Across These Worlds J Zhang

Where do you start on a complex topic such as inspired living at care homes?  Our conversation focuses on the initial transition experienced by an older adult moving into a care home.  Anne Duggan and John James O'Brien walk us through examples of design and service features that help place the person in the center of the care.  By meeting their evolving emotional, social and physical needs, architectural and operational design choices invite the person to join the community and provide them with the control and flexibility as they grow into the new life at the care home.  

This episode is the first of a mini series on home, design and inspired living over time.  Our special guest for the series, John James O'Brien, brings deep expertise in knowledge management and building design to the conversation.  Anne and John offer their insights on questions such as: What does "aging in place" mean for home design?  What are some of the top needs of older adults that ought to be planned for to ensure well-being for many years to come?  Using many observations and examples, this episode aims to start building the awareness of home designs that support well-being into the future,  Advice on elbow room, technology, and active participation helps one envision the future through clearer lenses. 

To commemorate our reaching the 5th episode, Anne and I went on a little journey back in time.  We visited the 1960’s when Anne worked and played hard in NYC. It was a time of intense learning, folk music, rebellions big and small, and changes experienced with cherished friends.

In this episode, Anne and I discussed ways to connect with elders who wander due to dementia. A caring person, either a caregiver or a community member, can be a therapeutic tool to help the elder return to a safe, warm and comfortable place. Detecting their physical needs and their feelings could complement technological solutions in preventing wandering.

In this episode, Anne shares her insights on practical ways that turn meals into powerful prevention tools to help elders eat well, sleep well and stay strong longer.  She reminds us that food is not only a source of nutrition but a source of joy and fun of our life, as the stories about the peanut brittle and mealtime songs demonstrate.

Hear Anne's beautiful childhood memories of butter fishes and potato  "planting" AND tips to turn the sundowning experience into calm and  comfortable moments shared by the caregiver and the person living with dementia.