The Continental Care Center at Seymour, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation community in Seymour, Iowa, continues to raise the quality-of-life bar in the long-term care arena. On October 27th, 2009, the residents and staff joined forces to make popcorn balls in preparation for the upcoming Halloween night festivities. Lorie Jellison, Assistant Administrator/Activities, who organized the event stated, "It was an amazingly fun time! The staff and many of the residents pitched in and...

The small town of Seymour, Iowa, located about 20 minutes from Centerville, Iowa near the Missouri border, experienced change. The small skilled-care community in the town was on the verge of closure, when Centerville entrepreneur, Bill Burch, the owner of Commercial Resources, Inc., with the help of Morgan Cline, took a project under their hands to revamp the center. Their leadership combined with the leadership of Beth Owens, the administrator combined with the unusual dedication of a...

In the arena of senior skilled care, where State of Iowa regulations are forcing many small skilled care communities to close, The Continental Care Center at Seymour, located in Seymour, Iowa are bucking the trend. Morgan Cline and Bill Burch purchased the community in an effort to prevent its planned closing. Their leadership combined with the leadership of Beth Owens, the administrator combined with the unusual dedication of a crew pulled together from the deep rural rolling hills of...

Winter and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

As winter draws near, people with respiratory problems are waiting with bated breath. The winter months often cause an exacerbation or acute worsening of COPD symptoms, often leading to other illnesses and even hospitalizations. I have seen first hand that a large percentage of hospital admissions this time of year are COPD patients. Even my mother suffers from COPD.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease...

Over the past 20 years, more and more Americans have developed into a trend of depositing our elderly into nursing homes, assisted living facilities and the like.  Recent studies have shown that over half of these seniors do not require the type of intensive medical supervision nursing homes and intermediate care facilities were designed to provide.  These facilities were established for seniors who are in, or are very close to hospice level medical condition, and who require...

When it comes to operating an assisted living facility, there are several things that you have to keep in mind. Successful operation of such facilities requires a balance of reimbursement demands, customer service, regulatory, and management. As an operation manager, keeping this balance is going to be a big challenge for you. In order to deal with this challenge, you must be proficient in managing budgets, human resources, training, capital improvements, and in handling costs. Besides...

Assisted living is a term usually used in conjunction with senior citizen homes. It includes assistance with the daily activities of life, helping residents with administration of medication or personal care by trained staff, and monitoring of activities to make sure that the residents are safe and taken care off.  This can be true for anyone who is not able to do his or her daily life activities but it is usually the provided for senior citizens, mentally and physically...

If you are seeking homecare for an aging parent and have never done it before, here is what you need to know.

First, you need to know what you need before you can make intelligent choices regarding the services you will be seeking. The basic questions you may want to have the answers to would be; “Why do you need homecare?”, “How many hours of service do you need in a day/week?”  “What involvement, if any, will the family have in caring for the...

DATELINE: BROCKTON, MA…

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), one of 27 private, non-profit Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is offering a complimentary resource guide to older adults and caregivers in the greater Brockton area.

Old Colony Elder Services is part of Elder Education & Community Outreach (EECO), which is a collaborative effort of Brockton area health and human services organizations working...

DATELINE: BROCKTON, MA…

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), one of 27 private, non-profit Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is offering a complimentary resource guide to older adults and caregivers in the greater Brockton area.

Old Colony Elder Services is part of Elder Education & Community Outreach (EECO), which is a collaborative effort of Brockton area health and human services organizations working...