Episcopal Church Home - Louisville

When residents gather at the Feet to the Fire Writers’ Workshops® at Episcopal Church Home retirement community in Louisville, you can rest assured they will have questions. Their stories are filled with endless questions about what they have heard and seen, and the history they have witnessed over a lifetime. They have a story to share and feel they are the only ones who can write it.

Very often their stories prompt curiosity and even more questions amongst the group, though the class etiquette states that questions wait until the end. Many times, the ones that spring to mind are answered once the full story is revealed.

There are some days that I can’t get the motivation to call Mom on the phone. I never know how she will be. Will she be too tired, will she be confused, will she feel bad, will she be in pain? Some days it’s too stressful for me to make the call. Then comes the guilt...again. Feeling selfish.

She is so afraid. She is so afraid of forgetting...everything, everyone, herself. Afraid of the indignity that comes in the late stages of the disease. 

The holiday season is upon us. And while the season brings the promise of all things merry and bright, it’s not without its challenges — particularly if you have a parent with Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia.

Fortunately, there are some things you can do to minimize stress and maximize joy over the next few weeks. Here are five tips aimed at helping you handle the holidays while caring for an aging loved one with Alzheimer’s.  

When a senior in your family is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of cognitive loss, choosing the right memory care can be a challenging process.

Opting for placement in a senior living community like Episcopal Church Home (ECH) in Louisville might be the best course of action, but you’ll naturally have many questions about which care center might be the right fit. 

All memory care centers aren’t created equal. In fact, according to Kansas Advocates for Better Care executive director Mitzi McFatrich, “There are no consistent standards for memory care.”

The takeaway: Finding a trustworthy community can make a significant difference in the quality of life for your aging loved one. Wondering what to be aware of during the selection process? Keep an eye out for these seven red flags while touring prospective memory care centers.

Photograph by Gary Kessler

Seniors playing bingo is a common stereotype of retirement communities. But here at Episcopal Church Home senior living community in Louisville, we do bingo a little bit differently.

Twice a week, ECH residents participate in a program called Bingocize®, which strategically integrates exercise and health education into a fun game of bingo regardless of participants’ background, physical or intellectual abilities. 

In a perfect world, our elderly loved ones would be able to stay in their cherished homes forever. In the world in which we live, however, this is not always safe or realistic — particularly when you factor in the cognitive changes that accompany Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Still, feelings of guilt are natural when it comes to deciding to move a parent into a memory care community such as Episcopal Church Home. Here are five tips aimed at helping you cope with these emotions and move forward in the most mutually beneficial way.

Aging isn’t cheap, especially when you factor in everything from healthcare to living arrangements. In particular, many families don’t think they can afford senior living communities.

As it turns out, however, aging in place comes with its own set of financial challenges — many of which are unknown and therefore left out of the planning process.

Do you think of retirement communities as a last resort? Whether for a parent, grandparent or any other elderly loved one, you may assume that you should try to keep them out of a retirement community for as long as possible. Even if you have no choice but to move them into one, it’s common to feel a sense of shame or guilt.

In fact, not only is there nothing wrong with moving your parents or other family members into a retirement community, but it also may be the best way to help them remain social, active and healthy.

This year marked a milestone for Episcopal Church Home: We won one of Louisville Business First’s Best Places to Work in Greater Louisville Awards, after we were nominated for the first time.

We were honored to receive this recognition because it didn’t just come from Business First — it came from our own staff. An independent firm surveyed employees throughout Greater Louisville about workplace policies, office conditions, management styles and more, and ECH was one of 22 companies and nonprofits that scored high enough employee engagement to make Business First’s Best Places to Work list.