Editor’s note: The author penned this poem for the staff at Trinity Health’s Glacier Hills senior living facility, in Ann Arbor, MI, where he lives. He offers it here as an ode to all long-term care workers and senior caregivers this holiday season. Words are but scratches on paper. Solid. Bold. Italic. By hand. By…
Headlines during the time of COVID-19 foretell more semantic warmth for the elderly than I have ever read and heard before. That is the underlying tone of my following remarks. Changes in tone Negative tones have increased since the time of the ancients. Then and now are variations of the ancient traditional tripartite genre of communication: deliberative,…
Few of us paused July 17, 2019, to recognize a significant birth laying a substantial helping in controlling the COVID-19 virus. That event was the birth of an individual who’s seminal heritage appeared in children’s chalk on sidewalks, store windows, flags, billboards, etc. All became embedded in many of us. That date and recognition ceremonies around the…
A generalization: Most groups, such as seniors living in retirement communities, have within them social, professional territories. That is, there is an assumption that groups, clusters, committees, political parties, leaders, followers and hundreds of other societal gatherings have concerted purposes, interests and beliefs — like grains in a silo. Take a metaphorical leap: a…
Hedonism isn’t necessarily the first term that comes to mind when thinking of senior care communities. Yet the word occasionally appears in research articles that relate to residential and community satisfaction, weaving in psychology, sociology and behavioral sciences. Let me reflect on two foremost dimensions of satisfaction: “pleasantness” (hedonic), “practicality” (utilitarian) and thirdly on “probability”…
Having walked for over 50 years through many turnstiles of life, many under the rubric of senior living, I consistently return to one conclusion: a sincere, unpretentious compliment to a resident of such a facility is often met with the return phrase, “You made my day.” Let’s take a couple of minutes to note the…
Extensive testing with many scholarly colleagues sought benchmarks in answer to the question “Which criteria-terms relate to bringing change in an organization via oral or written communication?”
Since the dawn of man there has been a concern for others in stressed circumstances.
Often managerial decisions are top-down. While that process has its place, an evaluative instrument using specific assessment criteria of an individual, manager or employee, will help pinpoint a communication strength or weakness in an individual.
Easy to list negatives. Easy to become reclusive. No matter when you leave a home. Or retire. No matter the time or age or gender. Be positive in setting the goal, rejoice on reaching it: in a retirement home, in your long-time home, in a new marriage, in a new grandchild — all a new rhythm. Be positive. Reach! Try! Strive! Age allows it.
