First of all, I would like to let everyone know about a new
website and blog about culture change. The Western New York
Alliance for Person-Centered Care is a landmark alliance of
multiple long-term care providers in the greater Buffalo area.
Through a generous grant, they have hired Rhonda Rotterman as
Executive Director. Rhonda is a former Administrator, a
Certified Eden Alternative Educator, an aerobics diva and she
makes a mean spaghetti sauce!. Since September, she has been
offering two Eden Associate trainings monthly, continuing
through the spring of 2010, to educate hundreds of area care
partners in the Eden philosophy.
Rhonda is also setting up a dynamite symposium for March 10,
2010. I won't spoil her announcement of the incredible line-up
of speakers that she has booked, but keep an eye on
www.wnyapcc.com for more details, and for another informative
weblog as well!
Guess who's happy? Geriatricians! A UC Davis study
of physician specialties found that only pediatric emergency medicine topped
geriatrics in satisfaction, despite the relatively low pay. No
other specialty came close.
I'll leave it to the discussion threads to analyze why caring
for elders brings great satisfaction, even as most people view
geriatrics as a "depressing" path to follow. Any thoughts?
I don’t subscribe to the notion that old people possess some special wisdom or extraordinary traits, just by virtue of their age. I don’t romanticize elderhood and I clearly remember how difficult living with my grandmother could be at times.
Having admitted this, I must say that I feel most at peace when I am around old people. I especially enjoy relating to people with dementia because it is often the only time when I feel completely present and aware. In their presence, I feel this overwhelming sense of being connected to a world that does not exist in the physical plane; but one that I find strangely familiar and connected to. Their conversations seem to go in and out of reality, yet, they somehow all make perfect “sense”.
These experiences are anything but depressing for me. In fact, I would like to think that I am able to live my life more fully because of them. I don’t know – it’s hard to explain but I know it’s my truth.