Imagine trying to sleep at night with concerns that your 80-year-old mom will fall at home and not be able to call for help.
Imagine trying to find peace while worrying that your dad will find the car keys you hid, go for a drive and get lost.
Tough, right? Well, that’s where Christian Health Care Center’s dementia care services come in.
CHCC provides a peaceful place that gives families the confidence they need to imagine the best instead of worrying about scary things that could happen – like wandering! – because the center was designed specifically to meet the needs of people living with Alzheimer’s and similar memory impairments. Safety and comfort for those with memory loss is a top priority — trained dementia care specialists are on staff 24/7 to monitor the health and safety of individuals who live here.
CHCC also is a place of compassion and understanding. Well-trained nursing staff and caregivers use proven dementia-care concepts to create a loving and enriching environment for the people who call this health care center their home.
Just consider this poem written by Matt Carpenter, one of CHCC’s hospitality aides. As an aide, Matt worked all around CHCC, helping where he’s needed most. Often, he finds himself in the presence of dementia care residents, as he lovingly describes in his poem, with wrinkled cheeks, bright eyes and unmatched wisdom:
I work at a place
where memories are replaced
from kindergarten to marriage
not knowing how to communicate
we still share the same heat
while we hold hands
with old men, kind ladies
all trading their stories
I do not remind them
I do not dare say
that some of their loved ones
have gone and passed away
My problem is not
when they’re rude or unpolite
it’s with the disease
that never stops
I know it’s nothing personal
and that hits the hardest
No matter how difficult
someone is to work with
I promise to listen to
all they have to say
and do the best I can
to help them today
even if they can’t remember my name
I hope they can feel safe
and not feel abandoned
if their family never visits
they can call us their children
it’s hard to understand gibberish
but easy to smell
when to change a diaper
and when you listen hard enough
with your heart, and empathy
you can lift those heads high
from off the floor
and the best part of it is
when you see the happiness
in their wrinkled cheeks, and bright eyes
their toothless smile,
with the playfulness of a child
The worst advice I’ve heard
was to not get too attached
their days are very few
but their wisdom is unmatched
I am in the position
to make the good days last
no matter how hard it is
for them to remember,
I will truly never forget
Just know that I have sworn
to always be there for them.
This is much more than
a part-time position.
-Matt Carpenter
If you’ve been losing sleep over concerns that your parent, spouse or grandparent will wander off at night, or if you are worried about the level of care it now takes to care for someone with memory loss at home, consider the peace and comfort you could have through long-term care at our Lynden healthcare center.