Seniors Who Are Lonely Have a Higher Risk of Poor Health

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), statistics show seniors who report feelings of loneliness are at higher risk for several diseases including dementia and are more likely to experience premature death. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) says “one-third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated.” Social isolation is a lack of social connections and a result of a person living alone, having a spouse and/or other supportive friends or relatives die, or suffering from chronic illness. Other related problems include a lack of transportation, mobility impairment and untreated hearing loss, which all limit the senior’s opportunity to engage with others. 

AARP Research surveyed adults 45 and older regarding their feelings of loneliness. Of those respondents who rated their health as excellent, only 25 percent said they were lonely. Among participants who said their health was poor, 55 percent reported feeling lonely. The CDC also says studies find social isolation or loneliness is linked to a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke as well as a 50% percent increased risk of dementia.

If you are looking for exceptional independent or assisted living, Highlands Ranch, CO area MorningStar at RidgeGate may be your answer. We provide everything seniors need to safely and comfortably age in place. Along with luxury amenities, and care and hospitality services; our signature wellness programs and activities are designed to engage and encourage residents to live full productive lives. Our Life Enrichment team will present creative ways to stay active and come with the benefit of not just camaraderie and fun, but some accountability (for you will be truly missed if you don’t show up).

For the most active seniors, our independent living suites offer a maintenance-free lifestyle with predictable budgeting and built-in companionship.  If you are a senior who needs help with the ADLs (the activities of daily living), we offer assisted living suites in a variety of configurations and floorplans.  Contact us or visit our website for more information about MorningStar at RidgeGate.

MorningStar is guided by a culture rooted in our mission of honoring God, valuing seniors, and investing in our team, which allows us to deliver services with warmth, sincerity and depth of purpose. We have built a reputation for creating homes filled with an atmosphere of love and community. Please contact us to learn more about the finest memory care, independent living, and assisted living Highlands Ranch, CO and the surrounding area offers.
​
Source: cdc.gov/aging/publications/features/lonely-older-adults.htm

Making Your Visit to Loved One in Assisted Living Meaningful

Especially on birthdays and holidays, many of us wish to brighten the day for a loved one in an assisted living community by letting them know they are very special to us.  To help make our visit more meaningful, experts provide some tips to keep in mind when we visit.  

You may want to plan in advance an activity your loved one would enjoy doing with you during your visit.  Examples include bringing along a puzzle to work on, a Scrabble board or a trivia game.  You could get prints of current photos of the family made to add to an album or to start a new one.  If they are a music lover, bring some new music to enjoy together.  If they love listening to stories, get an audiobook to listen to or buy a favorite family movie to watch together.  If they love sending greeting cards to family and friends, buy a box of cards and help them get them ready to mail.   If they love to be pampered, bring along the supplies to give them a manicure.   

If the weather is cooperative, take advantage of the community’s outdoor area to soak up the sun or take your loved one to a local park and plan to share a simple meal of sandwiches and a drink.  Bringing your kids along automatically provides a more cheerful energy and will give the resident pleasant memories long after the little ones have gone home.   However, do keep in mind that too many visitors at a time can be hectic and it may be better to spread out the visits.

If you do want to bring gifts, remember the person most likely does not have a lot of extra room for anything too big.  Gifts of food are generally welcomed and can be shared with others in the community.  Other tips include not visiting when you are ill, and be sure to wash your hands when you first come in to avoid spreading germs.   

At MorningStar Assisted Living & Memory Care of Boulder, we provide lots of activities and programs for our residents, but we know they always look forward to seeing their family.  Our community has beautiful and inviting common areas to enjoy with visiting family and friends.  For assisted living Boulder, CO seniors can count on, we encourage you to consider MorningStar, the perfect community to age in place comfortably and safely.  

MorningStar takes tremendous pride in the reputation we have earned for excellence and authenticity since our inception in 2003.  We believe the human capacity to grow, to learn and to contribute is ageless; and we act upon that truth daily, as we care for, inspire, and love the residents under our roof. Contact us for more information about the finest assisted living Boulder, CO has to offer.

The Best Assisted Living in Boulder Starts with a Compassionate Team

If you have started the search for assisted living in the Boulder area, you may have already discovered that senior retirement homes are not all the same.  At MorningStar of Boulder, we feel that while we offer all of the luxury amenities, care services and wellness programs our residents need, the thing that sets us apart is our loving, professional team.

In order for us to deliver the Service Excellence our MorningStar brand demands, it requires a staff that has one thing in common – a big heart.  Our hiring process starts by looking for individuals with virtues that include kindness, character and selflessness. We look for people who have a felt calling to serve, and feel like we do, that seniors are heroes and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. 

Upon hiring, each team member takes our Radiance training, which is much more than a customer service program but rather an altitude of the heart.  We use it to guide the way we deliver service - with depth of purpose and sincerity, and its percepts are reiterated each day during our daily Huddle.      

Each team member also receives training in our Lavender Sky program that is designed to aid all of our employees, regardless of their positions, to better understand our memory care residents.  It explains the disease and outlines our holistic approach to memory care that includes finding ways to connect with and nurture the essence of person despite the extent of their memory loss.    

Our MorningStar of Boulder team feels privileged to serve seniors, and we all work together to provide our residents with a lifestyle of comfort, wellness and community.  Our assisted living offers various levels of support, which is determined after a thorough assessment with our Wellness Director. As dementia care experts, we feel it is our calling to care for our most tender residents as well as offer support to their families.  Please visit our website for more information.

MorningStar of Boulder offers the very best in senior retirement homes with our distinct mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.”  Our foundation is built upon honoring God, valuing all seniors, and investing in staff with a felt calling to serve. Dedicated to creating a real home for residents within a beautiful setting, we encourage you to see for yourself our exceptional community.

Rave Reviews from Our Most Important Critics!

At MorningStar of Boulder, we are committed to providing the area with the finest senior retirement living. This is why our entire team is so gratified when we receive glowing feedback from our residents and their families as having our service recognized means we are doing our jobs well. 

One family writes to let us know, “Our uncle has made friends, gotten stronger and healthier, and re-engaged in life through the care and concern of MorningStar of Boulder. It is a relief to my husband and I to know he is being well cared for, and that we can be family again (instead of caregivers).”

We were also happy to hear from the sisters of a resident regarding her care, “My sister and I want to thank you for the excellent care our elder sister received from MorningStar. The staff was all very helpful, kind and loving. We are pleased she had a lovely place to spend her last year. You should be very proud of your team. We will be very pleased to recommend MorningStar to anyone. God bless!” 

It is especially important to us to get feedback from families of our most tender memory care residents who cannot always speak on their own behalf. One letter is from the daughters of a resident who write, “What we experienced at MorningStar of Boulder far surpassed anything we dreamed of. With our father’s dementia you were determined to finding a way to make it work. The creativity you brought to the situation kept us hopeful through tough times. Because of your loving and caring commitment, we were able to be daughters and just love him.”

Our MorningStar of Boulder residential home is beautifully situated on the southeast side of the celebrated mountain town of Boulder and offers assisted living as well as memory care. Please contact us to learn more about our “passion to serve seniors,” and if it sound like what you are looking for, go ahead and setup a tour. 

As one of the nation’s top assisted living companies, MorningStar of Boulder represents the best in senior living with a distinct mission statement - “to honor, to value, to invest.” Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. While there are many senior retirement homes in the area, we are uniquely one of a kind!