LONGEVITY RULES CELEBRATES 100.

LONGEVITY RULES CELEBRATES 100. 100 posts in a year and a half. Not especially prolific, but hopefully quality over quantity applies.

Watch for the launch of Eskaton’s new consumer blog in early 2013.

And be sure to look up my new “Humble Sky” blog also set to launch in 2013.

Thank you very much for your following and your inspiration. -- Stuart Greenbaum

ASSISTED LIVING: FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE IS SECOND TO NONE.

ASSISTED LIVING: FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE IS SECOND TO NONE. Visit an assisted living community and most likely your experience will at once inspire confidence and dispel some preconceptions. This said, it is important to enter the discovery process with an open frame of mind. Of course, timing is everything. Your physician and other healthcare providers, and family members and friends can encourage you to make the best choices about your living conditions, but you should be prepared to make the final call.

 

Plenty of useful information and resources are available by phone (866-ESKATON) and online (www.eskaton.org as well as dozens of government and nonprofit websites, and impartial referral sources). Eskaton is also at your assistance with its team of care advisors and its Home Support Network resource center. And, of course, the executive directors and sales counselors for each of Eskaton’sassisted living communities (not “facilities” or “institutions”) always appreciate the opportunity to welcome prospective residents for a visit.
 

Above all else, your visit, including conversations with current residents and staff, will make all the difference in choosing where and when assisted living is right for you. As a result of first-hand experience, all of the benefits listed here truly make sense.

 

Assisted living offers residents a respectful balance between private, personal space and the community’s social environment.

 

By comparison, the monthly rates for assisted living are similar to the aggregate expenses of owning a home. Plus, there’s no upkeep and surprise repair costs.

 

Assisted living is a healthy consideration, not a concession. A lifestyle choice to enhance personal well-being, independence, socialization and convenience is a good thing.

 

Professional caregiving strengthens (refocuses) the family dynamic. Residents become more comfortable living with health conditions and limitations when assisted by professionals rather than “imposing” on family and friends. Most importantly, assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) is always personal, respectful, convenient and healthy.

 

Research proves that socialization is much healthier than isolation. Activities and entertainment choices seem to expand to fill the time allocated to them.

 

Restaurant-style dining features healthy, nutritious meals, often including locally-grown produce; with most meals offered throughout the day.

 

Residents keep better connected than ever with family and friends. Eskaton’s free Wi-Fi, custom eLiving network and “Keep Connected” online video support for new residents encourage regular communication.

 

Services enhance residents’ independence and minimize dependency on others. Residents enjoy the conveniences of hosted dining, scheduled transportation, regular housekeeping and reliable medication management, among the services.

 

Forget bingo; activity calendars are filled with wellness classes, computer workshops, arts and crafts, cultural events and entertainment, intergenerational activities and much more.

 

Eskaton offers a range of living options if you decide you need more -- or less -- support. Independent living with services, skilled nursing and rehabilitation, Dawn of a New Day Memory Care, respite, home healthcare and adult day healthcare, among other choices, Eskaton’s comprehensive network is fully integrated to best support changing health needs.

 

During your visit to an Eskaton community, you may also notice -- or be sure to ask about -- the special initiatives that truly demonstrate and distinguish Eskaton’s commitment to transforming the aging experience.

 

Kids Connection partners residents with local elementary school students to read, write, laugh and enjoy one another’s company.

 

Thrill of a Lifetime makes dreams come true for residents. For example, among the nearly 100 Thrills already produced, one resident became a Girl Scout at 100, another received her first-ever bouquet of flowers, and several have been reunited with long-lost family members.

 

Urban gardens offer residents the opportunity to nurture and enjoy truly locally grown produce.

 

Veterans appreciation events and holiday celebrations honor Eskaton’s several hundred vets.

 

Centenarian celebrations highlight Eskaton’s proud claim to be the “Official Sponsor of Longevity.” More than three-dozen healthy centenarians living with Eskaton celebrate their 100+ birthdays each year.

 

YOU’RE WELCOME. Call 866-ESKATON (866-375-2866) or any Eskaton community directly to schedule a visit today (weekdays and weekends, too) to experience Eskaton.

SEASONS GREETINGS FROM ESKATON’S ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE.

SEASONS GREETINGS FROM ESKATON’S ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE. Always proud to show off its talent from within, Eskaton sponsored an organization-wide contest to contribute original artwork for its 2013 season’s greetings cards. The top four pieces of original artwork, selected from more than three dozen entries, will be showcased on this year’s “happy holidays and new year greetings” cards.

 

One of the favorite selections (below) features the finger prints of memory care residents at Eskaton Village Roseville. You can view a sampling of the other submissions on Eskaton’s Facebook page.

 

“MORE THAN ME” FILM MOVES VIEWERS.

“MORE THAN ME” FILM MOVES VIEWERS. Among the hundreds of comments received this past week by Pilotfish, the producers of the documentary “More Than Me,” which premiered on the Current TV cable network on November 10 and continues to rerun regularly, is an especially personal and poignant (unedited) note from an Iraq vet. The film stars Jim Breuer and his dad, who the former SNL cast member cares for during an extended cross-country comedy tour.

“i was truly moved by the movie and just wanted to say thank you so much. it really put alot of things into perspective with my relationship with my father. it felt like Jim was talking to me directly. my father and i have always had a close relationship but he made some points that really hit home. after 4 years in the infantry as a rifleman and being wounded in iraq in 2008 i pride myself in being a tough and somewhat callous at heart but this really cut right through that to the point that i immediately texted my father 1000 miles away that he has always been there for me and i promise to always be there for him. i owe him so much. thank you again. even if this movie changes only one person’s relationship, it is a total success. you guys did that for me tonight.”

Scroll to the November 6 "Longevity Rules" post for more details on the film. 

EMOTIONS ARE TRENDING NOWADAYS.

EMOTIONS ARE TRENDING NOWADAYS. The appeal of social media as an opportunity to share everything should come as no surprise considering a series of 1990s European studies led by Bernard Rime with the University of Louvain, which reported people share nearly 90 percent of all emotional experiences. The publication of this phenomenon was recently name-checked by social media expert rbb Public Relations to attempt to validate the proliferation of Facebook, Twitter and other online networking options.

 

A particular value of social sharing appears to be that it is an efficient means to ensure emotional events are not forgotten, according to the researchers who explained, “By talking about an emotional event, people gradually construct a narrative and a collective memory.”

 

Whether good or bad, happy or sad, the attention to emotions is expanding.

 

IN TIME: A recent Time magazine article “The Pursuit of Happiness” (10-22-12) emotes, “The Gross National Happiness Index represents the most comprehensive effort yet to devise an alternative to GDP.” The report details how the tiny Buddhist kingdom of “Bhutan has begun to use GNH as a broader and more nuanced measure of national progress than gross domestic product.” Other governments around the world also are exploring the benefits of identifying, “operationalizing” and measuring the components of happiness, according to Time. Physical and mental health, governance, ecology and living standards are among the commonly referenced components of gross national happiness.

 

IN TEXT: Also, fresh off the presses, the new text Independent for Life features a sidebar on Stanford University professor Laura Carstensen’s research study, “The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development.” The amount of time remaining in an individual’s life motivates goals and desires, according to the socioeconomic selectivity theory referenced in the article. About the aging process, Carstensen notes, “When time horizons are expansive, people lean toward gathering new experiences ... When times horizons are short, people choose to spend time on pursuits that matter most to them, which tends to make them happy.”

 

Incidentally, the 1990s research on sharing showed that “The rate of social sharing increased with age,” noting further, “These findings are not easily reconciled with traditional stereotypes stressing the poverty of affective life in the elderly.”

 

IN TEST: Eskaton is testing the agelessness of happiness. Separate groups of memory care residents and first-graders will be sharing their creative, artistic interpretations of happiness through a series of guided workshops. Tilted In the Mind of the Beholder™, the resulting artwork will become an intergenerational exhibition created to demonstrate that basic human desires -- such as happiness, among others -- transcend age and life experiences.

 

BREUER DOCUMENTARY “MORE THAN ME” TO PREMIERE ON CURRENT TV NOV. 10.

BREUER DOCUMENTARY “MORE THAN ME” TO PREMIERE ON CURRENT TV NOV. 10. Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Jim Breuer’s feature documentary “More Than Me” will receive its worldwide television premiere on November 10, 2012 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on the Current TV cable network.

The film, co-produced by Pilotfish Productions and Lazy Eyes Productions, chronicles Breuer’s experiences as the primary caregiver of his 84-year-old father while on the road for a cross-country comedy tour. “I knew he needed to get out of the house … I knew this would give him so much life,” Breuer says in the film referring to his father.

Shot in 2008, “More Than Me” has since made the rounds on the festival circuit, including a screening at the inaugural ArcLight Documentary Film Festival in Hollywood in 2011 and a Best Documentary award at the United Film Festival-New York earlier this year. “It’s taken us four years to get to this point,” said director, William Philbin. “You stick with it because you believe your story needs to be told. And it’s great to have a partner in Current that shares our belief.” Philbin’s partner at Pilotfish and “More Than Me” producer, Zac Greenbaum, echoed the director’s sentiment. “‘More Than Me’ is our first feature film; the footage was shot shortly after we founded our company, so it’s extremely gratifying to finally expose it to a larger audience.”

The deal gives Current an exclusive 2-year license to broadcast the documentary to its 60 million U.S. households.

Until now, “More Than Me” has only been available for purchase on DVD through Breuer’s website.

Jason Connell, owner of United Films and “More Than Me” sales representative, orchestrated the deal after spending several months searching for the film’s TV home. “In the end, Current was the perfect fit. Their programming is always thought provoking and they appreciate the power of documentary film to educate and entertain at the same time.”

“Our goal is to provide our viewers with unique content that matters,” said Mike Bunnell, Current’s vice president of programming. “The subject matter of ‘More Than Me’ -- caring for aging family members -- is something we all can relate to. And it’s the very raw, funny, intimate way in which this story was captured that makes it special. It will definitely spark some conversation.”

Pilotfish’s experience documenting complex subject matter such as caregiving and aging extends beyond this documentary to include producing a series of award-winning TV advertising campaigns and promotional short films for Eskaton and Aging Services of California, among others.

Click to view the trailer to “More Than Me” or to follow the film on Facebook.