SEM Haven - Monthly Update

Monthly Update, January 2009

EDEN ALTERNATIVE - Our Christmas Sampler open house was wonderful again this year with many residents, families and staff attending. In addition, the individual households had separate holiday celebrations with gifts for all! During 2009 we will be doing quite a bit of education on The Eden Alternative. Eden Principle #1 is a statement about what we are trying to eradicate by changing the culture of resident care:

The 3 plagues of loneliness, helplessness & boredom
account for the bulk of suffering among our Elders.

This principle teaches us that medical diagnosis and treatment are just part of the care of our elders; we need to treat each individual as a person with physical, emotional and spiritual needs that are even more important to their quality of life.

HOLIDAY TREATS - The staff at SEM Haven wish to thank the many families and vendors who brought in a wide assortment of treats for us to enjoy. It really means a lot to be remembered in this way. We are unable to keep track to write individual thank-you notes but want you to know how much we appreciate your thoughtfulness. In addition, several families made donations to our employee fund, which we use for staff member recognitions. Thank you!

HOUSEHOLD HAPPENINGS
Ripple Ridge - In December we made two trips to Eastgate Mall for lunch and shopping. Several of our residents went out to eat at Cracker Barrel and we made an evening trip to the Sharon Woods light display which was enjoyed by all. The Christmas bazaar on the 18th was a big success with lots of good food and family participation. We had happy hour on New Years Eve with a champagne toast to the New Year.
Milcroft Manor - We had a wonderful Christmas party with entertainment by Dave Hawkins. The staff brought in homemade dishes and many of the resident’s family came in to join the fun. This year we are planning many social gatherings.
Kugler Woods - December had party after party. Our very own Santa Claus (Maria’s husband Skip) passed out gifts to all. Now comes January, and we plan to keep up the fun loving spirit of Christmas all year long. We wish Gail Morehead a full recovery from a recent hospitalization. We will miss Maria Corrill who will be working on her college degree this month.
Gatch Grove - We have a lot of plans to cure the winter blues this month. We start with “undecorating”. We will be bowling and playing corn hole, cooking meatloaf and soup and going to lunch at Max and Erma's. The 30th will be our monthly happy hour. To challenge our minds we have planned Name That Tune and a Radio Mystery Show.
McCormick Landing - What a busy month we just had! We did quite well with the bazaar and want to thank everyone who made this a success. We enjoyed wonderful homemade goodies all month from our staff and resident’s families!
Shumard Rehab - We enjoyed Skyline for our Almost out to Lunch last month. We had a great turnout for the Christmas Sampler & our chocolate fountain was a huge success. Our household Christmas party was well attended, we especially enjoyed Terry Fluharty & his sons who played the guitar & sang Christmas Carols.

COLD & FLU SEASON - Most of our residents and staff have received the flu vaccine. However, we still ask that anyone with symptoms of illness not visit your loved ones at SEM Haven. Elderly individuals are very susceptible to complications of flu or colds.

EMPLOYEE NEWS - Ramona Horton (Milcroft Manor) has a great-grandson, Mason Joel. Angela Bolton's (Occupational Therapist) baby boy, Grant, was born 12/10/08 at 9:55 am, 7 lbs, 8 ozs.

SOCIAL EVENTS HIGHLIGHTS: Nursing: Jan 1^st - New Years Day Celebration; 2^nd - Pizza Party; 7^th - Junior League Chorus; 8^th - Pie social; 12^th - Monte Carlo Day; 14^th - Hat Day; 20^th - White Elephant Bingo; 21^st - Soup Making on the household & Soup Social; 27^th - Men’s Almost out to Lunch; 28^th - Bill Roth’s Music; 29^th - Winter Tea.

Kugler Woods: Jan 1^st - New Years Day Movie with Popcorn; 2^nd - New Years Resolutions; 6^th & 20^th - Manicures; 13^th & 27^th - Piano with Ruth Schaeffer; 15^th - Lunch Outing; 16^th - Music with Mike Pendell

RESIDENT SPOTLIGHT (by Chaplain Bill) - Meet Estelle Phillips, adventurous and interesting. She was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1922 and came to the United States when she was four years old. Her mother was a nurse at Cincinnati General Hospital; her father was a policeman and her grandfather the police chief in Wyoming, OH, where she was raised. Estelle went to Hughes High School then business school in downtown Cincinnati. She was working at the Mills Cafeteria as a waitress when she met Len “Whitey” Phillips. They married and had two children, Robert, now deceased, and Marcy who is married to Tim Schutte. She has three grandchildren, Holly, Candace and Peter. Whitey served in the army in WWII, and helped liberate the concentration camp at Dachau. He was then a parts manager for Marge Schott Buick.

Estelle loved to dance. When she was 14 she got a job as a chorus girl but got fired when they found out she was not 21! She enjoyed gardening, both vegetables and flowers. She was also a pretty fair golfer and loved to walk. She liked hockey and baseball. She threw the first pitch at Riverfront Stadium on Senior Citizen’s Day! Her favorite music is Big Band and Lawrence Welk. She and Whitey loved to travel, going to Hawaii, Europe and most of the United States. Estelle drove a lavender Cadillac, a gift from Whitey.

Estelle is a devout Roman Catholic; she was active in St. Catherine’s and Our Lady of Lourdes. She has an inspiring faith and reminds me of Ps. 24:3-6 “Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in His Holy Place? The clean of hand and pure of heart. They will receive blessings from the Lord and justice from their saving God. Such are the people that love the Lord”.

Barb Wolf
Administrator