By Melissa Smith and Kristen Perry, Senior Services – Forsyth
As Forsyth County prepares for the aging boom, Senior Services has embarked on a new initiative, Aging with Purpose, aimed at helping seniors age with meaning.
The new program looks at the missing piece in care for seniors, the basic human need to have meaning as we age. Taking what The Eden Alternative® calls the “three plagues of the human spirit” (loneliness, helplessness, and boredom) very seriously, the project is coming up with creative ways to combat these plagues and re-connect seniors with the community around them.
The Senior Services staff understands that creativity in caring for a growing population is critical to keeping elders safe at home and living with dignity. As they pilot this new initiative, 150 of the agency’s program participants will be interviewed in the first year, using the Living History Program®.
This open-ended interview tells the agency who these elders really are, far beyond their self-reported “deficiencies,” and gives staff the opportunity to discover the elder’s abilities, skills, and desires. Senior Services plans to roll this out agency-wide in the coming year.
The Living History Program® is a national story-gathering model, founded in 2000 by Sheila Brune, a registered nurse with a masters in Healthcare Administration and a background in quality improvement. Shelia wanted to know more about her patients outside of their medical problems or diagnoses, and, believing in the value of using personal stories to enhance person-centered care, she piloted the program in the Iowa hospital where she worked.
Currently, the Living History Program® is in place in 40 hospitals nationwide and has been shown to improve patient satisfaction. Senior Services is the first community-based organization to use the Living History Program®. Since it started using the interview technique in September, 2015, it has already brought joy to many of the seniors served.
Historically, seniors enrolled in community-based programs are asked a litany of questions about their deficits, what they need assistance with, and what they are no longer able to do, necessary information to enroll in programs to help them remain at home. In incorporating the Living History Program®, Senior Services is trying to find out not only, “What is the matter with you?” but also, “What matters most to you?”
Mattie, who makes shirt protectors and fidget blankets for Williams Adult Day Health Center, says “I used to sit home and become anxious. Now, I feel like I have a purpose again.”The interview opens up a new line of communication for the staff and volunteers. As a result, the seniors become more than someone who needs assistance. In turn, staff uses this new knowledge to form new connections, become more deeply known, and re-engage with their community.
For example, after interviewing a retired Baptist minister, Senior Services staff learned that he was lonely and feeling disconnected. He is now a Telephone Reassurance Program volunteer, phoning on a weekly basis to other homebound seniors.
In another example, Mattie, a family matriarch, uses supplies furnished by Senior Services to make shirt protectors and fidget blankets for seniors who attend the Williams Adult Day Health Center.
The Living History Program® is helping Senior Services discover that they serve participants who are decorated veterans, inventors, ribbon winners in national rose shows, and former gardeners. Through its new Aging with Purpose initiative, its goal is to bring these talents, skills, and stories back to the forefront of the lives of isolated seniors.