Health Care 2012

Our health care scene continues to transform as we move into 2012. We behold advances in medical treatment, changes in demographics and the methods to manage health care. All across the board people are affected by the shifts in our health care delivery systems. Nearly everyone is searching for means to find value on a limited budget.

One factor that remains a constant in our society... the importance of family and friends in providing support for each other during times of chronic illness and disability. Adult Day Services are affordable options geared to reinforce the concept of family caregiving.

Our mission is to create a person-centered environment, where each individual’s needs and interests are purposefully met everyday in the protected setting of the day center.

The skilled day center staff facilitate significant social connections, along with essential medical care. Prairie Adult Care offers a wide menu of services to fit the needs and interests of many adults. In addition, our day program invites care partners to learn about effective strategies to live successfully with the many challenges of disabilities and chronic disease.

Center Activities

What’s Been Happening

Every day participants engage in a variety of interesting new games, community service projects and conversation groups. We reap the benefits of music through a variety of venues: Move to Music exercise, Buzz Jammers big band concert, sing-a-longs with Fran, Bob, Sharon, Harriet and Patty, banjo music with Frank, woodwind ensemble with Cheryl and friends, and recitals by local piano students. The annual Variety Show brought together talented performers age 5 to 95 for an entertaining afternoon.

Many participants are working hard to achieve personal fitness goals for 2012. Our daily exercise classes, Tai Chi Chih, stationary bikes and walking tracks provide opportunities for cardiovascular, coordination and strength training.

Connecting to our community is an important component of our center activities. We have been out and about on our field trips to the Buzz Jammers big band concerts, Brunswick Bowl, Becky’s Place, Summit Pool and Eden Lake Elementary school.

Our outdoor patio gardens have been transformed into a winter feeding station for the birds, directly outside our sitting room window.

Volunteers

High school and college students engaged in academic mentorships add an intergenerational dimension to cognitive games, art projects, adapted sports and conversation groups.

If you are interested in volunteering, our center provides a rewarding experience for both students and adults. If your organization has a light assembly type project, give us a call and we may be able to volunteer our time to you.

The History of Adult Day Services

Grassroots initiatives responded to local community health care needs in the 1960’s, and created the first adult day centers. During the next decade, adult day service managers established our national standardized criteria for licensing. From a few hundred programs in the 70’s, we now have over 4500 licensed adult day centers nationwide, providing care for approximately 150,000 care recipients each day.

Prairie Adult Care opened in 1989 with just three participants from Eden Prairie in attendance. Currently over one hundred families, representing at least twenty communities utilize our services each year. Our network has expanded to integrate social services, public health, learning institutions, businesses, various types of residential alternatives, and faith organizations.

Eden Prairie Professionals in Aging

The Eden Prairie Professionals in Aging networking group is a valuable resource for leaders in eldercare services. Contact the EP Senior Center at 952–949–8476 or online for more information.

Caregivers’ Corner

Thoughts from Joanne —

The caregiver in the workplace is often agonizing in a silent predicament. Faced with demanding roles of family caregiving along with their company’s performance expectations, many working caregivers are experiencing the ramifications of overload: increased absenteeism, decreased effectiveness, and their own personal health problems.

Fortunately, more and more companies today are recognizing the implications working caregivers have on their internal costs, and are seeking solutions to the caregiver in the workplace dilemma. With the right mix of resources, working caregivers and their employers are finding effective strategies to manage both worlds in a mutually beneficial manner. These effective companies are taking a lead in providing not only family leave time, but education, intervention, and ongoing consultation and/or financial support. This is an investment for businesses, but one that will retain dedicated and experienced workers, and in the end save money and generate goodwill.

If you are a working caregiver, take time to discuss your family caregiving and work demands with your human resource person or manager. Awareness of the issue is a first step in assisting our business world in maintaining their competitive advantage in the global market. There are numerous websites and online tools such as these to get you started:

Caregiver Corner Archive

Join the Conversation

Have a comment? A question? A request?

blog comments powered by Disqus

for your loved one … and you!

another WindyRidge design!

News & Events