Experience Comfort and Connection Every Day at Walden Place

John Harrison: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome back to X101. It’s John Harrison in the Cuoga Health as part of Centralis Health System Sponsored Studios, and joining me in the studio today, some very special guests from Walden Place. I have Harlan, the executive director of Walden Place, and Sarah the memory care Director Walden, Sarah thank you so much for joining me today.

Harlan Dunn: Thanks for having us, John. Excited to be here.

John Harrison: Yeah, always, uh, great to, you know, be in the studio with, with you and talking about, um, some of the great stuff that, that Walden Place does. So, you know, we got a lot of stuff to go over, so I, I figured we’ll, we’ll jump pretty much right into it.

Or I actually, you know what, let’s start with, um, just a brief overview of what Walden Place is, what you do, and, um, you know, let our listeners know, you know, really what you’re all about.

Harlan Dunn: Walden Place, uh, really focuses on quality senior care, uh, living. We offer assisted living programs as well as our memory care program, which we’re excited to, to come here and talk more about today.

John Harrison: Mm-hmm.

Harlan Dunn: Uh, our assisted living program is an independent living, uh, setting. With built-in individualized support based on each person’s specific situation. Some folks come to us just in [00:01:00] need of some general assistance be maybe because managing the household has become too much, uh, some may need help or assistance with managing their physical health or their medications.

Some just might need that safe social setting to stay engaged with a community. Memory care offers more assistance in environmental structure for those who are experiencing dementia. Uh, dementia still does not have a proven cure or effective treatment to remiss the disease and until we have that breakthrough, the focus remains on managing the disease as effectively as possible to plateau its progress.

And Walden Place Memory Care programming provides more staff support, a safer and more controlled environment, and a program designed to structure what we call the perfect day for our residents. So what, uh, both programs do offer is 24 hour support staff, uh, wonderful dining services that, uh, each resident enjoys each day, as well as nursing, case management, housekeeping, laundry, uh, as well as fun and engaging programs every day.

John Harrison: That’s perfect. I mean, [00:02:00] I, you know, it’s kind of went right into what I was gonna ask next, which would be, you know, that difference between, um, assisted living and, and memory care and, you know, how do you know someone’s appropriate for assisted living versus memory care? Like, where are the differences in what people should be looking for, for their, their loved ones, if they may be interested in Walden Place?

Harlan Dunn: No, that’s a good question. And, and sometimes it’s easy to identify, but more times than not, it’s a multi-step process. We always encourage seniors to have regular check-ins with their primary physicians and let them know, uh, how the aging process may be affecting their wellbeing and safety at home. If you have a loved one that you’re worried about their personal safety awareness, you should contact not only your physician, but reach out to us right away.

Our team of experts are here to help families navigate the process and find the right situation for each individual. If you have someone in your family that has, uh, you asking the question of what type of senior living care program is best for them, you’re not alone. Contact us right away and [00:03:00] we’ll get to work.

Making sure, uh, that we make this as stress free of a process for the family.

John Harrison: Beautiful. Yeah. Thanks so much for. That information. Harlan, I think you put it really well. Um, Sarah, I want to ask you as the the memory care director, when does someone need memory care? When does that come up and, and when should people look for that?

Sarah Lang: So usually when we will go do an assessment on an individual. What we focus on for memory care is when a loved one tells us that their family member is wandering or, you know, shows some aggression or exit seeking, you know, has some different behaviors and then, you know, we just try to focus on that.

John Harrison: Yeah.

Sarah Lang: To what we need to do.

John Harrison: Yeah. Some, some you. I, I, I don’t wanna say easy, because dealing with these things is, is so hard and so challenging, especially, you know, having experienced that, some of that myself. But these are good warning signs to, to look for that, that people can kind of easily recognize and know to come to you and to come to Walden Place and, and to find that right care.

Now, are there any key points? You know, [00:04:00] safety concerns, right? Safety and security. I know sometimes you hear. Crazy news stories of people that might be wandering the streets or, uh,, some, some crazy stuff ends up happening, you know? Can Wallen place kinda offer that peace of mind for families?

Sarah Lang: Yes. We actually have a safe and secure memory care unit, which can actually, you know, let our families know that their loved one is safe and gives them a peace of mind that we are there to care for ’em in 24 hours.

John Harrison: That’s really reassuring and, and awesome. So, you know, they’re, they’re in your care for 24 hours what can people expect, uh, you know, with your memory care and the, the memory care neighborhood?

Sarah Lang: So we have, we focus on engaging our residents and keeping, and, and socialization is a big thing also for our residents, you know, keeping them engaged in our activities.

So our memory care, it actually highlights us century based programs. They’re creative activities and our five pillars of embrace that encourage exploitation, growth, wellbeing, connection, enrichment, and challenge creativity and wellness for our residents. [00:05:00]

John Harrison: And that’s the, um Embrace Memory care correct ?

Sarah Lang: Our Embrace memory care.

John Harrison: Sounds like a really great program.

Harlan Dunn: Yeah. Embrace is our award-winning evidence-based programming model that is said before, creates the perfect day for our residents. It incorporates sensory therapy through music, food games, and social interactions to help residents feel safe in their surroundings and reduce stressful situations.

I know for Sarah and I, our favorite piece of embrace is our essence program, uh, which uses essential oil aroma therapy to help residents gain a better sense of the time of day to build more predictable routines and offset the challenges that can come with sundowning or losing track of the time of the day.

You know, we, we emphasize, uh, you know, peppermint in the morning and citrus, uh, aromas in the afternoon and lavender in the evening, all designed to help our residents keep uh, track of their day and create a more predictable and, and stress-free, uh, environment.

John Harrison: Wow. Yeah, that’s, that’s really interesting being able to use those scents and aromas [00:06:00] to invoke a feeling of, you know, where in the schedule people should be.

We’ve gone over a lot of, of really great information. People listening at home might be thinking at this point, you know, wow, Walden Place can really offer all these things I’m looking for, but if they want to get in touch, if they want to experience it firsthand, maybe they want to go into a house that is open.

Um, do you have a program coming up for that?

Harlan Dunn: Yeah, absolutely. Um, well for one, just this upcoming Thursday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM we’re really opening our doors for any interested parties in the public. Uh, we’re located down on 839 Benny Road. It’s hard to miss us. Um, and, uh, just anytime that anyone’s, uh, if that doesn’t fit into your perfect schedule, please reach out to us at, at any time, day or night.

Um, and Stacy Scheller, our excellent community relations director, will be there, uh, right away for a quick response and immediately get to work with helping the family find out what’s the right situation and what’s the right next step for their loved one.

John Harrison: Perfect. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks so much [00:07:00] for, for coming into the studio and, and giving your time today.

Harlan, Executive Director at Walden Place and Sarah, the Memory Care Director, really means a lot having you in the studio with me today.

Harlan Dunn: Thanks so much for having us here.

John Harrison: Of course. And for everyone listening at home, it’s been John Harrison on X101.