Welcome everyone to Midday Magazine for this February 23rd, 2024.
Have your host, James J. Mayloff here.
At 3.30 we're going to welcome in our good friend Craig Braun, Superintendent with Wisconsin
Rabbics Public Schools, he's been bringing in Kelly from Child Care, Childhood 4K Administrator,
as well as Terry, a pitch 4K coordinator.
Looking forward to talking with them.
Right now it's been too long.
We've been, we're looking forward to this all week.
Amy Vetter, Resource Specialist with her aging and disability Resource Center of Central
Wisconsin with us.
Amy, how you been?
Good, good.
How have you been?
Good, good.
It's great to see you.
Great to have you in studio and be able to conversate with you.
Appreciate the time.
How have our friends at the ADRC been?
We are great.
Things are always busy, but you know, we are in need of some volunteers.
So I have some information to share if that's okay.
Yeah, yeah.
So I just have a few opportunities and some information to give some listeners here.
So if you are interested in any of the opportunities that I'm going to share here, just call us at 888-486-9545,
or please visit us at our website at ADRC-CW.org.
We'll get that information out again before we wrap up.
Yep, let's just inundate them with all our contact information.
Okay.
The first opportunity we have is at our Senior Dining Center here in Wisconsin Rapids.
We need people to help with packaging the meals for meals on wheels, individuals, and the food is delivered in bulk and cooked,
and then the volunteers will portion it up into the trays.
So just we need people to kind of set those things up at our senior center.
And then also maybe serving some of the individuals that come to the senior center to eat the meals.
It's a community meal in the middle of the day.
So different ships, ships.
I'm thinking about being out of cruise ships.
Yeah, don't blame you.
I don't blame you.
Yes, yes.
Different ships are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and we are happy to work with your availability.
Oh, yeah.
So I think that's a really key part of this if you're listening.
Yeah.
And you think, well, I got a busy day.
I don't know how I could fit that in.
Right.
The ADRC will work with you.
Any time you have available, we would love to have you.
We also have a senior dining site in Nikusa as well.
And we would love to have some volunteers come to help set up tables,
to serve some meals to the participants there and help with cleaning up.
And that would be at the Nikusa Community Center on Mondays and Wednesdays.
And the ships are available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. there.
And then finally, we're looking for volunteers to be leaders or peer leaders to help
with co-facilitating a fall prevention program for adults 16 over.
And that program is called stepping on.
And the approximate time commitment, you know, would be one to two times a year
for about seven weeks.
The program's once a week and it's about three hours.
And we, of course, would provide the training for you.
So James, I do have all this information.
Awesome.
So if you want to add that.
Yes.
Yes.
We're putting it right in with our good stories and we'll be promoting these and talking about this.
Perfect.
So we would love to have you come and volunteer with us.
Just spend some time with the wonderful seniors in our community.
The last one there that we mentioned, Amy, the leader and peer leadership.
Yes.
That's something that not only is it a great one for people, I would imagine,
and any age to assist with and help out with.
I also would think, you know, not to look too far ahead here or anything,
but that's information that's going to be valuable to you when you get older.
Right.
I mean, this program is catered to 16 over.
But fall prevention is so important, especially to those that are
elderly and, you know, I don't want to say elderly because 60's what the new.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah, you're so right about that.
Yeah.
But one fall can really just cause a number of concerns and issues and all it takes is one fall.
So having the knowledge when you're still active and capable of, you know, full mobility.
But knowing what to do to prevent a fall is so valuable.
My father's a former athlete hockey boxing.
His agility, his balance is stuff that have, you know, helped him his whole life.
And COVID and some other things that he has had to deal with in the last five years
has really taken a toll on him with that.
But his pride has not been affected.
He is very proud and he wants to be able to do these things.
Yes, exactly.
Wants to be able to do these things on his own.
It's through our conversations with the ADRC that he has really started to lighten up on that and be like,
OK, you know, maybe I could use a hand here there and taking these fall classes that he's starting to do
or he's going to start doing it not for so much for himself,
but because of my mom and I, my brother and sister, those that care about whatever it takes to get you to take the classes.
It's good.
It only can only be beneficial to know.
Absolutely.
I encourage people to do that.
And find out more again at ADRC-CW.org.
We'll get over that contact information before you wrap up with Amy.
Sure.
Our main topic today that we wanted to focus on, Amy,
is assisted living facilities and the different options that are available with that.
I'm really looking forward to diving into this with you because I think, again,
just like with the fall's knowledge, this is information that whether it applies to you right now or not,
is certainly going to be beneficial as you get older and go forward.
So I think it's a fun topic, a good topic and thank you very much for bringing it to us.
Absolutely.
So we have a lot of individuals and families come in and they say that,
I think my mom needs to go to a nursing home or they'll say,
I think it's time to consider assisted living.
But I think there's a lot more education that would be important to have
and knowledge as far as what assisted living really is and what the different types are
because assisted living is a really blanketed term.
And so I wanted to kind of go over what the different tiers are or different types.
So we'll kind of start at the most restrictive or at the highest level of care,
which is a nursing home.
So when someone is in a hospital and they've been admitted
and they've been staying there for a period of time and the doctors feel that
before they can return home or where they had been living previously,
they really need to go to a skilled nursing facility or nursing home
where they can get 24-hour care and supervision and receive rehabilitation,
have physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy,
have a doctor that does rounds and really have that acute care provided.
But they don't need hospitalization.
The doctors at the hospital may recommend a nursing home stay.
So what that can mean is that an individual may stay at the nursing home
or a shorter term rehab stay and then once they've completed therapy
and they've progressed and they are ready to go back home.
And then they're done at the nursing home and that's wonderful.
And then sometimes from the nursing home people may not be able to go back to live independently
and so they may need to go to assisted living.
Well there are a couple different types of assisted living.
So there is a step down from a nursing home is called a community-based residential facility or CBRF.
So we all know everyone loves acronyms.
So why not throw some more at you?
Sure. Let's confuse people some more.
So like I said a step down from a nursing home would be that CBRF.
And a CBRF can provide similar services that are offered at a nursing home.
So you'll have that 24 hour care.
Let me just collect my thoughts a second.
Sure, it's a lot of information and it's important I understand to be able to tell the difference of these.
And I almost said nurses but you don't have nurses 24-7.
But they have CNAs and they have caregivers on staff 24-7 to provide the care that the individual needs.
And there are not therapies in-house in a CBRF but you can still get skilled therapy there.
You know outside of the facility you can go outpatient things like that.
But if an individual still needs help with daily care, bathing, dressing, everything like that.
But they don't need a lot of medical care that would be provided in a skilled nursing facility.
An assisted living facility like a CBRF may be the best fit for them.
So they would get their meals provided, medications would be managed and everything for them there.
So a step down from a CBRF for a more independent individual who really can manage most of their care on their own.
You might need a little bit of assistance, let's say with like laundry or meal preparation, you know, just very limited things.
Then they may be more appropriate for a residential care apartment complex or RCAC, which is another type of assisted living.
So at these facilities these are also staffed 24-7 but people that live here may not need any help or they may just need some oversight.
So maybe they're just struggling with managing their medications because they're overwhelmed by everything they're taking.
And you know, maybe they do to a health condition, they can't manage all of their chores around the house, laundry, things like that.
An RCAC typically will have, they'll have like a little apartment, there might be a little kitchenette area that has a microwave, maybe a stove.
A lot of individuals are still driving at an RCAC and at this type of facility an individual is limited to 28 hours per week of assistance from staff.
So it's a really great option for seniors that know they can't live alone anymore but are still relatively independent.
So and step down from that would be an independent apartment specifically for seniors.
So like a 55 plus apartment complex, that kind of thing.
There won't be any staff there but the building itself will have grab bars that will be accessible for an individual with disabilities or the elderly.
So there will be elevators and all of that, but again, no staff.
Yeah. Amy, thank you so much. Is there more to this? I didn't want to cut you off.
Nope, nope, nope. So that is just an overview of the different types.
But that was very condensed and quick.
Oh yeah. And I appreciate that. We have only so much time.
But it is something. So I'm a big believer in and there's nothing in life to be afraid of.
The most anything in life you find out you're afraid of this, you get the information of it, you know it better, all the sudden you're not afraid of it.
I have dealt with this a bit in my family and I've seen a lot of it in society where we have people at a certain age and they're afraid of nursing homes.
They're afraid of assisted living homes. They're afraid of what they're really afraid of I think in many ways and that I've been told from my relatives is losing some independence or losing the idea of losing freedoms if you will.
And when we get the information on these places, when we understand them a little bit more at whatever age we're at, that fear subsides a little bit, that fear goes away a little bit.
So the knowledge you're sharing with us goes a lot farther than I think even you and I can understand.
And another interesting part of this to me is understanding this industry better.
I think we do this a lot in society. I'm not begrudging anybody yet, but we tend to not, you don't know anything about this particular disease until somebody in your family or somebody love a care for catches that disease.
Then all of a sudden you start learning and researching about it. This is a topic assisted living, nursing homes. You don't tend to learn much about it until you are near that age of needing it.
I think that it's more important in society as we go forward, your forties, your fifties, start learning about this stuff.
I think it's also a really good idea in that age range or any age range to start volunteering with your local ADRC's and learning more and more about the industry and the individuals that are apart.
Thank you.
That makes you a little more into this world and understanding it a little bit better.
That fear subsides a little more and all of a sudden you realize, oh, this isn't so bad. There's parts of this where I still get to keep my freedoms or it's broken down so much and so well, I think, that it's okay.
Well, you're a senior, sure, but what kind of senior are you?
It's not like where a lot of us would think, including myself before some of the conversations I've had with you guys.
Where, okay, assisted living nursing homes, is there a difference? Yeah, there's a big difference.
And understanding that makes you a little bit not as afraid of these things and getting to that age, you know, God willing that you're able to use some of these.
And it's good to know too that especially with children and their parents and they start noticing that, you know, mom and dad are needing more help and you're concerned.
You know, it might be time to think about putting them in a home, you know, quote, unquote.
Yeah, yeah.
And it doesn't automatically have to mean you have to go to a facility.
You can get supports and services in the home. So let's say mom and dad or just mom, just dad live in an independent senior apartment complex.
And maybe they're health declining. Maybe you're noticing that they're needing some assistance.
It doesn't mean that they have to, you have to start exploring assisted living options.
There are in home caregiver agencies that are available. I mean, obviously there's a cost.
But you could hire them to come into the home and they could assist with various activities throughout the day.
Anything from running errands, grocery shopping, preparing meals, you know, helping with medications, a variety of different things.
Oh, go ahead, sorry.
No, I was just, I say, um, I didn't end that properly.
Well, no, on my end, I'm always worried about cutting people off.
So I always immediately think I'm doing that.
One thing that I think that is really insightful and really helpful about what you're bringing up is the individual that is on the cusp.
That is on that, that, that I'm the fence of maybe meeting these things and maybe not.
And I immediately think of the caregiver.
I didn't realize until I was in that spot helping my mom and dad that there are so many people in our community and so many communities like ours
that are in a caregiver position that don't realize they're in a caregiver position.
So I think it's really helpful for them to know this stuff too and to learn these things.
To not only know that there is options available, but there's help available that you don't have to carry it all on your own.
And, um, we have a resource directory that we update every year and it is available on our website.
And we also have hard copies available at our office and throughout various businesses in the community.
But it is a good resource to have available, even if you don't need it now.
But it has information about various services throughout the region that we serve.
We cover four counties at our agency.
So we cover marathon, Lincoln, Langlade and Wood County.
But it has information about all different types of services and then providers throughout our region.
So there's information about lifeline or life alert, the personal emergency response system or PERS.
That's that button that you would wear.
You know, I fall in and I can't get out.
There's information about that, information about meals on wheels, information about those in-home caregiver agencies, etc.
There's a wealth of knowledge there with the ADRC and wherever you're listening to us in any of those counties,
encourage you to reach out to the ADRC with your concerns, with your questions.
And again, realize you're not in this by yourself.
You've got a great team that's got your back in this and really a community that does.
Especially here in Rapids.
And there's other cities like ours, but just focusing right here centrally and putting a tightening the microscope on certain Wisconsin Rapids.
We've got a strong senior population in this area and it is needed that we have a strong ADRC to go along with that.
We're very fortunate that we do.
We also want to just try.
You guys are amazing.
I only put my name behind things I know I can back up and you guys are easy to do that with because you guys back up what you do.
But it's also noteworthy that we need to use those resources.
We've got to put you guys to work.
We've got to make you guys take advantage of these things for many, many reasons.
But one of the biggest one is really, again, knowing that you're not in this by yourself.
And the caregiving can be such a, you get caught up and you don't even realize that months have gone by or a lot of time has gone by
or that you've been doing a lot of things and carrying a lot of weight on your own shoulders.
You don't have to realize that those resources are there.
As we're wrapping up Amy, if you don't mind, I'd like to go over a little bit of what we started with.
Sure.
And just some of those volunteer opportunities and how people can reach you guys.
Yep.
So the volunteer opportunities that we spoke about before, we are needing some help with our senior dining and Wisconsin rapids at the senior center.
We're needing help with packaging the meals and preparing them for our meals and wheels participants.
And then also with preparing the meals and serving them at the senior dining site.
Here in rapids at the Centralia Center or Lowell Center.
And there are different shifts available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
and we are happy to work with you.
We also have a senior dining site in Nacusa.
And we would love to have some volunteers help with setting up the tables and serving meals to our participants and of course helping with cleaning up at the Nacusa Community Center.
And those shifts would be on Mondays and Wednesdays and any availability between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
And then we are looking for some help with facilitators with our fall prevention program for adults 60 and over.
And that program is called stepping on the time commitment is kind of minimal.
The class is only offered one to two times a year and the class runs for seven weeks.
It's only once a week and it's for about three hours and we'll offer training to you.
There are other resources available. There are classes and events going on with our ADRC, CW.
Plenty of things in services that you we encourage you to check out and use.
We want you to again put our team to work over there because not only do they want that but they're looking forward to that.
And if you want to volunteer if you want to find out more go ahead and reach out to the ADRC, ADRC-CW.org, ADRC-CW.org.
One more time that number 1-888-486-9545-888-486-9545, be sure to follow their Facebook page.
It's a great way to keep up on things. You guys do a great job with that page and you do a great job hanging out with us Amy.
Thank you so much.
Absolutely. I'm happy to come here anytime.
You have a great weekend.
You too.
We'll be back with more midday magazine right here at 975 FM 1320 AM. WFHR. We are locally grown radio.