Immersion – A day in the life of a Morningside resident (Using the 5 “E” Framework)
For my immersion, I went to the Morningside Memory Care Center with Chas. There we got to see the facility and learn what life is like for residents at Morningside.
ENTICE
- Morningside provides patrons with cognitive stimulation, physical/occupational/speech therapy, medication management, etc.
- The facility is peaceful, quiet, and secure.
- The staff provide them with a structured life with many built in routines that involve enjoyable activities such as television, live music, fun games, etc.
- Roger works hard to be a very trustworthy ambassador for families to feel comfortable having their relative stay there.
ENTER
- Morningside is for the elderly population who are at some stage of the dementia or Alzheimer’s spectrum.
- These people are often transferred into Morningside from either another assisted-living center, a hospital, or their home when the required level of care for the person becomes more than the original caregiver is able to provide.
ENGAGE
- Each morning, residents wake up and get breakfast at 8am. They also have the option to have breakfast catered to them at a different time if they so choose.
- After breakfast, they go through some light range-of-motion-type physical therapy and play some trivia or listen to music to stimulate the mind and initiate pleasant memories.
- Activities are changed every 30 minutes since the attention span of dementia patients is very low.
- Residents then get lunch followed with some quiet free time for them to rest.
- At around 4:30pm they do another activity before 5:30pm dinner.
- After dinner they are sent off to do whatever activities they would like until bed.
- Residents are given consistent routines in order to give them structure and stability in their lives but are also given significant amounts of autonomy and decision-making based on their personal preferences.
EXIT
- Residents may leave Morningside when their family chooses to withdraw them from the facility.
- In some cases, residents leave Morningside when they succumb to their illnesses.
EXTEND
- In most cases, Morningside is how people with severe dementia spend the end of their lives.
- In some cases, residents will transfer to different skilled-nursing facilities or back to the home.
Takeaways
- Residents need routines to keep stability in their lives.
- Residents also enjoy the ability to make some decisions.
- Activities such as puzzles, games, reading, trivia, etc. prove to be mentally stimulating.
- Music seems to have the ability to revive old memories and old habits and is very therapeutic.