Volunteering: gift keeps giving year-round


Volunteers at Good Samaritan Society – Osceola give price- less gifts to the residents they serve: helping hands, loving hearts and companionship. By becoming involved in the lives of others, volunteers share the love of God and receive more in return than they might ever have expected. Residents look forward to sharing their home, their memories and their love with others. Volunteers can schedule to visit the center on a regular basis, or they can visit for a single afternoon. Whether it’s providing music, assisting with special programs and activities, or helping residents with daily needs, each volunteer helps enhance the lives of residents. There are many opportunities for volunteers to share their time and talents with residents, and people of any age can become volunteers. For more information about volunteer opportunities at the center, please call Jeanine Winslow, volunteer coordi- nator, at (402) 747-2691. ✞


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n June, it was announced that the Evangelical Lutheran Good


S potlight Sensor system provides


peace of mind for seniors, families I


Samaritan Society had received a grant funded over three years which will be used to deliver sensor technology and telehealth services to help rural resi- dents age in place. South Dakota and four neighboring states will be part of this project called LivingWell@Home, including Nebraska. Approximately 1,600 seniors in 40 communities in the five states will be involved in the project and the Good Samaritan Society – Osceola has been selected as one of the Nebraska sites. “We are very excited to have been


chosen to be part of this innovative technology to benefit seniors living at home,” says Anne Cox, administrator. The sensor technology used by the


The world of the generous gets larger and larger…. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. – Proverbs 11:24-25 (MSG)


Good Samaritan Society is called WellAWARE, which uses very unob- trusive sensors that feed data on each client’s movements to a website moni- tored by caregivers. The sensors track everyday activities such as bathing, cooking and sleeping patterns. They can even indicate times of the day that the front door is opened and closed. To make an assessment, the informa- tion is compared to a client’s usual patterns of daily living. If something seems amiss the caregiver monitoring the website intervenes. The Evangelical Lutheran Good


Samaritan Society will begin offering the WellAWARE system in the spring of 2011 through the Osceola campus. “It is a wonderful solution,” Anne


says. “It’s exciting to be able to provide the kind of care seniors want in a way that’s unobtrusive and cost effective.” The WellAWARE system was


developed by researchers at the University of Virginia. The Good Samaritan Society and Volunteers of America — another not-for-profit provider of senior care and a partner in the project — invested in the project and are the first organizations to install the technology. Because WellAWARE doesn’t use


cameras, the sensors themselves are barely noticeable (the largest is the size of a tissue box), and the system is passive, which means clients don’t need to do anything to make it work. For more information about


WellAWARE, please call Anne Cox at (402) 747-2691. ✞


The Compassion Life Times


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December 2010 January 2008


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