Activity Professionals: Learn about Science for Seniors

Gloria Hoffner, local business owner of Guitar with Gloria and activity professional has made everyone in Delaware County proud by being asked to present her new program Science for Seniors at the DCAP event in Delaware. Here is the information:

Are you an activity professional in a nursing home, assisted living, adult day care center, senior center or homecare agency? If so, you may want to collect some CEU’s at the October 21, 2011 Delaware Council Activity Professionals Conference.




One of the exciting new prresentations will be Science for Seniors, a new program started by Gloria Hoffner, owner of Guitar with Gloria. To read more about the new Science for Seniors program, click HERE. To read about Gloria click HERE.



CEU’s can be obtained by attending the conference which will be held at the Sheraton in Dover Delaware on October 21, 2011. Don’t miss your chance to attend Gloria’s class and learn all about Science for Seniors!



To register for the DCAP conference, click HERE.

Second and Third Careers: Continuing to Amaze

Traditionally in this country parents encourage their children to become educated in something, obtain employment and start a career. Years ago men and some ladies would start in a career whether it be on an assembly line at Scott's Plant in Eddystone or maybe as an entry level accountant or lawyer in a firm in Media. Over the years the expectation was a person would stay in this career and gradually move up to the next level being it supervisor, judge or whatever the next career move was in the field.

Today, most people do not work  in the field for which they trained or studied for. For example, Gloria a woman I know started her career as a journalist. Like most young people she trained and studied to write for newspapers and journals. As the years went by and technology took over, the jobs that she and many of her co-workers trained for were no longer there. They had to find other employment.

What does one do when the job you trained for is becoming obsolete? With our country being young at 200 years old this has not happened all that often. When you think about most of the folks who came to this country got jobs in local markets or in a factory somewhere. Many of them retired from the job they started at. It is not until recent say about 30-40 years ago when technology really took off and many of these jobs became obsolete. Now a days it is not uncommon to find a person in their 50's who has had two or three jobs some of which are not even in the field they started out in.

People like Gloria. A person who wondered what will I do when this career I trained for is obsolete? When the jobs are limited and the industry is not growing. I will have to find another way to earn money. Start again. Learn new skills. Be adaptable. Be flexible. Not so easy when you been on the earth for many years and you all of a sudden realize everything you trained for and worked for is no longer available.

This is why I have so much admiration for people who can switch careers. People who can start a new journey half way through life. Not only start a new journey but be very successful at it and make a difference in another person's life. People who once started in office jobs are now out among other people in the community making a difference in the life of a senior or the disabled. It is not uncommon for me to hear I never thought I would be doing a job like this, have to learn new skills or change careers but it is working for me and very gratifying.

Change is hard for everyone but sometimes it can result in the best thing that has ever happened to someone. If there is a job or profession you never thought you could do, maybe you can. It is never too late to start learning about new things. Just ask Gloria - http://www.guitarwithgloria.com/.

National Activity Professionals Week: Guitar with Gloria, Cooking, Shopping,BINGO

National Activity Professionals Week January 16 – 22, 2011

Ask a random number of people, different ages, different backgrounds, etc. to expressed their first thoughts on the words, ‘nursing home.’ The usual results: old people, rocking chairs, pudding, and boredom.

Yes, 65 percent of the approximately 1.5 million residents of a nursing home are over age 85, according to studies by Medicare (2008, the most recent year). Yes, there are rocking chairs as well as lounge chairs, dining room chairs, etc. and yes, pudding is on the menu. However, the one word that does not describe a 21st century nursing home is“boredom”!

Instead, residents experience daily activities from art lessons to poker games, and trips to malls, theaters, and social gatherings! There are religious programs, cooking classes, poetry, book and garden clubs, theme parties and dinners, live music, games of chance and visitors of all ages. These daily activities are provided for residents of nursing homes, as well as independent retirement communities, assisted living facilities, community senior centers and adult day centers through the tireless work of activity professionals.

This is National Activity Professionals Week – January 16 – 22, 2011 – designated by the National Association of Activity Professionals, an organization whose members are dedicated to serving the elderly. The profession began in 1987 when the U.S. Congress recognized that along with serving the physical health needs of nursing home residents, the facility must provide trained individuals to serve the residents’ social, physical and mental health needs. Federal and state laws require long term care facilities to provide and document activities of all residents. A nursing home can be cited by the government agencies for failing to provide appropriate activities to all residents.

Activity professionals are trained and certified to provide for residents with special needs, including those on vents and individuals with dementia. These professionals plan activities designed to work side-by-side the medical staff and with residents’ family members. Every day, activity professionals provide large group activities, such as musical sing-a-longs and worship services, small group activities, such as card games, and one-on-one activities including large print books and magazines, audio books, in-room movies, crafts, and friendly visits from trained therapy pets.

It is not unusual for activity professionals to assist as residents who never painted and watch as they become artists late in life and for a group sing-a-long of old time radio favorites to bring smiles and active discussion of the residents’ memory of their trip to see, “Old Blue Eyes”.

Yes, there are still some bingo games at nursing homes, but activity professionals also provide daily mostly general public unknown programs that stimulate the mind! These include science lessons, history days, math and memory games – all in keeping with the most recent research that a healthy human brain can and will continue to grow new neuropaths as long as it continues to learn new information. (The Mature Mind by Gene Cohen).

The federal Medical office estimates that 50 percent of nursing home residents have no family members and 60 percent of residents have no outside visitors. For these residents, and for residents with loving friends and family, it is the activity professional who provides the engaging fun and life enriching atmosphere that promotes healthy lives every day.

This article written by and emailed to me for this blog by Gloria Hoffner, a Certified Activity Professional and winner of the 2010 NCCAP Best Practice Award. Ms. Hoffner will be speaking at the NAAP Convention Mrytle Beach, SC March 30 - April 3, 2011. To read more about her or Guitar with Gloria, click HERE.

The Power of Music and Memory – A Scientific Fact!

Pictured: Gloria Hoffner,winner 2010 National Certification Council of Activity Professionals Best Practice Award, owner Guitar by Gloria

For every Baby Boomer who knows what comes next after, “Here we come, walkin’ down the street…” there is a member of the World War II generation to whom, “I’ll Be Seeing You” reminds them of empty days and nights waiting for a loved one.

That is the unmistakable power of music to fire up the brain’s recall abilities. Gene D. Cohen, MD, PhD, director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University and former acting director of the National Institute on Aging, explains how the brain reacts to a familiar piece of music.

“Memories are created when clusters of hundreds or thousands of neurons fire in a unique pattern,” Cohen writes in his book The Mature Mind.

He further explains that when you hear a catchy song your brain neurons light up. Later, when you hear the same song again, those original memory patterns are automatically strengthened. “The more often a particular pattern is stimulated, the more sensitive and permanent are the connections between the neurons in the pattern,” Cohen writes. “Not only does learning link neurons in new patterns, it also stimulates neurons to grow new connections.”

Cohen urges directors of retirement communities to implement arts programs because national studies have proven seniors involved in the arts improve physically and mentally.

A study conducted with the Levine School of Music in Washington DC studied 300 seniors – half enrolled in an arts program once a week and half not enrolled - over a two year period. The study reviewed the health and social functioning of the participants before, at one year and at the end of the study. The results, Cohen reports, those who attended the arts program had better health while those who did not attend saw their health deteriorate.

In addition, the arts group used fewer medications, felt less depressed, were less lonely, had higher morale and were more socially active, Cohen wrote.

As a musician playing for senior clubs in the Philadelphia Archdiocese as well as at retirement communities, nursing homes, and adult day centers I see the power of music to recall memories every day! The transforming power of music works for those with and without cognitive disabilities due to dementia or other brain diminishing conditions.

Examples – I was playing a Frank Sinatra tune for a couple. The wife suffers from dementia and had not spoken in several months. During the music she turned to her husband and said, “I remember when we saw Frank Sinatra on our anniversary…” Her husband and the caretakers were stunned!

I play on a twice monthly basis for residents of a dementia unit. Most of these residents are in the mid to late stage of the disease. When I started there was a man who was non-verbal. He did not even lift his head during the music.

About two months into playing, he started watching me, listening, and seemed to focus, but still didn’t speak. The following month, to everyone’s surprise, he started singing “Amazing Grace”.

Every time I returned he sang a little more. In six months he was singing all the time, and then asked to come with me as I moved from room to room playing for the residents. Through music, he came out of his withdraw and became engaged and vocal again.

Another similar but different situation, I play at a facility for young adults with mental and physical disabilities. I noticed that when I came to play, one man in his mid-30s would walk over and stand next to me, not speaking, but sort of moving his body with the music.

This didn’t surprise me – but it did surprise his caseworker. The caseworker told me the man sat in the corner all the time, never spoke, never acknowledged anyone 99 percent of the time. It was only when I came and played music that this man gave any response.

Final example, I arrived to play music at a facility and as I was setting up a nurse brought a resident in a wheelchair to the front row. The resident was angry. She said, “I don’t want to be here. My legs hurt. Take me back to my room and let me lay down.” The nurse refused saying the resident needed time out of bed and suggested the resident give the music program a chance.

The woman was clearly angry as the nurse left. I played a couple of songs and the same resident stopped frowning. I played a few more and she gave me a curious look. About 3/4th of the way through the one hour program, the resident started singing along and at the end she was leading the clapping motions in the song, “Bingo”.

The resident wheeled herself to me as I was packing up. She thanked me and asked me to return. She WHISTLED her way out of the room!

These examples are backed up by studies conducted by The National Institute of Nursing Research who found that listening to music reduced patient pain levels. The National Institute of Education and Health Sciences found music tempo can improve mood and heart rate.

A research study of stroke victims gives even more proof of the positive power of music on the brain.

Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, reported on a research study that found stroke victims who had lost the ability to speak regained their speaking ability through singing. The researchers believe the melody helped the stroke victims’ brains rewire and bypass the damaged regions of the brain and thus restore communication skills. A small number of patients in the study did so well with the singing therapy that were able to hold full conversations and even make a speech, he said.

Schlaug told the American Association of Advancement of Science, “The great advantage of this technique is that it is very simple..by encouraging people to sing you can get them back to speaking again.” (reported in the Telegraph.co.uk in February 2010)

When a song reminds you of your mother doing the dishes, or your freshman dance in high school, or your first drive in a new car, the music is also firing up your brain, forming new connections, and keeping your brain healthy.

The saying, “You can’t teach old dog new tricks” comes from the writing of Sigmund Freud in 1907!! Over 100 years later, scientists are proving every day that we can continue to learn throughout our lives if we make the effort to continuously learn new things and exercise our memories.

So keep right on singing with the radio, in the shower, in the choir or alone in the woods. That song in your heart and on your lips is keeping your brain healthy and strong.

This article written by Gloria Hoffner, BA, ADC, is owner of Guitar with Gloria, providing live music and sing-a-longs in the Greater Philadelphia area. She is a member of the National Association of Activity Professionals and winner of the 2010 National Certification Council of Activity Professionals Best Practice Award. Further information at: GuitarwithGloria.com