June 22st marks the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, the day with the most daylight hours. Embracing that light, the Alzheimer's Association has adopted that day for the annual The Longest Day awareness and fundraising campaign. By turning passion into purpose through various day-long events with activities that are near and dear to the participants, the light of hope outshines the darkness of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. This day is symbolic in raising awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and is a way to show our support to individuals, caregivers, and families affected by Alzherimer’s long and challenging journey. Funds raised during The Longest Day advance the care, support, and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association. Awareness around and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease is a passion for Family Shepherd. So is music and art. Research has shown us that art, especially music, is one of the last areas of the brain that is affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias. This allows people with Alzheimer’s disease to continue connecting with people, memories, and emotions through music, even those in later stages of the disease. Family Shepherd works with families everyday who are touched by the effects of this disease and have committed to being part of The Longest Day in their honor. Family Shepherd is partnering with the Lee’s Summit Jazz Orchestra for the The Longest Day event on June 22nd. This will feature art vendors, food trucks, and 10 hours of live jazz music played by the Lee’s Summit Jazz Orchestra. A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association. Come out and support Alzheimer’s awareness and research efforts while enjoying 10 hours of live music, local food trucks, and various art vendors. This is a fun event where you and your family can support individuals and their families touched by Alzheimer’s disease while enjoying great music, inspiring art, and delicious food. WHO: You! You are invited to this family fun event to support a great cause. WHAT: The Longest Day, featuring Eight Live Acts, Food Trucks, Art Vendors - Supported by Family Shepherd WHEN: June 22, 2024, Noon to 9:30pm WHERE: Bridge Space, 210 W Market St. in downtown Lee’s Summit WHY: Support Alzheimer's awareness, treatments, and research HOW: LSjazzFest.com Together we can make a difference- see you there!
Most recently, we worked with Betty, a senior who needed to move to Senior Living from her long-time home. She was ready and willing to move but worried about what would happen to her adult old son, who lived with her and didn’t know what to do. Betty knew that if she moved, he would have nowhere to go, so she would effectively be displacing her adult son, who relied on her for his housing needs. She felt stuck and unable to make the move that she needed to make, for her health and safety, without knowing what would happen to him. John is a Veteran and suffers from PTSD, as well as other physical challenges, and has been living with Betty for many years. Neither of them knew what to do next so that Betty could make the transition to Senior Living. After learning that John was a Veteran, Family Shepherd introduced Betty and John to the Veterans Community Project resources. If you are unfamiliar with the VCP, it is an amazing project based in Kansas City that focuses on helping Veterans rebuild their lives through their “Housing First” mission. They have built a village of 49 tiny homes dedicated to housing Veterans who are in a period of transition. These 240-360 square-foot homes are built with Veterans’ needs in mind. Knowing that many Veterans suffer from PTSD, they have incorporated thoughtful layouts and inclusions to give Veterans a safe and stable place to call home as they work to stabilize their lives and address ongoing challenges they are experiencing. Beyond the fully furnished home, they offer a variety of additional resources as well. They have a canteen where the Veteran can get needed food and toiletries at no charge to the Veteran. They also offer counseling, case management services, and wrap-around support as they work to help connect the community to the Veteran and the Veteran to the community. They partner with other organizations to bring events to the Tiny Home Village that encourage connection between the Veterans and the community around them. Last Tuesday, our founder and Lead Shepherd, Ben Rao, had the opportunity to volunteer at the VCP Tiny Homes Village when the Kansas City Repertory Theatre brought their Nina Simone Community Tour to their Tiny Home Village. It was a fantastic show of music and camaraderie that gave Ben a glimpse into the additional efforts and resources that genuinely allow Veterans to be and feel supported and seen as part of the community. The music was fun, the crowd was engaged, and the joy was contagious! The Veterans Community Project became a great resource as we worked with Betty and her son to find a solution to offer him a support network and offer her peace of mind. Going through the process of helping make arrangements with and for her son, we ran into many people in the senior space who loved the idea of the VCP and quickly identified many senior families that they had encountered who would have benefited from this resource had they known to refer them to the VCP. Knowing that so many of you work with senior families who are also Veterans, we wanted to remind you of this local resource in hopes that you would share it with Veterans who may need these resources. Email our team for an introduction or you can learn more about the Veterans program at https://www.Veteranscommunityproject.org/
Skittles may have coined the phrase, “Taste the Rainbow,” but nutritionists, doctors, dementia specialists, and tastebuds everywhere are reclaiming it! This rainbow represents medicine for our body and mind. The risk of dementia, including Alzheimers, depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline, were found to be significantly reduced in seniors who ate primarily healthy colorful diets. Let me set the stage, or plate, to explain what I mean. Imagine being out for dinner, walking into a nice restaurant, and seeing the table set with crisp white linen tablecloth, silver chargers, and a perfectly folded white napkin perched on top of it. The silverware has been polished to a shine, the stemware is clear and sparkling, and the candles are flickering. You pull out your chair, sit down, and enjoy a refreshment while engaging in conversation with your friends. The din of conversation slows as the server nears your table. As the plate is placed in front of you, your eyes widen, feasting on the colorful array in full display. Mouth watering, you take in the the full rainbow in front of you: The deep green blend of spinach and arugula topped with blistered bright red cherry tomatoes, sliced yellow bell peppers, shredded purple cabbage, minced red onion, topped with vibrant orange curls of carrot, buttery green slices of avocado, and a bright clean vinaigrette, make the perfect colorful bed for the thick juicy salmon filet, pink and flakey. Your brain registers all the colors and anticipated flavors, understanding the visual signal that dinner has arrived. Your mouth waters in anticipation, ready for the mixture of refreshing, savory, sweet, and tangy. As it turns out, your brain is on to something. It needs this rainbow of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, including plenty of antioxidants and micronutrients like vitamins A, C, K, iron, calcium, potassium, and more, to improve upon and maintain your overall health. While ‘Taste the Rainbow’ became synonymous with the fruity tastes in each Skittle candy having a different fruit flavor, the medical, nutrition, and geriatric-treatment community continued to connect the dots on how essential it truly is that we eat across all colors of foods, ensuring that we maximize the preventative and restorative effects. Believe it or not, FOOD IS MEDICINE! Eating a diet rich in colorful fruits and veggies, lean proteins, and complex carbs is linked to a longer, healthier, and more active life. It supports optimal brain health, higher levels of immunity, muscle repair and retention, strong bones, skin, and teeth, healthy gut bacteria, and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, which combats a host of other health challenges such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. This is important during all stages of life, and becomes even more critical as we age. The effects of eating healthy, including a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and lean proteins, on the brain are mind-blowing. The risk of dementia, including Alzheimers, depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline, were found to be significantly reduced in seniors who ate primarily healthy colorful diets. It is never too late to make the changes that help us keep our body, and our brain, healthy and serve us well. Making these changes does not have to be difficult. Having nice food storage containers that shut tightly helps keep your produce fresh longer. Mason jars work great for vegetables and fruits, helping them stay fresh for days longer than usual. Prepping all of the weekly produce at once helps to make those grab-and-go snacks or ‘what’s for dinner’ conundrums much easier. Having containers that close tightly means that food preparation can happen just once or twice a week, so that you always have healthy fresh food ready to eat. Once a week, taking an hour to chop up vegetables for the week and do any other preparations that may be helpful, can save you time, and turning to takeout, later in the week. Chopping peppers, carrots, celery, mushrooms, squash, onion, cucumbers, etc, and putting them in containers in the fridge is a big time-saver. Most of these can be purchased already sliced and diced as well. It is also helpful to wash fruits, prepare lean protein, and make a menu of healthy foods that are ready to eat and put it on the front of the fridge. This makes mealtimes a breeze. For breakfast, heat a little olive oil in a pan. Add pre-diced onions, spinach, tomato, peppers, and mushrooms, and cook for a few minutes. Add an egg and some liquid egg whites, and this makes omelet preparation as easy as can be. For lunch, tossing together a salad becomes a quick task, with spinach, blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, and sliced red onion, topped with a quick vinaigrette. Dinner preparation becomes quicker and much less stressful when there are containers of lean protein, clean and cut vegetables and a list of meal options at the ready. By the end of the week, you can make a healthy and delicious soup with leftover vegetables, meats, legumes, and grains. There are many different ‘whys’ and ways to eat healthier. Making one healthy change at a time, setting yourself up for success by having nutritious foods on hand, and being more conscious about what you're eating can have an enormous effect on your health and happiness. When you focus on the different foods you and your senior loved ones are eating, think of the rainbow and mix it up. It may take a little bit more work and a little bit more thought before it becomes second nature. You can quickly turn a visit with a senior or a loved one into a food prep get-together while you chat, cutting things up, and setting your loved one up for nutritional success. Within no time, you will have made positive changes that could help keep you, and the seniors in your life, healthy for years to come. One last note: I have to admit I am a coffee lover. I've been trying to make an effort to cut back to one and a half cups of coffee per day to minimize the amount of caffeine that I'm pushing through my system. I’ve found that I am not missing out and I am drinking more water than ever before.