certified musical practitioner, will share a live selection of her work followed by a special conversation about music and its benefits. Andrea has been offering music in long-term health care for over 15 years. She captivates listeners and transports them beyond current recall to a world filled with beauty and adventure. 

If you are unable to make any of our upcoming events, or have questions about Music and Memory, please contact our Connections Director at 303-665-3722.

Welcome New Beginnings: January Events

Welcome to 2015! What a wonderful time for us to reflect on the past year and forge ahead with new beginnings. January is a time for change when we make and sometimes break our New Year’s resolutions and focus on what we want to make better in the coming year.

January is also the month that Juniper Village begins our Winter Alive In All Seasons theme of Creative Expressions: “Explore Your Creativity” where in January we will focus on music! Research shows that music can help us physically by easing pain, helping us sleep better, eat less and enhance our blood vessel function. It is also suggested that music can help us mentally by reducing stress, relieving symptoms of depression, elevating mood, decreasing anxiety and improving cognitive performance. Hospitals are using music to help cancer patients manage stress and anxiety and to ease recovery in stroke patients.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Pastry with a Passion event featuring deliciously baked goodies warm and straight out of the oven with sweet gooey sugars and mouth-watering deliciousness plus great company and an authentic Harpist to top it off on January 9^th from 10:00 am to 11:00 am; our Alive Inside Screening of the inspirational and emotional film dramatically portraying the power of music and memory that left the audience humming and cheering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award with an iPod and MP3 player donation drive for musical tools to utilize throughout the community on January 19^th from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm; or our 4th Annual Hootenanny Hoedown as there’s a new sheriff in town and she's lookin’ for cowboys and cowgirls ready to have their picture taken in our Juniper Saloon with a REWARD for best lookin’ westerner and some hot baked potatoes LOADED with all the fixin’s on January 28^th from noon to 1:30 pm!

Look through our calendar and join us this month as we explore our creativity through music with outings to local musical performances, Elvis’ birthday celebrations and concerts by our Joyful Noise Choirs. We invite you to Welcome New Beginnings at Juniper Village and make a habit of joining us for activities and events throughout the year!

Juniper Communities Appoints New Regional Director of Wellness and Wellbeing

Juniper Communities announces that Melissa “Missy” Ebner has joined Juniper as Regional Director of Wellness and Wellbeing. Missy brings a wealth of experience in nursing care, especially with seniors to her position. From a clinical perspective, her role will be to oversee the entire portfolio of clinical care and support for the residents, provide clinical oversight, and staff training. She is a licensed Registered Nurse (RN) in every state where Juniper currently has communities.

“We are very excited to have Missy join the Juniper family,” expressed Lynne Katzmann, CEO of Juniper Communities. “She comes to Juniper with a wonderful background and deep experience in the clinical complainants of senior living. She will be a great resource for our community wellness teams and to the home office team in this changing healthcare environment.”

Missy’s interest in working with senior living communities is that they offer residents more freedom than skilled nursing settings. “The seniors can be taken care of in a homelike environment and you can become a friend, not seen as a nurse or caregiver,” she explained. “Juniper’s staff is wonderful at treating the residents as a parent or grandparent, this doesn’t always happen in institutional settings.”

Juniper Communities owns and operates Personal Care, Assisted Living, Memory-Care, Skilled Nursing and Independent Living communities in NJ, FL, CO and PA.

“Nobody is as forward thinking as Juniper. They are far ahead of the curve in the industry and where healthcare is going. The staff I’ve observed go above and beyond, always doing more even though no one is looking,” Missy described of her building level observations.

Missy Ebner has worked in the healthcare industry since 1987. She received her LPN from the James Martin School of Nursing in 1987 and her RN from Excelsior College in 2005. She is a resident of Willow Grove, PA and born and raised in Pennsylvania. She has been married to Henry Ebner for 26 years and has three children, Corey, Shane and Cassidy.  Something her family and friends know about her is that she loves to shop the Outlets, and loves a good bargain!

Celebrate Little Things: December Events

This month is all about celebrations! Not only will we be celebrating holidays such as Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve, but we will also celebrate the little things that make life worthwhile. Little things such as the reassuring touch of a friend’s hand, a kind word from an acquaintance and a warm smile from a stranger.

In our all too busy lives we sometimes forget to honor the simple things in life that bring us peace and joy. Most experts recommend that we allow 10-20 minutes of relaxation and stress relief each day. Making time for that can even be a stressful experience! During this busy month of baking, shopping, visitors and juggling tasks take time to remember what is really important.

Here are some tips to keep holiday stress in check: Acknowledge your feelings - you are not alone as holiday stress is not uncommon. Be realistic with expectations - you can only do so much, learn to say no. Ask for help when needed - everyone wants to be needed and may feel more included by being able to contribute. Plan ahead to minimize unplanned expenses and tasks. Take a breather - take a walk at night and do some stargazing, listen to soothing music, or get a massage. Above all enjoy all the holidays have to offer by sharing time with others.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Ugly Holiday Sweater Day because we love our staff, and they love not having to wear their uniforms, so what better way to let them do that by having an ugly holiday sweater day, every single Thursday throughout the month and feel free to join in the fun, since small awards will be given out every single Thursday to the ugliest sweater of the day; our Winter Festivus Holiday Open House where we celebrate the best winter traditions around while you stroll around our community caroling, enjoy our goodies galore, and be on the lookout as there’s even a chance that Santa will be there, or perhaps the infamous Grinch on December 11^th at 3:30 pm; or our Sugar Plum Fairy Ball where we will certainly have fairies who dance around, but on the ground, not in your head, so come dressed in your Holiday best as we celebrate Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite on December 19^th from 5:15 pm to 6:30 pm!

Look through our calendar and join us during the busy month of December for our annual cookie exchange and holiday celebrations. Take time to Celebrate Little Things with those you love!

Cherish the Journey: November Events

Life is a journey filled with lessons, celebrations and special moments that ultimately lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. The road will not always be smooth and we may encounter many challenges. Some of these will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Along the way, we may stumble upon obstacles that must be overcome. But, sometimes these obstacles are really blessings in disguise, although we may not realize it at the time. How we react to the situations we face will determine what the rest of our journey will be like.

This month Juniper Communities will honor our Families and cherish the journey we have taken together. November is all about celebrating the bonds we share and recognizing where we’ve been and where we’re going. We will do this through autobiographical journaling, reminiscing about family celebrations and breaking bread together in Thanksgiving. In order to support our families along this journey we will continue to develop our support groups and provide additional resources when needed. We will give back through our Annual Food Drive. From November 1 through November 30 all non-perishable food items collected will be donated to a local food bank.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Annual Food Drive where you can drop off non-perishable food items for Sister Carmen Community Center in Lafayette anytime all month long; our You’re The Peanut Butter to My Jelly Day as we honor our staff members by breaking out PB&J sandwiches, buckeyes, peanut butter ice cream sandwiches, peanut butter silk pie, and whatever other appropriately themed treats we can think up on November 5^th all day; our Grandma’s Homemade Bread Day showcasing all sorts of starchy goodies including breakfast sandwiches, scones, muffins, even pie (the crust is kind of like bread) with fantastic giveaways on November 7^th from 9:00 am to 10:30 am; our Alzheimer’s Association Class about dementia care with Amelia from the Alzheimer’s Association on November 19^th from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm (please RSVP to 303-665-3722); our Thanksgiving Day Feast for our friends, families, and local community with turkey dinner and all the fixings complete with a sampling of desserts from our own families on November 22^nd from 12:00 pm until 1:30 pm.

Look through our calendar and plan to join us for family celebrations, Thanksgiving dinners and many events and activities allowing us all to reflect and Cherish the Journey!

2014 COHCA Administrator of the Year Joins Juniper Village at Louisville

Carmy Jerome has taken the helm of Juniper Village at Louisville as Executive Director. She becomes part of a fabulous assisted living team that provides person-centered care for memory impaired residents in the Louisville area.

“We are thrilled to have Carmy join the Juniper family.  Carmy is a strong demonstrated leader with a deep and unabiding passion for memory care.  Her efforts, which have received national recognition, will dovetail well with Juniper’s programs and new initiatives,” stated Lynne Katzmann, CEO and Founder of Juniper Communities.

Jerome was named the Colorado Healthcare Association 2014 COHCA Spotlight on Excellence Assisted Living Administrator of the Year. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Center for Assisted Living; and has been an active participant on the Quality Committee editing the “Guiding Principles of Assisted Living Care” and “Guiding Principles of Dementia Care.”

“I am excited to be part of a company that is at the leading edge of dementia care. From the building design to the extensive list of programs specifically prepared for people living with dementia, it is clear Juniper Communities has the resident top of mind,” expressed Jerome on her appointment. “I also appreciate that Juniper values educating the staff members, giving them the proper tools to successfully accomplish their respective duties and goals. It’s wonderful to know that at Juniper we “walk the talk” indeed.”

As an advocate of decreasing the off label use of psychotropic medications, she has presented at state and national conventions on a range of topics including Dementia Care, Staff Stability, and Reducing Psychotropic Medications through Person-Centered Care.

Carmy Jerome has worked in assisted living memory care communities for the past five years. Prior to that she was in the restaurant business; however she had much exposure to the industry through her mother who was a nursing home administrator. As a young child she volunteered at her mother’s facility and also worked as an aide during her teenage years.

Show Your Colors: October Events

October brings forth vibrant color in our foliage as well as our sports teams. Our high school football teams will be in full swing and hockey season will prepare to fill the stands with team colors and spirit. Juniper Communities will also be honoring our colors with many sports-themed activities and events. We will be enjoying the changing colors of the season as we transition from summer to fall and the crazy costumes of our annual Halloween celebrations.

While showing our colors we not only focus on our team colors, but also showing our true colors. We recognize that working together as a team, results in better coordination of care, better quality of care and as a result better lives for our residents. This is evidenced by our excellent clinical outcomes data. We are happy to see the results of collaboration resulting in decreased re-hospitalizations and better quality of life for our residents.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our 4^th Annual Chili Cook-Off Competition in Louisville with our annual chili giveaway of a fantastic basket filled with goodies, along with famous people per request of the fire department who will be on hand to judge which chili is the best on October 24^th from noon to 1:30 pm; or our Halloween Monster Bash where Monarch Elementary school ghosts, goblins, and ghouls will be trick-or-treating down our halls and we will be celebrating in our costumes on October 31^st starting at 10:30 am!

Please look through our calendar to celebrate the spirit of autumn with us and Show Your Colors!