Pattie Craumer Published in Chicken Soup for the Soul Series

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pattie craumer holding chicken soup for the soul - eldercareThe words were in her heart and head. They were formed over a 24-month journey of caring for her father before his death and grieving his loss after his passing. Pattie Craumer of Mechanicsburg gave her words life in a short story published in June in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Navigating Eldercare & Dementia: 101 Stories for Family Caregivers. Her piece, “Behind the Things” tells the story of parting with material possessions and the memories they hold after the death of her father.

Pattie grew up in Camp Hill and moved to the western part of the country to raise her family. She moved back to the area seven years ago to be closer to her father, Bob. In the spring of 2019, Bob broke his neck during a fall. Over the following months, Bob spent time in and out of the hospital and rehabilitation homes before moving to Homeland Center. In his final days, he received services from Homeland Hospice.

“I wasn’t able to be with my mother at the end of her life,” Pattie says. “I wanted to spend each day possible with my father.”

During Bob’s final days, he received spiritual counseling and music therapy from a harpist. These services provided Bob and his family great peace during a difficult time.

“Homeland Hospice was essential to his end-of-life care,” Pattie adds. “I wish I would have understood the scope of Homeland’s services earlier. We certainly would have used them.”

Following her father’s passing, Pattie connected with Noelle Valentine, MSW, LSW, lead bereavement counselor for Homeland Hospice for bereavement support. Pattie and Noelle met a few times in person before the announcement of stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the following months, Pattie and Noelle continued their counseling sessions over the phone.

“Noelle immediately understood what I was going through,” Pattie says. “Our year-long time together was transformational for me.”

Homeland’s bereavement programs are available to the bereaved of Homeland’s patients as well as anyone in the community who is experiencing grief. Bereavement support group meetings also are held on a rotating schedule throughout the year.

As Pattie and her siblings began cleaning out their parents’ home, she was overcome by the stories behind each possession. Pattie experienced the dismantling of her parents’ lives as two unforgettable lives unfolding again, but backwards. She decided to save a few key pieces of furniture with the hope of breathing new life into them in the future.

Pattie salvaged a high chair used by her parents’ four grandchildren. After cleaning it up, she found a buyer on Facebook Marketplace who needed a second highchair to accommodate visits from her grandchildren.

“Knowing another family can make happy memories with this piece brought me so much joy,” Pattie says. “In a small way, the story of my parents continues.”

This culmination of losing her father, bereavement counseling and finding new purpose for her parents’ belongings inspired Pattie to submit her story for publication. While Pattie has never called herself a writer, her mother, Natalie, always aspired to write. In many ways, Pattie’s piece was a tribute to her mother’s dream as much as an outlet to share her journey.

“Something meaningful came out of a painful experience,” Pattie adds. “I hope my story can bring comfort to others.”

Homeland Hospice is a nonprofit hospice program that serves communities throughout Central Pennsylvania. To learn more about Homeland Hospice’s bereavement support, please contact Noelle Valentine at Homeland Hospice at (717) 221-7890.

Lifestyle Choices and Alzheimer’s Disease

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By Barbara Goll, Community Liaison Educator and Nutritionist

elderly resident doing a crossword puzzleMost polls consistently show that people fear losing their memory and mind more than anything else, even death. Our brains are the very essence of our very being. Today, 5.3 million people are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and we are predicted to reach 15 million by 2050. Alzheimer’s disease currently has no cure and medications offer only a temporary solution for some of the symptoms that are associated with the disease. So, what are we to do? Plenty!

We can start now, at any age, with any diagnosis, and sharpen brain function to avoid memory loss with making the following lifestyle changes:

  1. Increase movement and exercise. Try not to be sedentary for too long and get up and move. We can all can think of ways they can add movement to our lives whether it be short bursts of exercise, taking steps instead of elevator, parking further away from stores, or increasing time doing enjoyable hobbies such as gardening or walking.
  2. Make food choices for nutrient density. Get the most “bang for your buck” by eating foods with the most nutrients and the least number of calories. Good choices include leafy greens, colorful vegetables and fruits, whole grain starches, healthy oils, nuts and seeds and lean meats. Avoid processed foods, saturated and trans fats, and sugar. What we eat directly impacts how we experience life.
  3. Maintain strong family and social connections. Socialness creates a strong sense of purposefulness and belonging. Join a group, club, or social organization. Volunteer for something that has meaning to you and continue to be present for family get-togethers.
  4. Keep your brain active. Learn new skills or consider switching hands to do routine tasks such as brushing your teeth. This creates new connections and stimulates the brain while challenging and inspiring you. Participate in activities that are mentally stimulating.
  5. Give your body the rest it needs. Set a target of at least 7 hours of sleep and frequent naps to allow the brain to remove waste and refresh itself.
  6. Destress your life and consider a slower pace. Do our daily schedules have to be so vigorous with little down time? Can adjustments be made to allow more time for things that bring us joy and a slower the pace of your life? As it is often said, “Take time to smell the roses.”

Alzheimer’s disease develops when our brain becomes a product of how we move, what we eat, our social nature, how we challenge ourselves, our quality of sleep and our ability to manage stress. Take steps now to improve your lifestyle choices.

Homeland HomeHealth and HomeCare: Five Years of Excellence and Counting

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five years of caring with homeland homehealth and homecareSince 1867, Homeland Center has been committed to meeting the ever-changing needs of the community. In keeping with this tradition, Homeland HomeHealth and Homeland HomeCare were established five years ago to provide a continuum of services for patients and their families using a team-approach, which places patients at the center of care. Since the launch of these services, thousands of patients have received exemplary care by a team who treats them like family.

As the director of Homeland HomeHealth with more than two decades of experience in the field, Lora Bierce, RN, WCC, COS-C, has seen the program expand to meet the growing demand of patients who want the independence of staying in their homes as they age. The HomeHealth team includes physical, occupational and speech therapists; nurses, nutritional counselors, social workers and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) who are dedicated to compassionate care and medical excellence.

Since its formation, Homeland HomeHealth has expanded its scope of services to better serve patients. In 2017, HomeHealth added telehealth.

“Telehealth gave us the ability to reduce re-hospitalization by more than 20%,” Lori adds. “It has also been an essential tool to our care during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Lora takes great pride in working with a staff that provides compassionate care to patients and their families.

Recently, Lora’s team had the pleasure of working with a gentleman with congestive heart failure. The HomeHealth team worked diligently to follow his wishes to remain in his home as long as possible. As his illness progressed, Lora and her team helped him transition to hospice care with Homeland for the final days of his end-of-life journey.

“We were with him every step of the way,” Lora says. “His final days were filled with comfort and peace, which is all he ever wanted.

Like Lora, Tanya Custer, LPN, Director of Homeland HomeCare, is driven by her love of helping others. Homeland HomeCare specializes in the non-medical aspects of care to include meal preparation, light housekeeping, running errands, monitoring diet and medication reminders, bathing and dressing. Personal home care can be administered anyplace an individual calls home.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a new regulation allowing home care aides to be trained to do additional tasks in the home setting. Homeland HomeCare was ahead of the game“As soon as we received word about this option we started educating our CNAs to become Direct Care Workers,” Tonya says. “We trained our CNAs on peg tube care, ostomy care, assistance with medication administration and simple wound care.”

For Tanya and her team, it’s taking a walk for ice cream or hearing family stories from their clients that make their work rewarding. Tanya recalls a gentleman who was staying with his wife in a hotel while their house was undergoing construction. The fresh paint in this home was compounding his health issues making it difficult for him to breath. The HomeCare team cared for him in his hotel so his wife could continue working.

“I’m proud to work with a creative team who goes above and beyond to provide excellent care,” Tanya says. “This work is far more than a job; it's a calling.”

Both Lora and Tanya foresee significant growth in their services over the coming five years as the baby boomer generation ages and Americans live longer than ever before. Today, 46 million adults living in the United States (15 percent of the population) are 65 or older. By 2060, that number is expected to climb to about 98 million, or 24 percent of the population (Population Reference Bureau).

“We are prepared for whatever the future brings,” Lora and Tanya say. “It’s a privilege to serve individuals and families in our community.

For more information on Homeland HomeHealth call 717-412-0166. For information on Homeland HomeCare call 717-221-7892.