Cheese Cheese Cheese

America is best known for cheeseburgers, French fries and apple pie. Taking a journey to Europe “Cheese Style” was going to be an adventure for us. Brie, Havarti and that poor cheese that has the worst and cheesiest reputation Limburger cheese was on the menu.  An informative group discussion was held on all the facts and history on these cheeses. Never mind that, everyone was focused on the tasting of our subjects. The presentation was making it even more difficult to concentrate. Finally, the time had come to welcome our subjects to our taste buds. Superb, delicious, delightful were just a few of the comments made. Even “Limburger Cheese” got a thumbs up. As the demonstration came to an end, we were thrilled to watch a beautiful musical performance with Alexandria the harpist. That afternoon, everyone felt as if they were transported to Europe for a magical affair.

Fun With Food Juniper Style

As we enter the month of June, we celebrate “Food” (our favorite month). Our residents and team members were excited that it was time once again, to create our own Edible Arrangements. Traditions are something that we are proud of here at Juniper Village. This one is always one of our favorites. Our mugs were carefully selected and the fruits and cheeses were cut in beautiful shapes. Grinding our potting soil (oreo cookies) was done by one of our residents. Coloring our coconut, in the green colors, to resemble grass was fun. The chatter in the room was full of energy. Everyone was ready and eager to get started. Eating some of the fruits and cheeses were very tempting, however, we kept our temptation under control. As we assembled our skewers, we saw how pretty they were turning out. Inserting them into the mugs, after spreading our soil and grass, was the final touch. The smile on everyone’s faces showed how proud we all were. Some of our residents decided to give their creations to some of the team members. It was unanimous that everyone had a great time. 

June 2017 Events in Cape Coral, FL: Live In Wellness

“You are what you eat.” The old adage is now truer than ever. Good health is largely dependent on good nutrition, so much so that doctors trace many physical and emotional ailments back to a diet deficient in vitamins and minerals. Eating a well-balanced diet is a major part of encouraging long life, lowering the incidence of disease, and helping sick people recover. On the flip side, inadequate nutrition and poor quality foods can generally cut life span and open us up to many illnesses and disease. In effect, food is medicine per Webster's definition of medicine: "The science and art dealing with the maintenance of health and the prevention, alleviation, or cure of disease." Food acts as medicine - to maintain, prevent, and treat disease.

With this month’s Alive in All Seasons focus on food, we’d like to give you a prescription for a healthy diet: breakfast daily (do not skip); meals x3 (at least) daily; foods from each of the food groups per meal daily. The food pyramid defines the food groups as grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and proteins. The amounts vary according to age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level. Here’s a good guideline to start you on your way. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Make half your grains whole grains. Move to low-fat and fat-free dairy. Vary your protein routine and eat and drink the right amount for you.

Join us as we continue our focus on healthy aging by shedding light on our hydration program with healthy snacks and juices, and demonstrate how food and nutrition help us to Live in Wellness from a dietitian’s point of view.

Our fabulous June 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral include our:

§  Fourth Annual Edible Floral Arrangements as we encourage everyone to come for a very fun, interactive event and learn to create your very own floral masterpiece with fruit and cheese, and during this exciting event, we will discuss the importance of the variety of fruits we eat each day in keeping us healthy; each year we get better and better and are almost masters at making our luscious fruit kabobs on June 8^th at 2:30 pm. (RSVP by June 6^th at 239-542-3121.)

§  Educational Event Managing Emotions for a special presentation and discussion, as we welcome our guest speakers from Comfort Keepers and The Dubin’s Center for Alzheimer’s, because in follow up to our dementia sensitivity class, many individuals asked for additional information on how to manage emotions when dealing with the behavioral and cognitive changes that comes with caring for individuals with dementia, and this educational event will give you the tools you need as light refreshments are served on June 14^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm.

§  Food Around the World as we welcome Community Partners in Caring to our annual event as we share scrumptious samplings of foods from around the globe during this great event for mingling and meeting other colleagues with a focus on serving our seniors, so be sure to bring your business cards to exchange on June 22^nd from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

We look forward to sharing our June 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral with you as you Live In Wellness.

Muscular Dystrophy Fundraiser

Daisy, our Connections Director, recently spearheaded a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy to honor one of their volunteer superstars who lives with the disease. They had about 48 residents participate, and another 50 to 60 students, firemen, home health workers, Care Patrol and family members. Daisy's original goal was to raise $500.00, but she didn't make her goal, she blew it out of the water! The event raised $2,300.00! It was fantastic.

May 2017 Events in Cape Coral, FL: Grow Strong Daily

Continuing our Spring Alive In All Seasons focus on healthy again, we continue to let wellbeing thrive with a May focus on Fitness. Staying fit throughout all seasons of life is possible and at Juniper we promote fitness every day of the week! We recently shared on our Facebook page a New York Times story, authored by Gretchen Reynolds, providing results from the Mayo Clinic who recently conducted an experiment on the cells of 72 healthy but sedentary men and women who were 30 or younger or older than 64. The volunteers were randomly assigned to a particular exercise regimen. There were some unsurprising differences: The gains in muscle mass and strength were greater for those who exercised only with weights, while interval training had the strongest influence on endurance. But more unexpected results were found in the biopsied muscle cells. It seems as if the decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was “corrected” with exercise, especially if it was intense, says Dr. Sreekumaran Nair, a professor of medicine and an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic and the study’s senior author. In fact, older people’s cells responded in some ways more robustly to intense exercise than the cells of the young did. So pick up those weights, get on that bike and remember it’s never too late to benefit from exercise. And if you’re not doing so already, follow us on social media so you don’t miss a thing.

We invite you to Grow Strong Daily along with us with programs such as Fitness Five and our Route 66 Walking Program. Learn more about fitness and keeping your heart healthy at our Heart Healthy Luncheon and educational presentation. Staying fit throughout all seasons of life is possible.

Our fabulous May 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral include our:

§  Kentucky Derby Party equipped with pretty hats, horse racing and of course, mint juleps, as we engage in our very own horse race Juniper style, and make bets on who will be the winner and just have some good ole’ Kentucky fun on May 6^th at 2:00 pm.

§  Ninth Annual Senior Olympics for the official lighting of the Olympic torch and then we “let the games begin” with the support of our community partners in caring also known as our “Game Hosts” and there will be prizes for the best senior game and best participant during our medal ceremony that will follow with awards, cheers, and healthy celebratory snacks on May 25^th at 2:15 pm.

We look forward to sharing our May 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral with you as you Grow Strong Daily.

April 2017 Events in Cape Coral, FL: Believe in Yourself

Each April we begin our Healthy Aging Series with a focus on brain health, and encourage you to Believe in Yourself. We know that believing in yourself has a positive effect on your mental health, but did you know that self-confidence influences your physical health as well? Recent studies show people who exhibit self-confidence are generally healthier and tend to live longer. That's because confidence is a positive emotion and positive emotions have countless health benefits for your mind, body and spirit. In nurturing wellbeing by encouraging an active body, an engaged mind and a fulfilled spirit, Juniper is also building self-confidence. The link between health and confidence also may be related to the ability of positive emotions to boost our brain's power to hold attention, be aware and remember things. We are better able to learn, build new skills and relate with others when we are feeling optimistic. Also confident people are better able to handle chaotic situations in a positive manner. This helps to reduce or avoid excessive stress, high blood pressure, anger, confusion – all the negative side effects of feeling powerless, overwhelmed and out of control.

If you need to kick start your confidence, here are a few things to try: smile; count your blessings; surround yourself with confident people; learn how others have found their confidence and follow their lead; challenge negative or inaccurate thinking and replace with accurate, constructive thoughts; and encourage yourself. You can also plan to join us this month for uplifting discussions and a focus on brain health with offerings such as Daily Brain Builders, Wii games, and a Brain Healthy Luncheon.

Our fabulous April 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral include our:

§  Lee County Sheriff’s Presentation as we are proud to welcome back our special guest speakers whose topic will be Tips and Tricks on avoiding Scam Artists during this program that will provide information on what to look out for when someone has bad intentions, such as scammers who are looking for a way to get your money; this event is open to all Lee County residents, families, caregivers and area professionals, and light refreshments will be served on April 10^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. (RSVP by April 9^th at 239-542-3121.)

§  A Mindful Musical Journey with one of our newest entertainers, Alex, who enlightens us with the soothing sounds of her lovely harp, and for those who have never heard a harp played up close and personal, you will not want to miss this amazing performance as there is no better instrument to ease your mind than listening to the dreamy sounds of the harp, and delicious assorted cheeses and wines will be served on April 28^th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. (RSVP by April 26^th at 239-542-3121.)

We look forward to sharing our April 2017 events in Cape Coral, FL at Juniper Village at Cape Coral with you as you Believe in Yourself.

Connect4Life Leads to Better Outcomes for Residents

Integrated Care in Seniors Housing that Meets the Triple Aim from Cindy Longfellow

Data shows Connect4Life’s high-tech/high-touch integrated services lead to higher quality care and better outcomes for residents

Executive Summary: Integrated Care in Seniors Housing that Meets
the Triple Aim

By Anne Tumlinson, MMHS and Lynne Katzmann, PhD

According to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, more than 190 million Americans, or about 59 percent of the population, are affected by one or more chronic illnesses. Over the next 15 years (between 2016 and 2030,) 80 percent of the United States population will experience one or more chronic conditions, costing more than $42 trillion in medical care spending and losses in employment productivity.

To address these challenges and enhance the resident experience, Juniper Communities, a Bloomfield, NJ-based national owner-operator of seniors housing, developed the Connect4Life model, which provides on-site comprehensive therapy, primary care, pharmacy and lab services, integrated with other services using a “high-tech/high-touch” communications protocol that transfers information through an Electronic Health Record (EHR) and coordinates care through a human navigator.

Juniper Communities retained Anne Tumlinson Innovations (ATI) to compare Connect4Life outcomes and utilization data with data on the broader Medicare population from the 2012 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). The findings suggest that the Connect4Life model contributes to lower hospital readmissions and the utilization of inpatient services among a high-need resident population. The results affirm the potential of integrating select clinical care and services in a seniors housing environment that provides supportive services to those who have chronic conditions, functional limitations, and complex social needs.

The results suggest an integrated program of services in seniors housing—like Juniper’s Connect4Life —can contribute to reducing the cost of care and services to Medicare beneficiaries residing in seniors housing. More importantly, the data points to the value of the Connect4Life model for managing population health because of its ability to efficiently target integrated care interventions in the high cost, high-need Medicare population.

Juniper Communities has been a thought leader in senior living care, developing nearly a dozen innovative service and delivery programs to enhance aging, lifestyle and resident health. Recognizing opportunities in to meet the triple aim of recent health policy changes in the United States – improved customer satisfaction, evidence-base quality and lower healthcare utilization, Juniper is pioneering Connect 4 Life – one of senior living’s first truly integrated care models of assisted living care and service.

Read more in the FREE White Paper!