TRU Community Care offers many wonderful programs including TRU PACE, Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. TRU PACE coordinates and provides all needed preventive, primary, acute, and long-term care services so that older individuals can continue living safely in their community.

TRU PACE also offers a ton of fun to participants! The PACE schedule is always jam-packed with fun activities ranging from art therapy, bingo, Zumba, yoga, pet therapy, and so much more. Holidays are always exciting here at PACE and This Thursday was no exception. PACE was full of fun activities including a Valentine’s Day Dance from 1:00-3:00 pm in the Day Room. Jerry the D.J. played the afternoon away while participants sang a long and hit the dance floor. TRU PACE gives participants the opportunity to socialize, celebrate, and have fun with their peers. If you’re interested in learning more about our program or just seeing all the entertainment, schedule a tour with us today!  

When the holidays are over, we can experience a letdown kind of sadness and depression. Family and friends have gone home, all of the gatherings are over, the decorations have come down, and we are left with more time alone. In some ways, this may be a relief. In others, it may remind us that we no longer have buffers for our feelings as we did with so many holiday distractions around.

As we move through the darkest, coldest, shortest days of the year, we also find ourselves indoors more often, and this in itself can be depressing and lonely. There are some things we can do to make this time of year easier and prevent some post-holiday depression.

• Get outside during the day when the sun is out, even if it is just for a short walk. Mild exercise and sunlight help replenish our bodies and spirits.

• Make efforts to connect with people you enjoy and who can understand your experience. If you reconnected with someone over the holidays that you feel can support you, let them know that you would like to continue having them in your life. Making plans once or twice a month can keep you connected to the support system you have.

• Grief support groups offer you a chance to be with other people who have gone through loss and similar experiences. Even if you have never been “a group kind of person”, support groups can provide invaluable information, support and comfort in discovering that you truly are not alone. TRU Community Care offers a number of groups, as do many faith communities.

• Take time to send cards or letters to people you saw or hoped to see during the holidays. This will help remind you that you do have connections with others that will go on throughout the rest of the year.

The holidays may have brought up feelings that you thought you were done having or ones you didn’t know you had. While it may be hard to sit still with the silence and feel the discomfort, it is often in this very silence and stillness that we rediscover the true depth of our sorrow and the true depth of our love.

Julie has been volunteering with TRU for four years and is very committed to her volunteer work and our mission.

Julie first got involved with TRU after losing a close friend, at a young age, to cancer. Her friend did not get hospice care and Julie realized what an amazing gift hospice could have been to her friend and their family. After losing her friend she vowed to do something for others in her friend’s honor, and that’s how she found TRU.

Julie currently volunteers at our Care Center weekly. When talking about her volunteer work there she said,

“I absolutely love it. The staff, patients, and families are amazing, and it is such a gift to be there. Each week is a different experience, and I feel honored to be with the patients and families during this intimate time.”

TRU is lucky to have so many amazing volunteers at all of our locations, but we are always looking for more. We asked Julie what she would tell someone interested in volunteering with TRU and she said,

“Be prepared to have your life changed and your heart moved!”

Not only has Julie been a regular and dedicated volunteer but Julie recently set up a birthday fundraiser that was wonderfully successful in both raising funds and awareness for TRU. Julie explained,

“I am blessed with extremely generous friends and family members. In years past, I have suggested we all serve food for my birthday and spend time serving others, rather than giving gifts. This year, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude in all that I have and wanted to focus more on giving it to an organization that could impact more lives than I am able to. TRU was the natural and obvious choice because I see first-hand how TRU makes a difference in so many. Honestly, it was a simple gesture, and I was pleased that people donated, but also that it raised more awareness for the organization.”

Like Julie has shown, there are many creative ways you can help support TRU with everything from dedicated volunteer work to social media promotion and fundraisers. If you’re interested in helping TRU raise necessary fund for the end of the year please contact our Development Department at scarlettreynaud@trucare.org.

TRU Community Care Interim CEO Pat Mehnert recently was interviewed by Kaiser Health News for their Navigating Aging column. Read the article here.

 

Who are Career Nursing Assistants?

Nursing assistants (also known as CNAs) are key players in the lives of the people in their care. Each day, more than 4.5 million caregivers provide hands-on care to our nation’s frail, elderly, or chronically challenged citizens in nursing homes and other long-term-care settings.  These important workers have various titles including: Nursing Assistant, Direct Care Worker, Nurse Aide, Care Assistant, Caregiver, Hospice Aide, In-Home Care Aide, ED Assistant, Resident Assistant, Hospice Assistant, Patient Care Assistant, Personal Care Assistant, Geriatric Aide, Restorative Aide, Health Care Assistant, and many more. Source: cnanetwork.org

Thank you to our TRU Community Care and TRU PACE CNAs! We couldn’t do it without you. Head over to our facebook page to meet some of our amazing CNAs throughout the week.

Dear TRU Nurses,

May 6^th is recognized as National Nurse’s Day, kicking off the beginning of National Nurse’s Week.  The provision of hospice care is first and foremost an interdisciplinary team model of care, as the end-of-life process is so much more than a physical experience. Yet, the physical care of a person during the dying process is often the most visible to the observers.

Some of us have been blessed to be able to perform the art of nursing for 30+ years, some for a handful of years. The one common thread for almost every nurse we have ever met is “I wanted to help people.”  The nursing teams at TRU, TRU Hospice of Northern Colorado, and TRU PACE come from all “specialties” in nursing: critical care, med-surg, long-term care, psychiatric, pediatrics, ob/gyn, etc.  And, here we are, sharing all of our experiences to form an amazingly talented team who cares for all people, regardless of their need,  in the final years, months, weeks, and days. Sometimes it takes all of us putting our skills together, giving credence to “it takes a village.”

Over the years, as each challenge has come along, someone has picked up the gauntlet and said, “I can help.” To the many nurses who share their nursing skills, who share themselves as human beings, we offer you a profound thank you.  We are proud of the nursing care that you provide to our patients.

We share this brief paragraph with you:

There is a deep river of meaning that runs through this work. Remembering this meaning daily is what keeps us alive in this work and protects us from exhaustion. The meaning of this work has not changed in thousands of years. It is part of our lineage.

May you all have the opportunity to take a step back this week and appreciate all you have contributed to the community we call TRU, and to the communities we all live in. You make a difference every day.

With profound respect and gratitude,

The Executive Team

During National Volunteer Week, April 23 – 29, TRU is honoring the 555 dedicated volunteers from our community who ensure that patients and families facing serious and life-limiting illness find hope, dignity and love.

 Hospice volunteers play an indispensable role in enabling TRU to offer the best care possible for our patients, their families and caregivers. By sharing their time, energy, and expertise, our volunteers bring compassion and caring to the lives of those in need,”  said Maria Thomas, Communications Coordinator.

Hospice volunteers often serve patients and families at the bedside but they also assist in the office, help raise awareness, contribute to educational programs, and provide fundraising support and more.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization reports that there are an estimated 430,000 trained hospice volunteers providing more than 19 million hours of service to hospice programs each year.

An estimated 1.6 million patients in the U.S. are cared for by hospice every year.

Hospice and palliative care volunteers help the people they serve live every moment of life to the fullest and enable the organizations they work with to achieve their mission in the community. Most hospice volunteers choose to give their time helping others because of their own experience with the compassionate care hospice provided to a dying loved one.

It is federally mandated under Medicare that five percent of all patient care hours be provided by trained volunteers reflecting the vital role that volunteers play in the provision of care.

For those interested in learning more about hospice or volunteer opportunities, please call us at 303.604.5226.

• Identify your guilty feelings and regrets, and think about what might give you relief.
• Try to be objective about what happened.
• Remember you were doing the best you could under difficult circumstances.
• Be prepared to forgive yourself.
• Find ways to work through your feelings, such as service in the community.
• Look for the lessons to be gained.
• Most importantly, don’t forget the good things you did in your relationship.

Adapted from The Mourning Handbook by Helen Fitzgerald

Employees at TRU Community care enjoyed a taco and dessert bar as part of their recurring fundraising efforts for Bumbuli Hospice in Tanzania. The event raised $208.00!

Seeking to embrace and support a mission beyond our local community, in 2006 TRU Community Care formed a partnership with Bumbuli Hospice in Tanzania. This special relationship remains strong, with TRU employees making generous contributions and traveling to Tanzania to work alongside Bumbuli’s team to learn more about the challenges they face.

Through these experiences, we’ve recognized the immense need for end-of-life care in Bumbuli. We’ve also witnessed the remarkable compassion and efficiency of the team in responding to area needs.