Older Adults are Connecting, Creating and Contributing to Ward 7 & Beyond at Eliza Bryant Village
May is a special month where we come together to celebrate Mother’s Day and Older American’s Month (in addition to Nurses Day, National Skilled Nursing Care Week and Senior Health & Fitness Day). With so many opportunities for celebrations, how do you find the time to appropriately honor each one? Eliza Bryant Village, the oldest-operating African-American founded long-term care facility in the United States, has a few ideas.
May 17, 2019 is Mother’s Day. For many, Mother’s Day is an opportunity to show their love and appreciation for women who nurture our minds, bodies, and souls, who encourage and support those they love, and whose devotion to our happiness and success is unwavering. These admirable qualities are also emulated in caregivers of older adults. Eliza Bryant Village – a nonprofit organization that serves more than 1,200 older adults each year – knows the value of caregivers (both men and women) and tailors programs and services to best serve them and the aging loved ones whom they care for.
A 2015 survey conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, and Caregiving in the U.S., states that approximately 34.2 million Americans provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last year. Eliza Bryant Village operates a Senior Outreach & Adult Day Program that meets the needs of both caregivers and older adults. The Villages’ Adult Day Care program provides nurturing care for older adults in a safe environment while offering respite to caregivers. Serving the community Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and offering their own transportation program helps to accommodate caregivers’ personal or professional schedules. In the care of Eliza Bryant Villages’ experienced and compassionate staff, participants enjoy engaging activities and amenities in a welcoming, therapeutic and comfortable setting.
Check out the article in the May 2019 Ward 7 Observer
Unique to the Villages’ Adult Day Program is a “medical model” structure. This model allows the Village to tailor services to older adults with cognitive and physical impairments with the assistance of a full-time nurse and a full-time social worker on staff. Because of this medical model, the Village can assist with monitoring of chronic conditions through blood pressure and glucose checks, and administer medication as prescribed by a physician. This is just one example of how our medical model enhances the quality of life for our program participants.
Another component of the program is therapeutic groups and services that help the mind, body and spirit for a better quality of life. Examples include music, art, and massage therapy and a “Relaxation Room” that helps participants find a safe space to take time to themselves to think and relax, before returning to activities with their peers. In addition to fun activities like dance, chair yoga and Wii bowling, participants also receive a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snack each day.
Charlette B. is a caregiver for her bother who attends the Adult Day Program at Eliza Bryant Village. She said, “My sister and I are very grateful that he is in the wonderful care of Eliza Bryant Village. It gives us some time to care of business and we are at ease knowing he is in such good hands.”
But it isn’t just the seniors who receive specialized care at Eliza Bryant Village – it’s the caregivers too! The Eliza Bryant Village Caregiver Support Group provides a safe space for caregivers to connect with new friends and learn tools and resources for coping with stress, anxiety and caring for aging adults. The confidential Caregiver Support Group meets on the fourth Thursday of every month at 6:00 p.m. over dinner that is provided by the Village. Educational presentations are provided as well as a tour of the campus and time for discussion and relaxation.
Celebrate mothers, caregivers, and older adults by helping them relieve some of the burdens they carry and tell them about these helpful programs and services at Eliza Bryant Village!
Embodying the theme for Older Americans Month in 2019, “Connect, Create, and Contribute,” the Village serves older adults through a comprehensive menu of programs and services. Eliza Bryant Village connects aging adults and their caregivers with services that help them age in place, enjoy a variety of activities, meals and time with peers. The Village’s Senior Outreach and Adult Day Program creates opportunities for fun, better physical, mental and emotional health, and learning opportunities. The caring staff at the Village contributes their compassion, service, talents and time to our community’s older adults and their families.
This May, Ward 7 celebrates the opportunities to honor older adults and their caregivers. Communities that encourage the contributions of older adults are stronger! Eliza Bryant Village continues to build a strong and safe community for older adults within their village and their services are available to you at home as well. To speak to someone about how you and your aging loved can benefit from these programs, call 216-361-6141.
Are you need of services? We’d like to hear from you!
Eliza Bryant Village
7201 Wade Park Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44103
216-361-6141