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BMA Blog |
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Touching Lives · Providing Dignified Lifestyles
Posts Tagged ‘Senior Living Community’
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd. The leading provider of Assisted Living in Illinois.
This past Sunday, Father Terry Keehan of Holy Family Catholic Community in Inverness, Illinois, asked a classic question about what motivates us in life.
“Why do you do what you do?”
At BMA Management, we have spent considerable time examining the question. We are a mission-driven company that believes strongly that the “why” has to drive what we do and how we do it.
For BMA, our why is our mission, which is to “Touch Lives” by making a difference in the lives of older adults and their families each and every day.
How we do that is by providing dignified lifestyles enriched by our values of love, compassion and dignity.
What we do is to operate senior living communities that focus on helping residents achieve as much independence as possible for as long as possible. We currently operate 36 communities, all of which are located in Illinois. Together these communities house more than 3,200 homes and apartments.
Thirty-three of the communities operate under the Illinois Supportive Living (SLF) program, which enables the communities to serve older adults of all incomes, including those on Medicaid or who only receive monthly Social Security benefits.
Our philosophy is to place those we serve first in each and every decision that we make.
We work hard at making sure that our mission, our values and our philosophy are not just nice words and statements that hang on the walls in our communities or are mentioned in handbooks and manuals.
Our why, our mission of “Touching Lives,” is our driving force.
What is your mission? Why do you do what you do?
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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Tags: assisted living, assisted living in Illinois, BMA Management Ltd, Father Terry Keehan, Holy Family Catholic Community, Illinois Supportive Living Program, LinkedIn, Medicaid, Mission, Rick Banas, Senior Living Community, Social Security, supportive living, The BMA Blog, Touching Lives
Posted in BMA Management | No Comments »
Monday, August 1st, 2011
By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
With the heat index expected to climb above 100 today and tomorrow here in Illinois, here are a few tips for older adults on dealing with heat during the Dog Days of Summer.
Take the Heat Seriously
High temperatures, especially when combined with very high humidity levels, should be of concern, particularly to older adults.
The National Weather Service says that Heat was the #1 cause of weather-related deaths in the United States in 2010 (click here to view the graph) Older adults and children have the highest risks for heat-related illness and deaths.
According to information posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website. Older adults are more at risk for three key reasons:
· Older adults do not adjust as well to sudden changes in temperature.
· Older adults are more likely to have a chronic medical condition.
· Older adults are more likely to be taking medication that impairs the body’s ability to regulate temperature or inhibits perspiration.
The CDC encourages us to visit at risk older adults at least twice a day and watch for signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Other tips include the following:
· Drink plenty of water, regardless of activity, even if you are not thirsty.
· Avoid heavy meals and alcohol.
· Take cool baths or showers. Ice bags and wet towels also can be helpful.
Air conditioning can do more than help you stay cool; it can be a lifesaver. The Keep Cool Illinois website has a list of cooling centers that are available throughout the state. Click here to find a cooling center near you. During heat emergencies, older adults can contact their local Area Agency on Aging or the Senior HelpLine at 800-252-8966 for assistance in locating buildings that serve as cooling centers.
To cool off during heat emergencies, we also invite you to visit a BMA Senior Living Community near you. We have 34 communities located throughout Illinois. For a map of where our communities are located, click here.
One of the included amenities that takes on so much added importance at our communities when heat warnings and advisories are in effect is air conditioning. The cost of utilities such as air conditioning is included in the monthly fee for the senior living and assisted living apartments that we manage.
In addition, in our assisted living and affordable assisted living communities, certified staff members are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Conducting a daily welfare check on each resident is just one of their responsibilities.
An emergency response system comes standard with each assisted living and affordable assisted apartment, and three restaurant-style meals each day are among the included services. Snacks and beverages are available whenever the dining room is not open.
For more information on heat and older adults and tips on what you can do to protect yourself and others, here are a couple of resource websites that you might want to visit:
Baylor College of Medicine
Tips Help Seniors Beat the Heat ← click
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Heat Stress in the Elderly ← click
MedlinePlus
Heat Illness (aka – Sunstroke) ← click
For those of you who didn’t already know, the name the Dog Days of Summer, which is given to that period of time from early July through mid-August in the northern hemisphere, stems from an ancient belief about the star Sirius. Sirius also is know as the “Dog Star.” During the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the sun. In ancient times, people believed that the heat from Sirius combined with the heat from the sun was what caused the hot and muggy weather.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
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Tags: Affordable Assisted Living Community, Area Agency on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dog Days of Summer, Heat, Keep Cool Illinois, National Weather Service, Senior HelpLine, Senior Living Community, Sirius, The BMA Blog
Posted in BMA Management | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
The weather forecast that I heard on the radio as I was driving into work this morning called for temperatures in the Chicago area to reach 98 degrees, with a heat index of 104. Tomorrow, the high is expected to reach 96, with a heat index of 103.
The forecast is not much different in other parts of Illinois. Temperatures are expected to be the hottest that we have experienced so far this year.
The high temperatures, especially when combined with very high humidity levels, should be of concern, particularly to older adults.
The National Weather Service says that Heat was the #1 cause of weather-related deaths in the United States in 2010 (click here to view the graph) Older adults and children have the highest risks for heat-related illness and deaths.
According to information posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website. Older adults are more at risk for three key reasons:
Older adults do not adjust as well to sudden changes in temperature.
Older adults are more likely to have a chronic medical condition.
Older adults are more likely to be taking medication that impairs the body’s ability to regulate temperature or inhibits perspiration.
The CDC encourages us to visit at risk older adults at least twice a day and watch for signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Other tips include the following:
Drink plenty of water, regardless of activity, even if you are not thirsty.
Avoid heavy meals and alcohol.
Take cool baths or showers. Ice bags and wet towels also can be helpful.
Air conditioning can do more than help you stay cool; it can be a lifesaver. The Keep Cool Illinois website has a list of cooling centers that are available throughout the state. Click here to find a cooling center near you. During heat emergencies, older adults can contact their local Area Agency on Aging or the Senior HelpLine at 800-252-8966 for assistance in locating buildings that serve as cooling centers.
To cool off during heat emergencies, we also invite you to visit a BMA Senior Living Community near you. We have 34 communities located throughout Illinois. For a map of where our communities are located, click here.
One of the included amenities that takes on so much added importance at our communities when heat warnings and advisories are in effect is air conditioning. The cost of utilities such as air conditioning is included in the monthly fee for the senior living and assisted living apartments that we manage.
In addition, in our assisted living and affordable assisted living communities, certified staff members are on-duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Conducting a daily welfare check on each resident is just one of their responsibilities.
An emergency response system comes standard with each assisted living and affordable assisted apartment, and three restaurant-style meals each day are among the included services. Snacks and beverages are available whenever the dining room is not open.
For more information on heat and older adults and tips on what you can do to protect yourself and others, here are a couple of resource websites that you might want to visit:
Baylor College of Medicine
Tips Help Seniors Beat the Heat ← click
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Heat Stress in the Elderly ← click
MedlinePlus
Heat Illness (aka – Sunstroke) ← click
This year, we are feeling the heat well before the arrival of the Dog Days of Summer, the name given to that period of time from early July through mid-August in the northern hemisphere when the weather is often the hottest and muggiest.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Follow on Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+
Tags: Affordable Assisted Living Community, Area Agency on Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dog Days of Summer, Heat, Heat Stroke, Keep Cool Illinois, MedlinePlus, older adults, Rick Banas, Senior HelpLine, Senior Living Community, The BMA Blog, The National Weather Service
Posted in BMA Management | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
No one ever expected that Nasim James would be able to return to Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook.
A few months ago, he was so gravely ill that the hospital had contacted his son, who lives in Colorado but was teaching in Ethiopia, hoping that he could make it back before his father passed away. Twice, the last rites were administered.
Because of the situation, the decision was made to terminate his lease at Heritage Woods and enable someone else to benefit from the lifestyle available at the affordable assisted living community.
But all Nasim kept saying as he was being cared for in the hospital and then the nursing home was that he wanted to go back home to Heritage Woods. The possibility of being able to return, his family insists, provided him with the incentive to get better.
He had initially moved to Heritage Woods from a subsidized senior independent living apartment in Joliet. He is an insulin dependent diabetic with heart problems. With the number of times he was falling, his living alone was becoming a real concern for his family.
At Heritage Woods, he could receive the assistance he needed without having to move into a nursing home. Staff is on-duty 24 hours a day and the apartments are equipped with an emergency alert system that can be activated in case of a fall. The location of Heritage Woods in Bolingbrook was convenient for Nasim’s brother, who lives in Joliet, and his daughter, who lives in the City of Chicago.
Nasim moved into Heritage Woods for the first time in May 2009. Just over a year later, he was thrilled to be able to return.
His health has improved so he only needs assistance with his medications and some help from staff with showering and grooming.
Nasim was able to move back into Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook at the age of 77. He moved into Apt. 377. When he had moved into Heritage Woods for the first time, he had moved into Apt. 277 on May 7.
For Nasim, seven certainly seems to be a lucky number. When he reached the point of being able to return, Apt. 377 was the only apartment available at Heritage Woods.
His move back into the community also proved fortunate for Heritage Woods. The community reached the 100% occupancy mark for the first time.
BMA Management, Ltd., is the largest provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois. The company manages 34 senior living communities (view map below to see all of our locations), including Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook.
Click here to view the full BMA Community Map
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Follow on Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+
Tags: affordable assisted living, against all odds, assisted living illinois, BMA Management, Facebook, Google Maps, Heritage Woods, Heritage Woods of Bolingbrook, Nasim James, on-duty 24 hours a day, Rick Banas, senior living, Senior Living Community, The BMA Blog, Twitter
Posted in BMA Management | 8 Comments »
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
By Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing for BMA Management, Ltd.
One of the keys ways to maintain your independence and avoid a move to a nursing home is to keep moving.
“People in motion stay in motion,” Dr. David Fisher, a Board Certified Gerontologist, notes in his newly released book entitled “How to Keep Mom (and Yourself) Out of a Nursing Home.” One of the seven keys to keeping your independence that he cites in the book is to keep moving.
“When we lose the ability to move, we inch that much closer to nursing home placement as we become more likely to fall, become socially isolated, develop functional incontinence, lose access to medical care and become unable to maintain our homes,” Dr. Fisher writes.
He talks about regular exercise perhaps being the most important factor in preserving one’s mobility and the importance of proper nutrition for maintaining muscle and bone strength. He says that “thirty minutes of aerobic exercise four days a week is an excellent goal to set.”
Be sure to exercise your quadriceps, the muscles that sit on the front of your thighs and connect your hips with your kneecap, because these are the muscles that you primarily use to stand up and sit down. They also help with walking and balance.
Dan Buettner, a National Geographic writer who has done groundbreaking work on longevity, echoes Dr. Fisher comments, in his book “The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Living the Longest.”
Buettner shares nine tips for living longer and healthier lives. The first up on the list involves being active and moving naturally.
He talks about walking being one activity that successful centenarians do almost daily; about making your lifestyle more active rather than exercising for the sake of exercising; and about having fun and getting out and about with other people.
He recommends getting into the habit of doing at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week and discussing with your doctor a combination of aerobic, balancing and muscle strengthening activities.
The real enemy, as Dr. Fisher notes, is not aging but is the loss of independence.
Our mission is to help you maintain your independence and avoid a nursing home, if at all possible. Hope this helps.
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let us know.
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.”
Follow on Twitter Facebook YouTube Google+
Tags: affordable assisted living, BMA Management, certified, community, Docs for Patient Care, Dr. David Fisher, Family, Health Care, older adults, Senior Living Community, supportive living, the Blue Zone, The BMA Blog, twitter.com/rickbanas
Posted in BMA Management | 6 Comments »
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