society snapshots
With more than 240 locations nationwide, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society is the nation’s largest not-for- profit provider of senior care and services. The stories below provide a glimpse into life and activities at some of the Good Samaritan Society’s centers and at the organization’s National Campus in Sioux Falls, S.D. For more stories, go to the Society’s Web site at
www.good-sam.com and type a location in the search box.
WA MT OR ID ND
SD NE
CO AZ NM TX HI KS AR MN WI IA
IL IN OH KY
TN WV
FL
MN Stillwater
Grant update A grant awarded to Good Samaritan
Dr. Mary Morris
Geriatric fellowship The Good Samaritan Society has
named Dr. Mary Morris as its first fellow in the new Geriatrics Fellowship Program. Through the fellowship, resources and facilities will be made available to provide the best possible education for physicians to improve long-term care through education, research and service.
Morris, a family practice physician in Redfield, S.D., has a special interest in palliative and hospice care, as well as care in a skilled nursing setting. She will focus her work in these areas through the fellowship.
“Being around elderly people my whole life and seeing them struggle with (healthcare) decisions was a big influence in going into geriatrics,” she says.
Dr. David Sandvik, a geriatrician and medical director for the Good Samaritan Society, is the fellowship’s program director.
Society – Stillwater in Stillwater, Minn., is helping residents with dementia learn techniques for relaxation.
As part of a project funded by the grant, the center is offering massage therapy, aromatherapy, light therapy, music therapy and sensory therapy to residents in the center’s 40-unit memory care neighborhood.
Positive results already have become apparent, says Laura Kramer, the director of active living for the center. The therapies have helped enhance
In one instance, she says, the therapy led to a reduction in the number of times a resident requested medicine for anxiety. During a three-month period before the project began, the resident had asked for anti-anxiety medication more than 60 times, says Kramer. In a three-month period after the grant began, the resident only asked for anti-anxiety medicine once. “Instead of going to the nursing staff to help her feel better, she goes to the massage, music and sensory therapists,” Kramer says.
One of the tasks for the second year of the project is to write a manual that will outline the process used in the project and share the information with other centers and caregivers.
National Hospice and Palliative Care Month November 2011
Home care, hospice month This November, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan
Society will join organizations, associations and communities across the nation in celebrating those who work in home care and hospice settings. The month is set aside each year to highlight healthcare workers in this field and their continuing dedication and commitment to offering services that can help individuals live at home for as long as possible.
Helping put the pieces into place to ensure that you and your loved ones find comfort, dignity and respect.
Hospice and Palliative Care… We Listen, We Care. Learn more about hospice, palliative care, advance care planning and grief
www.caringinfo.org
The Good Samaritan Society offers a full range of home care services, including home care, private duty and hospice. Please join the Society in thanking those who fulfill the Society’s mission of sharing Christ’s love by meeting the needs of those served through home care and hospice.
18 The Good Samaritan • 2011 • Vol. 45 • No. 2
mood, promoted relaxation, improved sleep patterns and contributed to a decrease in falls,” says Kramer.
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