Mallory Mixdorf, MA, LICSW, the Resident & Family Supportive Programs Director for Era Living, joins Suzanne at their Aljoya Mercer Island community. Mallory oversees the mental health and wellness side of Era Living. She supports all of the counselors in their role of providing mental health support and resources for their residents. When seniors first realize they might need to make a move, some are really vibrant, excited for the change and ready to let some responsibilities go and enjoy their retirement, that's one end of the spectrum. The other end are those at their capacity and need that support.
They help address the fear of losing independence. The exact opposite is true: community living enhances and supports their independence. Some common fears, Mallory says, are "that they're gonna get forgotten about by their friends and family, that maybe they won't find peers or contemporaries that share the same interests, that they'll get bored or lonely. Or that they're losing some sort of skill or self-preservation in their own life. Era Living's really good about respecting the points of view of our residents. So if that's how resident feels, we listen. They have a right to feel that way and they may have been sort of geared up to feel that way for a long time, their society standards and stereotypes, their stigma. I think just creating that space at first to listen and just hear them out, and then, from there, I think one of the great things that Era Living can do and does do for our residents is we match up all of our new residents with what we call an ambassador. Typically the Life Enrichment department will try to match up a more seasoned resident who maybe shares some of the interest that our community relations team has learned during the interview process of getting the resident on board. My department can help with that as well, the social services, but learning what residents what brings them joy and makes them tick and connecting them with another resident who maybe has some of those shared interests of themselves and someone who's thriving there."
Mallory adds, "Era Living attracts a lot of really interesting residents, people who've had really interesting careers, life paths. We have a lot of creatives, artists, and so people come in, and they try to keep that same identity but put it into a new location. If a resident was an artist, we give them the opportunity to teach art classes to other residents. In one of the communities, we have a harpist, so we give her plenty of opportunities to play the harp for different events that we have. We have other residents who like to tell stories. So we have a talent show every year, and residents can come and watch all their stories or show off their other talent. So it's really about highlighting what's making these residents unique and giving them the space to show off."
Sometimes families learn new things about their senior loved ones. "Oftentimes we know our parents as our parents, we don't really know them as anything outside of that role. And so if you take a step back and watch them interact with their peers, you see the side of them that maybe you didn't see before, more interests or sense of humor that you didn't see, or any other opinions that maybe they kept to themselves until now they feel like they can let go and share the opinion. So I think a lot of times, families are pleasantly surprised by how multifaceted their loved ones are."
Aljoya Mercer Island has 114 apartments ranging from 700 to 2,000 square feet and is located at 2430 76th Ave SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040-2807. Learn more about Aljoya Mercer Island, and learn all about Era Living at Answers for Elders or at their website.
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