Lady Links

 

The Lady-Links are committed to helping our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community with various types of cognitive decline.  We do that through our weekly visits where we engage them in activities they enjoy.  In addition, we attend seminars and training to remain educated, and we participate in events to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.  One of the highlights is the Walk to End Alzheimer’s annual event held at our community.  The Lady-Links are always a part of a group effort in this successful walk.

We love our visits with our dear friends, so the theme of this year’s Walk was especially meaningful to us.

The event was a celebration of what we know will happen…one day there will be a cure!  Dancing and a recognition of the significant amount of funds raised added to the festivities.

Showing that we care comes in many forms for the Lady-Links…and walking to end Alzheimer’s is a big part of that caring spirit.

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There’s no doubt about it….The Lady-Links know how to be “social.”  It just comes naturally when we’re together with our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline.  According to certain internet definitions, if you are “social” you enjoy interacting with other people.  That could be a definition of Lady-Links!!!  Our visits are certainly “social” and although we plan for activities that will be appropriate, the love and laughter come spontaneously!

Why is socialization so important?  Studies show that as cognitive decline advances, individuals begin to withdraw from others and isolate themselves which has a negative effect on the brain. For them, thinking has become difficult, and confusion becomes more and more prevalent.   Social interaction is actually healthy for the brain and can slow some symptoms including deteriorating memory.  In fact, socialization can boost self-esteem leading to improved communication skills, eating habits, an increased willingness to exercise and to participate in activities.

At our Lady-Links visits, we engage our dear friends in a variety of social activities  and the benefits are obvious.

Music:

Crafts

 

Games

Show and Tell

Birthday Celebrations

Holiday Celebrations

and other special Activities

We Lady-Links love to engage our dear friends in social activities knowing that it benefits them and us in many ways…plus it’s such fun!  It’s a big part of who we are and what we do.  A blessing for everyone involved.

The Lady-Links program began in 2013 with a simple plan….friends visiting friends.  This straightforward plan has been successful at engaging our dear friends (those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline) in activities they enjoy and find meaningful.  Throughout our Lady-Links history,  we have taken various opportunities to explain how our program works and to recruit new Lady-Links, those ladies who make the visits to the dear friends.  As a result, we currently have 43 Lady-Links who are trained and ready to make visits to their assigned dear friends.

This year, promoting our program took on a new objective:  revising our leadership model to include coordinator positions.

Our community has grown considerably since 2013 and our program has grown as well, bringing about some needed changes.  Instead of being led by one administrator, her duties (at her request) are being divided and expanded so that Lady-Links will be led by a group of coordinators.  The program will remain the same…friends visiting friends…but will be able to include more dear friends with more teams of Lady-Links to make the visits.  The success of Lady-Links and the growth of our community have necessitated change, and we think a leadership model with coordinators rather than one person is a perfect solution for going forward.  We are in the process of successfully filling those coordinator positions.

We have coordinators for crafts and birthdays.

Coordinators for planning events,  identifying new dear friends and scheduling visits.

We even have an information coordinator to keep our program up to date and moving forward.

With a financial coordinator and a recruiting/training coordinator added to our leadership team, we are looking forward to a greater outreach than ever before. We only have one position to fill:  Team Coordinator.

“Friends visiting friends” with lots of love and laughter to share….that’s what defined our Lady-Links program in the beginning and will continue to do so in the future.

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for fall activities is always fun.  Even though the temperatures are only slightly less than the triple digit mark, fall is in the air….at least in our minds anyway!

Recently the Lady-Links met to make fall crafts to send to our dear friends in our continuing care facility.  These colorful door hangers are sure to bring joy to those who receive them.

New this year are fall-themed cards to color.  Some we color ourselves, but most of them will be colored at visits with our dear friends.  There’s something about coloring that is so much fun!

Working together on fall crafts is sure to inspire conversation about memories of  visiting pumpkin patches, hay rides, playing in the leaves, football games and bonfires.  We always enjoy our fall visits with our dear friends and the special memories that are shared.

Happy Fall Y’all!

Planning is important if a a goal is to be accomplished.  But who says planning can’t be fun?  The Lady-Links decided to add “something” to a recent planning session…Hot Fudge Sundaes!  Planning plus hot fudge plus ice cream equals success…an afternoon of deliciousness and a feeling of mission accomplished! That’s what we call success!

 

Choosing crafts and activities for the fall….

Establishing goals for expanding our program…

And lots of love and laughter shared…

A winning combination…Lady-Links plus ice cream, almonds, whipped cream, cherries and a made-from-scratch hot fudge sauce!

Planning plus fun!  Now that’s something to plan for again!

Being kind to one another is an important virtue that the Lady-Links exemplify each time they connect with their dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline. Whether it is through a smile, a gentle hug, an encouraging word, or simply spending time together, kindness is shown in many ways as each Lady-Link reaches out to her dear friend.

Kindness can impact someone’s life in ways that are meaningful, even if the results aren’t immediately obvious.  The Lady-Links are told by the spouses and/or the adult children of their dear friends how much their kindness means to their loved one in terms of improving feelings of self-worth that is seen long after the visit ends.

In the world of cognitive decline where uncertainty begins to infiltrate the minds and hearts of our dear friends, a little kindness goes a long way… and that’s one thing of which you can be certain…kindness matters!

 

Recently, two of our Lady-Links received their pins.  When we have a pinning ceremony, we are reminded of the commitment to show that we care that each Lady-Link makes when she becomes a part of our program.  The pin says it all….Lady-Links Care….and we do it by linking with our dear friends in love.

To receive a pin, a Lady-Link must have completed the required training and been an active part of our program for at least six months. These two ladies have been active much longer than six months but, due to COVID regulations on event group sizes in our community, this pinning ceremony was delayed for a while.  It is with pleasure that we officially welcome them into our program which makes friendship visits to those ladies in our community who are in various stages of cognitive decline, engaging them in activities they enjoy and in which they can successfully participate.

During COVID when visits to our dear friends were temporarily restricted, we established a method of staying linked through love…we made crafts and cards to send to them.

Each Lady-Link remains committed to the idea that those with dementia or other types of cognitive decline deserve to feel valued and appreciated. We do that with our in-person visits, and when that is not possible, we are creative in our thinking on how to reach them in other ways. The Lady-Links do care…finding ways to enrich the lives of others with love and laughter… and in so doing, our lives are enriched as well.

Making cards to send to our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline, is a great way to stay connected.  We use a “thinking of you” theme to send a cheerful message.

The cards we make offer a variety of designs…from those we color to those we create by combining different textures and shapes or by using computer-generated clip art.

Each card represents a way to show that we care.  We’re told that the dear friends who receive our cards continue to look at them for days after we send them and that the impression of feeling valued by someone stays with them longer than we would imagine.  We’ve done this for years and the result is always the same…the recipient feels appreciated and loved.

It’s worth your time and effort to help your friends and loved ones in various stages of decline be encouraged with a card.

Receiving a “thinking of you” card can increase a person’s feelings of self-esteem and self-worth.  It lets them know someone wants to connect in a personal way.  Those in various stages of cognitive decline tend to feel isolated and alone.  Cards such as the ones the Lady-Links send to their dear friends can help promote feelings of being valued and connected.  We love to stay “linked” to our dear friends….that’s why we’re called Lady-Links…and our card connection helps us do just that.

How did the Lady-Links manage to get to the point where love and laughter flow so freely at visits with their dear friends, those ladies in various stages of cognitive decline who live in our retirement community?

Although our Lady-Links have a natural tendency to show kindness, compassion, and joy in whatever they are doing with their dear friends, there is a process for refining such skills so that those in cognitive decline will feel welcomed and loved during these friendship visits.  That process takes time and dedication as does anything that is worth doing.  And certainly the lives of our dear friends are to be valued and honored in every way possible. Learning the process to achieve a desired outcome (in whatever you want to do) helps ensure success.

I had the opportunity to think about the value of  processes recently when “Peach Season” brought with it the annual trek to farmers markets, roadside stands and orchards that so many of us make.  Having found the “perfect” freestone peach, I began the process of preparing those to eat immediately and those I wanted to freeze.  I had to set aside time to review the process for “putting up peaches” and make preparations to do things right if I wanted peaches to eat throughout the year.  It was a process with many steps.

Step 1 – Washing

Step  – Making the Syrup

Step 3 – Peeling the Peaches

First immerse in boiling water for 45 seconds, then place in an ice bath for several minutes.  The skins should (notice I said “should”) come off easily.

Step 4 – Prevent Browning (I used lemon juice.)

Step 5 – Add the syrup solution and package in freezer bags.

This should result in “fresh” peaches that will provide a deliciousness throughout the year if the process works.  And it should….plenty of time, energy, and effort were spent in learning what to do and how to do it.

How much more valuable are people than peaches?  There’s no comparison to their value.  The comparison comes in when we think of the process of what it takes to ensure a desired outcome.  We have a training process that prepares ladies to become Lady-Links who bring love and laughter into the lives of their dear friends.  The process is time consuming but so worth the effort.  Our training includes both educational and inspirational sessions that introduce us to:

• Understanding Cognitive Decline – from Mild Cognitive Impairment to the various types of Dementia (including Alzheimer’s)
• Best Practices for Communicating with those in Cognitive Decline
• Modification of Games and Activities to Promote Successful Interaction with those in Cognitive Decline
• Ways to Encourage those in Cognitive Decline to Feel Valued and Appreciated.

This has been our process for training our new Lady-Links since 2013 and it works.  Our dear friends interact with us and remain engaged at each of our visits.  This helps them stay actively connected to their world around them, even after the visit ends.  We think our Lady-Links training is a “peach of a process” with wonderful results.

 

Whether it’s working with Peaches or People….when you find the right process and apply it, you’ll have “peachy” (wonderful) results.

Try it….you’ll like it.

 

The Lady-Links always enjoy celebrating the Fourth of July with our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline.  Making crafts, singing patriotic songs, and telling stories of how we celebrated with picnics, sparklers and fireworks when we were children are part of our yearly routine that never gets old.

Happy Fourth of July from your Lady-Links friends!