South Carolina Senior Care Provider Impacts Winthrop University Intern

My Life as an Intern…

I was in my second semester of my freshman year at Winthrop University. It had been a difficult 8 months and as I found myself back and forth between the Hospice House and school. I couldn’t help but wonder why God had chosen my father to have to endure something as agonizing as cancer. It was now January 19, 2009 around 6:00 am when I woke up covered in sweat from a dream. My dream took place in my father’s hospice room. My father looked as he did before he became ill, all our friends and family were there and it was some sort of celebration. I realized there was a cake in the middle of the room that had the number “1” on it. Wide awake I felt in a panic and scared to death that something had happened and I wasn’t there. I frantically called my mom and she assured me there had been no changes. Within an hour or so my mom called back to say my Aunt and my cousin were on their way to pick me up because they didn’t think my dad would last much longer. When we finally arrived I ran down the hallway into my dad’s room. He was lying there with all of my family around the bed. He passed away around 3:30 am on January 20, 2009. It was at that moment I knew I belonged in the Healthcare field.

When I first began taking classes at Winthrop three years ago, I had my heart set on being a psychologist. About three days later I had my heart set on being an entrepreneur. I gave that about 6 months and decided early childhood education was the way to go. I did my service learning experiment and realized maybe working with small children all day wasn’t for me. After losing my father to lung cancer, having a mother who has worked in a hospital all her life, and taking an interest in everything concerning Obama’s healthcare initiative, I really knew healthcare was what I was meant to do. I took my first healthcare management class and knew immediately I had made the right decision. I had my heart set on hospital administration. I never thought I would end up in long-term care.

Now that I had figured out what realm of the work world I wanted to be in, I had to figure out what part of it I wanted to work in. I decided Hospital Administration was the way to go! Then, I decided to intern with Agape’ Senior which obviously doesn’t fall under the category of “Hospital Administration”. However, I decided to give it a try, and little did I know these past ten weeks would teach me more about life and senior care than I ever thought possible. Working with the Agape’ Foundation, Agape’ Again, and the marketing team has been an amazing experience. But, working as a med tech and a caregiver part- time has really been the Lord’s way of finally showing me where my place is in Healthcare, and I truly feel that he is leading me to become a nurse. It is my hope that one day I will be able to mix my degree in Healthcare Management with being a Registered Nurse (RN).

Agape’ has given me the amazing opportunity to do some wonderful things. After being here for ten weeks I have learned exactly what it is that sets the Agape’ family apart from any other organization. And that is that Agape’ is truly a family working to serve the Lord and in doing so, loving our aging friends and families who reside and are a part of the Agape’ Facilities. Love is the main component in all that is done here and with that, there can never be failure. I want to thank the Agape’ family for taking me in this summer and giving me the opportunity to intern with such an amazing company!

Sara Prosser
Healthcare Management major at Winthrop University.

West Columbia South Carolina – Agape Senior

Agapé Senior’s mission is to provide integrated health services to meet the needs of senior adults in a faith-based atmosphere. The company’s philosophy is based upon its commitment to provide the best quality care possible for members of our senior adult community. We are committed to participating actively in and around the communities we serve. Call us at 800-411- 2427. Columbia, Forest Acres, Lexington, Irmo, Rock Hill, Laurens, Conway, Garden City, West Columbia

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South Carolina Senior Care Provider Features Resident Artwork

In 2010, Agape Senior Lexington introduced a new, innovative art program for dementia residents. The company Art without Boundaries started to work with our residents using Mneme® Therapy.The program is aimed specifically at improving the quality of life for people with dementia by using pleasurable experiences such as singing, movement, painting, and storytelling to create whole-brain communication.

Art is an expression of us. It can depict our moods: our joy, our sadness, our excitement, our love. Art without Boundaries brings the restorative powers of art to the dementia resident, allowing him/her to communicate in ways that have been lost in words, reasoning, and logic. The creation of something beautiful has universal appeal, and for someone with dementia, helps to bridge the gap between their world and ours.

Our memories are precious and in many ways define our beliefs and perceptions about the world in which we live. Some memories are so vivid that a person is able to re-create in his mind the perfect tone of light that illuminated the original scene or to remember how a cool, late summer breeze felt on her face. The Art without Boundaries program can help residents express the beauty of an imaginary place or can bring a real memory alive through the medium of painting.

For the dementia resident these distant memories may be all that he has left. The goal at Agape Senior is to focus not on what the dementia resident has lost, but to figure out how best to work with the person who remains.

The quality and diversity of the paintings that have been produced by the residents involved with Art without Boundaries program are astounding.

Lisa Livingston, Executive Director of The Agape Foundation, has spearheaded a campaign to turn each resident's painting into an artistic notecard or 12” by 12” print ready for framing. The first set of 12 notecards and 12 prints are now available for purchase through the AskAgape.com web store; all proceeds from the sales will benefit the foundation. The cost of a set of 12 notecards is $12.00;each 12” by 12” print is $12.00.

WestColumbia South Carolina – Agape Senior

Agapé Senior’s mission is to provide integrated health services to meet the needs of senior adults in a faith-based atmosphere. The company’s philosophy is based upon its commitment to provide the best quality care possible for members of our senior adult community. We are committed to participating actively in and around the communities we serve.Call us at 800-411- 2427. Columbia, Forest Acres, Lexington, Irmo, Rock Hill, Laurens, Conway, Garden City, West Columbia

South Carolina Senior Care Provider Promotes Timely Dementia Training

My Personal Experience with Dementia Training



The upstairs dayroom in Villa II at West Columbia's Agape Senior campus had been prepared for a presentation. Thirty metal chairs in rows, a table with a projector, laptop, and paperwork were in the front of the room. Next to the table stood a short, determined looking woman whom I discovered was Adelle Stanley. Adelle was waiting for people to show up for her next basic dementia training class. For the last three months Adelle has been traveling the state with a mission and purpose. She has been giving her dementia basic training presentation at every Agape assisted living community, skilled nursing facility, hospice office, doctor's office, insurance office, pharmacy or anywhere else Agape Senior employees can be found.

About five minutes before the scheduled presentation time, people started to arrive. A dietary personnel, maintenance workers, housekeepers, nurses, nursing assistants, med techs—it did not matter, all Agape employees are required to take the class. Adelle started the class at 10:00 a.m.; for the next two hours she took the group on a journey into the world of the dementia patient, a world where logic and reason are not part of the equation, but emotions, human touch, and basic human needs are always present.

It became evident early into the presentation that this was more than a job for Adelle. With emotion in her voice, she talked about how great is the need and expressed her passion for reaching the dementia patient on some level. She is an advocate and she was looking to everyone in the room to become an advocate. Adelle wove in her personal stories from her 19 years of experience with the scripted training and showed how simple acts; slight variations of technique and understanding could change completely the outcome of relating to a dementia patient.

Halfway into the training there was a stunning Power Point slide projected onto the Villa II hallway wall. The slide was a side-by-side comparison of a healthy brain next to a dementia patient's brain. There were large holes and missing sections out of the brain from the dementia patient. I believe my reaction was similar to everyone else's in the room: There is so much missing, how could anyone function with that brain?

As I was thinking this, Adelle walked over to the projected image on the wall and traced her hand along the parts of the dementia brain that were still intact. Adelle turned to face us and quietly said, “But look how much of the brain is still there to work with.” In an instant my mindset was changed. I was now seeing things from a different perspective. I could see how understanding symptoms and behavior could be useful clues for our front-line caregivers. Knowledge is power, but understanding is the key.

The bottom line is that the dementia patient is a human being with feelings and needs. He or she is someone's mother or father, grandmother or grandfather. What is important is our ability to meet each person where he or she is. I found myself wishing that my father had someone like Adelle, or someone trained by Adelle, as he progressed through his six years of dementia prior to his death. I was grateful to Adelle and Agape Senior for giving me the opportunity to attend this important training.

Being a leader in an industry requires a company to provide educational opportunities to its employees. Agape Senior remains committed to following that path. CEO Scott Middleton states, “Our goal is to provide education and training opportunities for all of our employees.Ultimately, I want to have the best trained staff anywhere in the senior care industry.”

Joe B. Nester

West Columbia South Carolina – Agape Senior

Agapé Senior’s mission is to provide integrated health services to meet the needs of senior adults in a faith-based atmosphere. The company’s philosophy is based upon its commitment to provide the best quality care possible for members of our senior adult community. We are committed to participating actively in and around the communities we serve. Call us at 800-411- 2427. Columbia, Forest Acres, Lexington, Irmo, Rock Hill, Laurens, Conway, Garden City, West Columbia

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Conway Assisted Living Wins Best of the Beach

Agape Senior of the Grandstrand was voted by the readers of Horry Independent the Best Retirement Community for 2011.

Agape is a faith-based organization and a recognized leader in patient-centered hospice care, offering extensive services throughout the Grand Strand region of South Carolina. We are respected for our professional and compassionate care, allowing our patients to experience a peaceful death and their families to receive the support services they need so they have a special sense of spiritual and emotional peace. Grand Strand, Myrtle Beach, Conway, Garden City, Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, Pawley Island, Socastee, Bucksport, Georgetown, Marion, and Mullins, SC. Call us at 843-914-1197. AskAgape.com

Columbia Assisted Living: Who Gives Assistance in Assisted Living?

I had been having a hard time dealing with a death we had here at our facility. One lady who moved in suddenly took a turn for the worse and passed away about one week after she arrived. No one saw it coming; it completely blindsided us all.

I had found myself very fond of this resident. Her family life had never been easy. Although a very tough, witty, and sometimes extremely funny lady, her life had been full of heartbreaks and struggle. Caring for her family had been her top priority. Each time one of them struggled, she never let them struggle alone.

That same caretaking nature could be seen in the way she helped those around the facility. Constantly asking if folks needed help getting up from their seats, directing traffic to the next activity or just sitting and asking someone how he felt, she never gave up that caretaker role.

And suddenly she was gone.

I struggled with this because I was very fond of her, but it was also difficult because I felt as though this nice lady had never gotten enough of “her” time. She was always giving it, every ounce of energy she had, to her friends and family. Then, when she moved to a place where she could relax, she was gone within a week.

I ran into her granddaughter in the hallway last week. She gave me a hug and told me how happy she was that her grandmother could spend some time not worrying about her family. She could relax in a safe, fun place and do what she loved doing the most – spending time with folks who needed help.

And even though it was only a week, it was a week she had never had.

It’s times like this that give me pause as I walk the halls of our beautiful building. I see that one woman I can always count on to throw a joke my way or that nice man who always greets me with a “Hey, buddy!” each morning. I watch them as they sing their favorite hymns together or laugh about something that happened 20 years ago.

And I see how they spend time with each other. Patiently listening to the dementia resident as she tells them a story they’ve heard one thousand times before, only to laugh like it was the first time they have heard it. I see how residents invite new folks to join them in their room for a chat. I sit in amazement at their ability to care and comfort all of those within their own community.

I caught myself standing in front of the door of the lady who passed away. I was deep in thought when a wonderful, long-time resident of our facility walked up to me, patted me on the back, and said, “It was very nice that we got to know her. She sure helped a lot of people.”

This building has many caregivers. Some of them are the very people who reside in these halls. When I talk with potential residents about assisted living, I know that the “assistance” doesn’t just come from the staff. And I marvel in the fact that the lives that are assisted are not just those of the residents.

Columbia/ Forest Acres South Carolina – Agape Senior Kathwood

Agape Senior Assisted Livingof Kathwood provides senior-focused solutions. In working with seniors andtheir families, the dedicated staff works diligently to optimize quality oflife by embracing individuality and preserving dignity. Columbia, Forest Acres,Blythewood, Elgin, lugoff, Camden – Call us 803-787-1234

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West Columbia Agape Senior Assisted Living Melody Makers...RISING STARS

I am sure many of you know of our West Columbia Agape Senior Melody Makers choir; the famous songbirds, who have toured the Midlands' Agape Senior campuses for many years, sing Christmas carols at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport annually, have dazzled the West Columbia Chamber of Commerce and even performed in Orangeburg at the Methodist Oakes Retirement Community! Just when we thought our star had risen as far as it could go, we pushed it EVEN FURTHER! Today, May 19, The Agape Senior Melody Makers completed the recording of their very first album!

The Agape Senior Melody Makers group began its journey to fame in 2004 at the West Columbia Assisted Living facility. Comprised of a handful of women at the time (and only one man), it was just a small group of residents with a common interest--music. Nancy Vosburgh, whose mother was a resident in our Villas, leads the group. Nancy has a background in community theatre and sings in her church choir. Her mother also had a special love for music. With the assistance of the Life Enrichment Coordinator on piano, the little group began.

Three concerts a year at the West Columbia location over time blossomed into 12, including performances all over campus; then, in addition, three concerts per year in our other Midlands' facilities eventually grew to outreach into the community . Not only have our performances grown and our talent expanded, but so has the group. Now consisting of 20 women and six men, the group has quadrupled in size and is growing consistently as new residents move in! The group has two members who have been with us since the very beginning. Today, for those of us who have been involved with the Melody Makers since the day the group began, a vision and a dream has become a reality.

With a program of our Greatest Songs Ever (or at least the group thinks they were), which we have been rehearsing for months, the Melody Makers got in our Agape Senior bus and rode up to Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church to record our first ever CD! The members of the group were in great spirits as we arrived and walked into the sanctuary. Nancy Vosburgh (Director and Volunteer), Yu Chong (Facility Chaplain), Amy McCormack( Life Enrichment), Patsy Pennington (Piano and Volunteer), and Cynthia Scherbaty (Life Enrichment) were all there to ensure things went smoothly. Donald Maher of our I.T. department recorded the songs for the group. It was such a great adventure!

In three hours the group completed its 40 minute compilation of songs for the album. Exhausted by all the excitement of the afternoon, the group boarded the Agape bus and left for home, proud of what its members had accomplished. Donald is currently working on arranging the songs and plans to have production completed in the next few weeks, so don't fret, the CD will be out soon enough! The plan is for all proceeds from the CD sales to benefit the Agape Foundation. A CD release party is already in the works, so keep your calendars open. Agape Senior West Columbia is so proud of our Melody Makers and anticipates many great things to come for the future.

by Amy McCormack

West Columbia South Carolina Assisted Living

Agape Senior of West Columbia provides senior-focused solutions. In working with seniors and their families, the dedicated staff strives to optimize quality of life by embracing individuality and preserving dignity. West Columbia, Cayce, South Congaree, Pine Ridge, Springdale SC. – Call Agape Senior Assisted Living West Columbia at (803)939-3000 or (800) 411-2427

Columbia SCARCH Convention to Include Two Presentations by Agapé Senior

Two AgapéSenior employees will be presenters at this year’s Spring Conference being held at the Columbia Convention Center for the South Carolina Association of Residential Care Homes(SCARCH). Joe Nester, Director of Internet Marketing for Agapé Senior, will be presenting strategic ways to build census on-line. Pamela Duncan, Director of Compliance for Skilled Nursing, will be presenting information on disaster planning and emergency evacuation reviews.

WestColumbia South Carolina – Agape Senior

AskAgape.com

Agapé Senior’s mission is to provideintegrated health services to meet the needs of senior adults in a faith-basedatmosphere. The company’s philosophy is based upon its commitment to providethe best quality care possible for members of our senior adult community. Weare committed to participating actively in and around the communities we serve.Call us at 800-411- 2427. Columbia, Forest Acres, Lexington, Irmo, Rock Hill,Laurens, Conway, Garden City, West Columbia