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For Caregivers

What is Memory Care?

At its core, memory care is an umbrella term used to describe the caring of those with dementia-related illnesses (such as Alzheimer’s or Lewy Body) who are no longer able to live safely on their own. A memory care facility offers 24/7 care and support for your loved one.

In this article, we will explore:

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Senior Wellness: The Power of Play

Did you have fun today? Did you laugh? Did you try something new or silly just for the fun of it? Pine Run Retirement Community is always focused on the seven dimensions of senior wellness in all that we do: Physical; Emotional; Intellectual; Social; Spiritual; Environmental; and Occupational. One area of wellness that is not talked about enough, especially in senior living, touches all of these. And that is play.

You may think of play as the “work” of children. It’s common knowledge and well-accepted in our society that children learn, grow, and develop social structure through play. As we age, there is less focus on play.

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Placing a Parent in a Memory Care Home: Making Peace with the Decision

One of the hardest decisions an adult child may face is the decision to place a parent in a memory care home – and the decision is made even more difficult when that parent has declared for years, in no uncertain terms, that they never want to go into a “nursing home.”

That was the situation Jennifer Carlin and her three sisters found themselves in as they considered a memory care home for their mother, matriarch Clare Carlin. It was becoming clear she could no longer could live alone in her cottage in Pine Run Retirement Community’s independent living neighborhood, The Village.

“Everything she did was always on her own timeframe,” Jennifer Carlin said recently. “When she made the move to the cottage at Pine Run, it was absolutely the right time to do it, and she was very happy there.”

memory care homeClare Carlin moved into The Village in 2017. Living at Pine Run in her retirement had been her goal since 1976 when she spotted new construction rising from a field on Ferry Road in Doylestown Township. The project that would become Pine Run Retirement Community was located a mere three miles from the Carlins’ farmhouse and 10-acre property on Callowhill Road.

“When Pine Run was being built, she always said that was where she was going to retire,” Jennifer recalled. “She’s a huge fan of Doylestown Hospital, and it was important to her to stay within that community. That was her goal, and so that’s what she did.”

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A Road Map to Recovery

Pine Run Therapy & Rehabilitation

“We’re going on a cruise in August and I’m determined not to bring my electric scooter,” says Irv Thompson, a Pine Run Villager, one week after total knee replacement surgery. Thompson is currently doing intensive physical therapy three days a week in his home to regain strength and balance. His motivation in therapy is “to be in less pain, to walk again without having to worry, and to be the best that I can be.”

Pine Run Retirement Community is focused on maximizing wellness for all of our residents. The Pine Run Rehabilitation Services Department, made up of a multidisciplinary team of physical, occupational, and speech therapists specifically trained in senior wellness, is dedicated to restoring, maintaining, and promoting not only optimal physical function but optimal wellness and fitness and quality of life as it relates to movement and health. Whether residing in Pine Run’s independent living cottages or apartments, our personal care residence, skilled nursing for a rehabilitation stay or long term care, or our memory care facility, all residents can benefit from the therapies offered.

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Love in The Garden

Kathy and Peter Achorn in their Pine Run Cottage

Deciding to place a beloved spouse or partner in a secure memory care facility ranks among the toughest decisions one will ever have to make.

Peter Achorn found that out firsthand when he had to consider a secure memory care facility when his wife Kathy began exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease .

Kathy and Peter Achorn in their cottage before her move to secure memory care
Kathy and Peter Achorn in their Pine Run cottage.

Married since 1969, the couple had been inseparable for decades.

“We have no family around, so the two of us have been a nuclear family,” Peter explained one recent afternoon in the sun-filled cottage the couple had shared together at Pine Run Retirement Community. “When our parents were alive, we used to see people at Christmas or Thanksgiving. But my siblings and Kathy’s are all scattered now, so it is just the two of us.”

Being so close for so long, Peter and Kathy knew each other well – well enough to notice when something wasn’t quite right with the other person.

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When is the Right Time to Make a Move into Personal Care?

Words of Wisdom from a Pine Run Lakeview Resident

Villager Ed Corini holds a photo of his wife at Pine Run Lakeview a personal care home
Villager Edmond Corini holds a picture of his wife at Pine Run Lakeview.

When Edmond Corini first entered Pine Run Lakeview, several years ago, it was to visit his wife Mary, who had moved to the personal care home in Bucks County PA,  when she needed support and assistance with her daily tasks and activities. Over the months that Mary lived at Lakeview, Ed got to know the home and its staff members well and saw first-hand the attentive, compassionate care they delivered to every resident.

After Mary passed away in September 2017, Ed continued living in the cottage they had shared in The Village, Pine Run Retirement Community’s independent living neighborhood in Doylestown Township. They had moved to Pine Run in 2008, after Ed retired from life as a “corporate gypsy,” moving up and down the East Coast.

He enjoyed the company of his neighbors and the activities at The Hub, Pine Run’s sparkling new community center. But by 2021, Ed had suffered a stroke, and although he recovered fairly well, he did lose peripheral vision in one eye – and that changed everything.

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Personal Care Homes vs. Assisted Living – What’s the Difference?

Personal Care Home ResidentsThere are events in family life that trigger the inquiry into personal care homes and assisted living communities.

It’s the middle-of-the-night phone call we all dread; your loved one needs help. Perhaps they’ve injured themselves getting out of bed, or they wake up confused and scared, not knowing where they are or if they took the right medication at the right time. The days that follow are a whirlwind of doctors’ appointments, follow-ups, and endless notes about treatments and prescriptions scribbled in the margins of notebooks and scrap pieces of paper. All of this while still managing the needs of your family.

Realizing that it may be time to find some help, you begin exploring options, only to discover a new uncertainty; what exactly does my loved one need? An assisted living facility? A personal care home? What’s the difference? When should we make the move?

Together, let’s demystify this often-confusing part of senior living.

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Making a Dementia Care Plan

When is a Dementia Care Plan needed?

Making a Dementia Care Plan Noticing the signs of memory impairment can be frightening. It may begin with misplaced keys or forgetfulness, getting lost or repeating stories, or marked changes in behavior and judgment. Families often ask if these changes are a normal part of aging or whether something more serious is happening. If something more serious is going on, families may need to start thinking about making a dementia care plan.

The brain does change with age. For many, general forgetfulness, also known as Mild Cognitive Impairment, is a stage between normal cognitive changes during the aging process and the more serious decline of dementia.

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Does My Long-Term Care Plan Cover Memory Care Facilities?

70% of people of the age of 65 need long-term residential careSomeone turning age 65 today has nearly a 70 percent chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their lifetime, according to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Data shows that women typically need care longer than men, an average of 3.7 years for women to 2.2 years for men. One-third of today’s 65 year-olds may never need long-term care support, but 20 percent will need it for longer than 5 years. Understanding of your long-term care plan is an important factor in evaluating memory care facilities.

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