The Laureate Way

Articles to Help Families and Older Adults Manage the Challenges of Aging

How to Talk to Your Parents about Moving

While a conversation about a parent’s living situation can be difficult, it does not have to be adversarial. In my years at Laureate Group Senior Communities helping older adults in transition, I have been witness to many family discussions that have honored the experience and feelings of everyone involved and achieved a successful outcome for the entire family.

Selling Your Home: The 5 Stages of Loss and Grief

Selling your home and leaving that huge part of your being can be similar to losing someone you have loved in your life. I have been fortunate to help seniors and their families make the transition from the home where they raised their families and have loved for an average of 30-50 years, to condominiums, senior apartments and communities.

Your home represents so much more than the bricks and mortar. It is about family, memories, neighbors, security, and what you have known for so many years.

Full Time RNs in Assisted Living: Why It Matters

Staffing is not just about the number of people working in the facility at any given time. It’s about the credentials of the people who make up the staffing plan on a daily basis. Full time RNs in assisted living is a key element to consider when choosing a senior living facility. You want to have the assurance that quality care is directed and provided under the direct supervision of qualified professionals such as Registered Nurses.

Reality Orientation Therapy versus Validation Therapy

I once attended a Dementia Friendly Community Forum in Oconomowoc, where former Governor Martin Schreiber shared touching stories about his personal experience as caregiver for his wife, who had Alzheimer’s disease. His stories related to the topic of reality orientation therapy and validation therapy.

Reality orientation and validation therapy are tools to help us respond to confusion brought on by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia in a positive and beneficial way. We want to increase happy emotions and reduce distress and anxiety.