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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MARCH 15, 2017 11A Magnolia Gardens tends to memory care for locals The facility offers a home away from home when memory-related illnesses take hold Peggy Laughlin chokes back tears. "I wish my mother and father could be with me, but they can't be. It makes me sad." She sits at a table with a dozen other women her age, chatting over coffee and cook- ies. In the distance, a fi replace warms a living room where recliners are occupied by men and women alike, wall watching a television show that ended long before high defi nition started. "I like it here, I do," Peggy nods, wiping away the few tears that fell from behind her glasses, offering a smile. "I get sad sometimes, I don't know why," she shrugs. Peggy is one of 15 individuals who call the memory care facility at Magnolia Gardens in Cottage Grove, home. "You have to be diagnosed with dementia to live here," said Pam Barnett, an administrator for Mag- nolia Gardens. "It has to be mid-stage or advanced." The facility was opened in 2014 and currently houses 15 residents in private and semi-private rooms for a cost ranging between $3,000 and $5,000 a month. The facility is completely privately funded and does not receive supplemental funds from the government. Two staff members are always on-call in the memory care facility, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They tend to fi ve private suites and fi ve semi-private rooms that house two residents each. Down a long hallway, just off the living room, doors are labeled with personalized posters announc- ing the occupant of each room. Their biographies are framed with photos of the resident and hang just outside their door. Inside, there is room for two beds and some furniture, but residents are encouraged to decorate the space however they'd like. Some house two twin beds with recliners while others can tout a television as well. Stuffed animals dot the decor in some rooms while others hold painful reminders of the consequences of dementia re- lated illnesses. For Barnett, working with the residents of Magnolia is a calling but she excuses herself from a room she unwittingly walked into. "My resident just went to heaven, I shouldn't have come in here," she says. For the staff at Magnolia Gardens, success lies in creating a happy, home environment for residents who may not remember why or when they arrived there. In the summer, that means planting edible plants in the courtyard, including grapes and pumpkins, to ensure residents' safety but also, to create a sense of home. "Some of them like to go outside and pick the grapes," Barnett said. The courtyard, which surrounds two sides of the facility, is completely fenced with a security code that locks outsiders from entering. Residents can wander into the gardens without fear of getting in- jured or lost with staff members free to watch from the windows or join residents outside. The facility was designed with its residents in mind. From the courtyard to the accommodations, every room is meant to keep individuals safe. The suites, while spacious, do not include a restroom. "When you look at the research, most falls happen in the bathroom," Barnett said. "We have four bathrooms off the common area and that way staff members can keep an eye out." "I like to dance," Barbara Anlauf said. She's just gotten her haircut, a service offered by Magnolia, and joined Peggy for coffee. "The games are nice too," she adds, "but the people are nice and that al- ways helps." The company, too, Douglas G. Maddess, DMD FAMILY AND GENERAL DENTISTRY Brightening Lives One Smile at a Time Comprehensive Family Dentistry Now Offering Digital X-Rays Financing Options Available Welcoming New Patients Call for an appointment today! 914 South 4th St. • CG • 541-942-1559 See our new website: douglasgmaddessdmd.com she says, makes her stay at Magnolia more enjoyable, citing the women around the table as "wonder- ful." The coffee and cookies are not part of the three meals a day residents are served. Instead, they come from the pantry in the kitchen, always stocked with snacks and juice. Residents' families can pitch in and add their family member's favorite foods as well. "We encourage families to come and visit," Barnett said. Magnolia Gardens' memory care facility does not have visiting hours. Instead, families are welcome to come any time they'd like. All Barnett asks is that if they happen to come late at night, to call fi rst. "We don't want anyone getting startled," she said. Families also receive a free meal if they come during breakfast, lunch or dinner which, ac- cording to Barnett, is anytime. "We are person-centered care," she said. "If a resident sleeps late and want breakfast at 11 a.m. then they eat breakfast at 11 a.m." Residents at Magnolia are also offered bathing, dressing and housekeeping services as part of their monthly rate. Field trips are also included, though they've evolved since the facility fi rst opened. "We used to try and take them for lunch," Barnett said. "We would get them in the van, out of the van, into a seat to eat, then back in the van and out of the van and back home and we just found that by that time they were agitated. So now we load into the van and go for a drive. We go by the river and they enjoy that and then we go through the drive-thru and get them ice cream and they're happy." Both Peggy and Barbara fi nish their coffee while a staff member shows off her St. Patrick's Day hair; a bright red curled wig that's adorned with a four-leaf, glittering clover. The show and tell prompts an impromptu sing-a-long and while Barnett said most of the ladies' short-term memory is gone, a swell of voices rises from around the table as the women sing an old Irish song in recognition of the upcoming holiday. "When Irish Eyes are Smiling sure it's like a morn in spring/In the lilt of Irish laughter you can hear the angels sing/when Irish hearts are happy all the world seems bright and gay/but when Irish eyes are smiling sure they'll steal your heart away." LCC off ers classes on Facebook If you've ever wondered what teenagers were doing with their noses in their cell phones, Lane Community College's Cottage Grove campus may have the answer. The college is offering senior-based classes this coming semester that focus on the Internet and navigating social media, including the ever popular Facebook. "It's basically an orientation. We walk through how to set-up a page and how Facebook works," said Holly Turpin, administrative coordinator for LCC. Residents who sign up for the one-time, two hour class will learn how to create their own Facebook page, fi nd friends and relatives, and arrange their privacy settings. "We go over all the settings so they are not blasting to the world," Turpin said. Seniors will also learn how to be on the look-out for Facebook scams and other social media traps. "We will walk through how to use it and what different groups are and how to keep up with the community. If you like knitting, we can show you how to fi nd a knitting group," Turpin said. "We can show them the difference between an open group and a closed group as well so they know who can see what they're posting." For those seniors who may not be as computer savvy or don't feel ready to join the ranks of social media, LCC is also offering an introduction to computers class. Unlike the Facebook class which lasts just one session, the intro- duction to computers class runs for four, two-hour sessions. S o me So e time t i me ti m e s, mes, s p a am m pe peri r ing ri ng i s no n t en enou ough ou u gh t o ke keep ep y ou our r fe f e eet e et h al he alth th hy. y I f you yo o u ar a e a se s e ni nior or o r ha h ve v f ee eet t th that at r eq equi uire ui re s pe p ci cial a c ar al are, e e, y yo o u’ u r re e n ot t a lo o ne ne.. Ou O u r serv Our se e rvic rv v ic c es a re e s pe p ci c al ally ly d es esig ig gne e d fo for r th thos o e os "It's a very basic introduction," Turpin said. Students will learn the basic components of a computer, how they work and how to care for the machine. They will also get a run-down of what to look for when purchasing a computer and what to do with it once they get it home. "We'll go over how to create documents and how to save them to fi nd them later. We do a brief overview," Turpin said. There is no senior discount for the classes but according to Turpin, they are geared towards seniors and priced accordingly. The Facebook introductory class is $25 for a two hour class and intro to computers will run residents $45 for four, two hour classes. To register, visit or call Lane Community College at (541) 942- 4202. 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