Answers For Elders Radio Network

Director of Capital Projects Kristina Chalfant joins Suzanne to talk about the environmental factors/design considerations that enhance resident quality of life at Era Living. Kristina says, "I'm responsible for a team of project managers and a project coordinator, facilities team, and a procurement coordinator. Our team is responsible for doing renovation projects, keeping the communities fresh and safe and clean, and for taking care of emergency repairs, like if the roof is leaking, or if there's a pipe burst, or something like that, if the boilers stop working. We've got painters that go and keep the paints touched up and fresh-looking in the communities."

When somebody new moves in, Kristina says, "The maintenance team does inspections to make sure everything's working properly, and they should be introducing themselves. And get to know the new residents, welcome them on board, and let them know that if anything comes up during their stay in our communities, they're going to be there to provide support, whether it's replacing batteries or light bulbs, but also the bigger picture things, making sure the resident feels confident that they don't have to worry about. You know, maybe the siding needs to be repaired in a few years, or maybe the roof is gonna need to be replaced or, you know, we're making sure that the gutters and down spouts are cleaned, making sure the landscaping is maintained. There are a lot of things that are taken care of that hopefully are invisible to the residents."

Kristina adds, "We try to keep accessibility in mind, and make everyone feel included. We want to make sure there's room for everyone at the table. And if you're in a meeting room, that you can hear — so there might be some sort of hearing assistant devices that we put in."

Hear more podcasts from Era Living at Answers for Elders, including conversations with other residents, at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/

Learn more about:
Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/.
Era Living at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/
Era Living's website: https://www.eraliving.com/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Susan Vahlkamp, Executive Director of Era Living's University House Issaquah, joins Suzanne to talk about the company's executive director in training program, which offers employees an opportunity for advancement to become strong, knowledgeable leaders.

Susan says, "It's something that happens periodically in the company. Just two are selected at a time to go through that training program. They  announce that they are accepting applications. It is only open to internal employees, and then you have to apply, get the blessing from your supervisor, the executive director at your community where you're working, and then it's an intensive interview process."

She adds, "A lot of it is really learning more about each and every role in the community that isn't the executive director. That is the part that's really unique. It's not sitting with an executive director for a year and watching what they do. You take turns being assigned with a department director in one of our communities. I started with housekeeping, and I spent two full weeks with one of our amazing housekeeping directors at one of our communities, and learned their job as well as spent a full day with a housekeeper, cleaning apartments, a full day with the custodian, doing all the common areas and special projects, a full day in the laundry room. So really during those two weeks, I was really deep-diving into housekeeping.

"And then from there, I moved on to a different department at a different community. So I would spend a few weeks to maybe a whole month, depending on the department, at our different communities with some people that were identified to be really great at their jobs and really see how a well-functioning department would run. And there were also modules where I wasn't in a community, but it was working on leadership development, and interviewing, and understanding the financial portion that you're responsible for as an executive director, through the budget for a community for the year. And so it had a lot of different aspects to it. And then the at the end, you get assigned to one community as an associate executive director to work more hands-on under an executive director for a portion of time as part of the program as well."

Susan says, "I really think it helps as an executive director to have actually worked in every single position in the community. So, you know more of what it's really like for that person in that role, and when they're asking you for more staff, or they want different resources, you better understand what they're talking about. And make a better informed decision or can be more proactive in a lot of ways as well. I think you're just more relatable — I can really talk to the servers about what their job is like, and understand their struggles. And the person that is working overnight as a caregiver — to really have seen what they, their job is really like is very, very helpful."

Hear more podcasts from Era Living at Answers for Elders, including conversations with other residents, at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/

Learn more about:
Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/.
Era Living at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/
Era Living's website: https://www.eraliving.com/
University House Issaquah, located at 22975 SE Black Nugget Rd, Issaquah, WA 98029-6997: http://www.eraliving.com/communities/issaquah/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re considering senior living, it’s important to hear from residents who’ve gone through the process of transiting to a senior living community. Jeanne lives with her golden retriever/labrador retriever Joyce at Era Living's Aljoya Mercer Island retirement community.

Jeanne says, "I decided that I didn't want to live in my own home. I loved my house, and loved my neighbors, and my family. But any time I didn't feel well, I got really anxious. So I wanted to go someplace that had a health service. And I looked at 12 places, I didn't go into all of them. My criteria was that they would take a big dog — most places don't — and that we could walk out the door and go for a walk. Aljoya Mercer Island ... is the only one that met those criteria, and I was happy to move. I've been happy since the day I walked in the door. And they found the perfect apartment for me. I wanted a one bedroom den, where I could get out to the outside without going through the building."

Jeanne adds, "I think the biggest surprise to me was that I have more friends than I've had since I was in college. It's not like living in a condo, where you walk out and you don't know anybody. You walk out and somebody is there, you may not even know them, but you talk to them and, and it's very friendly."

“I would say one other thing — because I've been on the music committee and had to find musical activities, and had to advertise them, I have found a creative side to myself that I never thought of. I mean, I can sew and I can knit and I can do crown and cross stitch and that, but I just never had the opportunity to be in charge of something where I really didn't have to report to anybody. And have funds for things. I think that's been one of the most rewarding things of being here."

Hear more podcasts from Era Living at Answers for Elders, including conversations with other residents, at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/

Learn more about:
Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/.
Era Living at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/era-living/
Era Living's website: https://www.eraliving.com/
Aljoya Mercer Island, located at 2430 76th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040-2807: http://www.eraliving.com/communities/mercer-island/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The book "Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You" is a daily devotional book centered on a Bible passage for each day. Michael Wuehler wrote it as if the holy spirit is responding to the reader through the passage, in first person. Retired United Methodist minister Michael Wuehler joins Suzanne to talk about spiritual wellness, featured this month as part of the Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Michael says, "I'm all over the internet. You can buy the book in paper format, but I also have "Spirit Calling" in different formats on YouTube as a video, and also something called "Chicken Soup for the Spirit" [on TikTok] which is a short prayer that I do in English and then translate into Spanish. And then I have a Daily Bible Quiz and an inspirational Daily Bible Verse [on TikTok], and a podcast that you can get at any place you download podcasts, Apple iTunes or whatever. So I realize not all people are going to sit down and read, not all people are gonna watch a video. Some people like to have their devotionals through their headphones while they're walking jogging, or whatever. So I try to reach people in every format that I could conceivably bring up."

He adds, "The driving force behind all of this is connecting to people. That's why I went into ministry. I loved preaching, I loved small groups, Bible studies, whatever. I always made sure that I had some way to connect to the community. So I always had groups, and helping people in those — Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts — just some way of helping people grow. And it's not all religious based, but it's helping people find themselves and in finding themselves, they will find that spirit.

"Luckily, God hid our spirits in plain sight. They're not hard to find, but God gives us some aha moments that help us out. You know, we step into situations in life when we realize that all of our life experience, our education, our physical abilities, aren't enough to interpret that. That we need of a larger sense of self and divine being within us."

Learn more about:
* Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Calling-Listening-God-Within/dp/1489733477
* Michael Wuehler: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08W9F8HZD/about
* The Vitality Revolution podcast series: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/
* Humana: https://www.humana.com/
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Hear more:
* Podcasts with Michael Wuehler at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/michael-wuehler/
* Michael Wuehler’s Hearing Spirit Calling podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hearing-spirit-calling/id1663406008
* Articles and podcasts about Spiritual Wellnss: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/spiritual-wellness/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Working in hospice, United Methodist minister Michael Wuehler has helped with the grieving side of families in their spirituality, those coping with that end of life. Michael joins Suzanne to talk about spiritual wellness, featured this month as part of the Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Michael says, "Grieving takes the rest of our lives. Sometimes people ask, 'When will I be over it?' You won't. If you've spent your life loving somebody, and they pass away, it doesn't just stop. You gave your heart and soul to that person. Grief is that feeling that rushes in when love dies. It is a complex feeling. We have to know that grief is there for a reason, and we need deal with it openly and specifically as possible. Every quarter, I would offer a five session grief seminar for the families in different areas that we serve. And the number one focus is find someone to talk to. Grief is not something to be done alone. Grief or the bereavement process is dealing with your feelings, your emotions, your dreams that are lost, whatever with some other person or people in an open, honest and safe atmosphere."

He adds, "For years, I did grief support for people that have gone through divorce and it's the same type of grieving except the person doesn't die. The person that you went through a divorce with may still be in the same community, may be sharing children together. But the grief is very similar and much the same. We specialize in working with Alzheimer's patients.

"There are over 110 different types of Alzheimer's, but the reactions tend to be much the same. The loved one starts picking up the memories of the person with Alzheimer's. And then there comes a parallel point when the person with Alzheimer's has lost more memory and the person that doesn't have it, is surpassing them. And our memory loss tends to be from the newest to the oldest. I have had patients that couldn't keep a sentence, but we could sing hymns together, right? Because they were still there in the back of their heads."

Learn more about:
* Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Calling-Listening-God-Within/dp/1489733477
* Michael Wuehler: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08W9F8HZD/about
* The Vitality Revolution podcast series: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/
* Humana: https://www.humana.com/
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Hear more:
* Podcasts with Michael Wuehler at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/michael-wuehler/
* Michael Wuehler’s Hearing Spirit Calling podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hearing-spirit-calling/id1663406008
* Articles and podcasts about Spiritual Wellnss: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/spiritual-wellness/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We often forget to take the moments to connect with ourselves. Author and Retired United Methodist minister Michael Wuehler joins Suzanne to talk about spiritual wellness, featured this month as part of the Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana.

Michael describes some tools — ways to connect with ourselves. He says, "We're human beings, not human doings, and we tend to do — we make humanity a verb rather than a noun. I practice yoga, which some Christians have some difficulty with, but yoga has no religion. Yoga is whatever you bring to it. And some of my instructors are very devout Christians in their practice. But yoga allows you to center on and feel and connect with that inner person. In my book, I open up one of the first devotionals with the word rûaħ, that's a Hebrew word. Rûaħ means breath or spirit. And in yoga, you learn to follow your breath, or your spirit, and your breath controls everything in the body. And without the breath, you don't have a body and without that, that life force that God breathes into us, we don't exist. So understanding that that breath, that life force in you, is the core of who you are. And then building upon that is essential. 

"We have breathing practices that we do where you follow your breath, you listen to your breath. There's a practice called the Ujjayi Breath, which means victory breath, where you hear your breath, and the focus is allowing other people in the room to hear that as well. It's like sharing your spiritual being, this is very practical and I used it quite a bit in helping hospice patients still feel that breath of life in them. Obviously, hospice patients are on their end of life, but that's a vital feeling that they can cope with."

He adds, "There are three basic questions we all ask: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Who am I? — that's a spiritual question. Hopefully, you don't find a solitary answer, because I'm not just who I am. I am, who I am in relation to a greater being that I call God, and I am who I am in relation to that greater being, and my connection to other people. And part of my purpose in life is to connect with God and serve the people who God loves, which is you and everyone else on this Earth."

Learn more about:
* Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Calling-Listening-God-Within/dp/1489733477
* Michael Wuehler: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08W9F8HZD/about
* The Vitality Revolution podcast series: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/
* Humana: https://www.humana.com/
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Hear more:
* Podcasts with Michael Wuehler at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/michael-wuehler/
* Michael Wuehler’s Hearing Spirit Calling podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hearing-spirit-calling/id1663406008
* Articles and podcasts about Spiritual Wellnss: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/spiritual-wellness/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Wuehler joins Suzanne to talk about spiritual wellness, featured this month as part of the Vitality Revolution podcast series sponsored by Humana. The University of Colorado, when defining their 8 foundational principles of wellness, says spiritual wellness has to do with your own sense of well-being, commitment to your morals and ethics, and who you are as an individual. In other words, know thyself, and stand true to your values and principles. This can include your faith.

Michael Wuehler is a retired United Methodist minister with 30 years of experience in the parish ministry, helping many families work through so life challenges and circumstances. He's the author of Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You. Often we go about our day-to-day lives doing rather than being centered.

Michael says, "Most people practice their spirituality for an hour, or 45 minutes, during a worship service, and that's about it. But there's so much more out there, and the local church is just the practice of spirituality, and one minor focus. Spirituality s who you are. We are mind, body, and spirit. We notice the body, we feel things, we touch things, we respond to physical things. We think a lot — most of us have monkey minds, and we think all over the place, and we think too much, that's an ongoing concern with the younger generation. They tend to overthink. But we also have a tendency to leave out the spiritual part, and it's all three portions together that make us who we are."

Learn more about:
* Spirit Calling: Listening to God Within You at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Calling-Listening-God-Within/dp/1489733477
* Michael Wuehler: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B08W9F8HZD/about
* The Vitality Revolution podcast series: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/
* Humana: https://www.humana.com/
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Hear more:
* Podcasts with Michael Wuehler at Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/michael-wuehler/
* Michael Wuehler’s Hearing Spirit Calling podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hearing-spirit-calling/id1663406008
* Articles and podcasts about Spiritual Wellnss: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/spiritual-wellness/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retirement coach Larry Jacobson joins Suzanne to talk about his process of helping people find their life purpose and meaning in retirement.

Larry explains, "I take people through nine stages to find their purpose and meaning in retirement. I call it, "What is Your Encore?" What are you going to do next? When people retire, say at 65, well, we're living a lot longer than the previous generation. If you make it to 65 there's a good chance you're gonna make it to 85. That's 20 years. What are you gonna do with yourself? So I first take people through, well, what is your vision? What is it that you think you want to do? And if you don't know, then I take them through the passion quiz, and that asks lots of questions about what they like, what they don't like. 

"Once we come up with something, and even if you can't come up with something, I say, well, just come up with the idea that you're gonna wake up in the morning for something that you love, and let's just move on from there. So then we talk about what steps would you need to take in order to make that happen. So you take a big dream, and you break it down into smaller goals. We go through a SWOT analysis. Those from the corporate world will know that a SWOT analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. That's how we analyze a product, or a company, or the competition, or our own company in the corporate world. I use it to analyze an individual. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What opportunities do you have? What threats do you have? So you might say something like, 'I don't know anything about investing money, but my cousin happens to be a financial advisor.' So that's an opportunity that we take advantage of."

Larry adds, "And then a lot of people will say, well, what I'm thinking about doing is risky. It's too risky. I'm afraid to take the risk. We do a risk analysis. And then, an issue that comes up a lot in personal decision making, is that people can't decide what should I do, what direction should I go? And I'm of the theory that we make decisions based on our priorities. What are your priorities in life? And that will help make your decisions a lot easier and faster. So I teach that.

"There's a whole segment about fear. It's my favorite topic. There is a lot of fear: fear of success, success of losing friendships or losing routines or fear of change. And then if someone decides, there's the fear of what if I go the wrong direction? What if it doesn't work out well? That's OK. We're gonna set it up so that you're gonna enjoy the path along the way, right? And what did you learn in the process? 

"I teach people to focus not on a problem, but on the solution. Then also it's perseverance, keeping a positive attitude, a commitment to what it is that you've decided you want to do, and tenacity. and fortitude.

"Visualization is another thing that I use a lot. Now, that's lesson one. The first three lessons on visualization are free. And I'd love your listeners to go take the free lessons, and that's https://buoytraining.com/sail-into-retirement/."

Hear more:
Larry Jacobson podcasts on Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/larry-jacobson/
Occupational Wellness podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/occupational-wellness/

Learn more:
Larry's Sail Into Retirement training course: https://buoytraining.com/sail-into-retirement/

You can reach Larry Jacobson via his website at https://larryjacobson.com/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retirement coach Larry Jacobson joins Suzanne to talk about finding your life purpose.

Larry says, "Most of the people who come to me are about to retire or will retire within a year, and they ask, 'Is this all there is? I thought there would be more, I thought it would be more fun. I'm bored. Help me, I'm gonna go crazy.' I start with, 'Let's talk about a vision that you have for your dream retirement. What did you always dream of doing in retirement?' Well, I don't know, is the answer I get a lot. It's OK if you don't know, because we have tools to help you get there. And one of them is a passion quiz. It's actually available for free on my website, LarryJacobson.com. You just put in your name and your email, and the passion quiz comes to you, and it's about 30 questions. The questions are easy. The answers are hard, because you really have to think, and I ask you questions like what were you doing the last time you had fun? What were you doing the last time you stayed up really, really late and didn't even realize what time it was? What makes you leap out of bed in the morning without a cup of coffee?' I recommend people have that. That's just one of the tools that's in the course, Sailing Into Retirement."

He also coaches clients one-on-one through his training course. Larry adds, "That's really the best way. You buy the course for just 95 bucks, and then you get one free session. Well, we can only go so far in one session. So the most popular is that people buy the course with four sessions. You can also buy the course with nine sessions, and it gets progressively cheaper as you go. Some people buy the nine sessions because I'll be with them for almost a year to help them through these questions and I'm asking them lots of questions like, 'OK, now you've got a dream, you've got this big dream. How do we break that down into steps into goals?'"

Hear more:
Larry Jacobson podcasts on Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/larry-jacobson/
Occupational Wellness podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/occupational-wellness/

Learn more:
Larry's Sail Into Retirement training course: https://buoytraining.com/sail-into-retirement/

You can reach Larry Jacobson via his website at https://larryjacobson.com/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retirement coach Larry Jacobson joins Suzanne to continue their conversation, expanding on the advantage of seeking purpose and fulfillment in your senior years, rather than just personal pleasures.

Why not live a life of multiple pleasures? "Not everything you do has to have purpose. But you're going to be missing something in your life, that you have purpose in doing something. I've had a client say, 'I deserve to have pleasures now, I deserve to do fun things.' My reply is, 'Yeah, you do, so do that. But it's not going to satisfy you in the long term. You don't have join the Peace Corps. But there's a line somewhere in between just pure pleasure and joining the Peace Corps and helping starving people somewhere. Look for a balance in your life."

Hear more:
Larry Jacobson podcasts on Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/tag/larry-jacobson/
Occupational Wellness podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/vitality-revolution/occupational-wellness/

Learn more:
Larry's Sail Into Retirement training course: https://buoytraining.com/sail-into-retirement/

You can reach Larry Jacobson via his website at https://larryjacobson.com/

Answers for Elders is part of the SeniorResource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.