MorningStar

Like many children, you might have stepped into the caregiver role with the determination to give back the same love and support your parents once gave you. This type of caregiving can be deeply rewarding. But, being the sole caregiver to a parent who needs more help than you can give, it can take an emotional, physical, and mental toll on you. There is no shame in feeling this way. Assisted living becomes the sustainable solution for many families because oessional care and 24/7 support. Choosing Support Deciding to explore senior living options outside of your own caregiving can bring up complicated thoughts and emotions. Guilt, fear, and sadness are some of the popular ones families discuss before making a change. Seeking support doesn’t mean you are giving up on your loved one. In fact, this is far from the truth. Senior living support options exist to lighten the load on families and single adults while maintaining a high quality of life for seniors. Assisted Living Support Hiri...

Families face many difficult challenges and decisions. The health and wellness of our parents will always be a complicated path. Hopefully, with the right senior living support, this decision can feel easier. MorningStars are designed to provide the ideal level of care to each resident who requires assisted living support. If you notice some of the signs below, then it might be time to consider support for your loved one. Difficulty with Daily Tasks Completing everyday tasks can get a little more time-consuming as we age. Our bodies slow down, we may be less agile, and navigating the world is just a little more complicated than it was before. However, if you’re noticing that your loved one is having a hard time cooking, cleaning, taking medications, or performing a daily routine, this is a common sign that assisted living may be necessary . Safety Concerns Unfortunately, living with your senior loved one doesn’t always stop accidents from happening. We constantly worry about our loved ...

Connection is a crucial part of any lifestage. Sometimes, we take for granted the importance of friendship in our life. At MorningStar Senior Living, our community goes beyond providing care and support. Here, we look for added opportunities to help residents build connections and create lasting friendships. Come tour today and see how modern assisted living encourages friendship for seniors . Built-in Community Transitioning to senior living doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it feels. At MorningStar, you will be surrounded by others at a similar stage in their life, many of whom share similar interests, passions, and hobbies. This helps to create an instant, built-in community for residents at MorningStar Senior Living. With shared spaces, hobby rooms, dining spaces, and plenty of community activities, you are sure to meet someone you could have never imagined retirement without. Group Activities and Amenities Modern communities, like MorningStar, offer many of the same variety of...

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are critical for good health. They provide our energy and maintain healthy skin and hair, build muscles, and boost our immune system among others. The body needs twenty amino acids, of which; nine are called essential amino acids and are not manufactured in our bodies but provided through diet. These are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Foods that contain all of the essential amino acids are known as complete proteins and are found in a variety of foods including red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, tofu, quinoa, chia seeds and buckwheat. Experts explain animal proteins are the most easily absorbed and used by the body. Foods that contain some of the essential amino acids are referred to as incomplete proteins and include things like nuts, seeds and beans, some grains, and fruits and vegetables. If you do not eat animal foods, you should eat a large va...

If you have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or another dementia-related disease, you most likely understand the challenge of introducing changes into their day-to-day routine. One big change, which can be stressful for all involved, is when a family decides it is time to move a parent or another loved one into retirement communities offering memory care. A Place for Mom’s website warns families it can take a while for a loved one to adapt. They encourage the family to take an optimistic view about the move, and help the person focus on the positive aspects of the community, talking up the programs and activities, quality of care, and the social interactions. Moreover, rather than spending time second-guessing your decision, remember you carefully searched for the best place for your loved one and now you need to trust the experts in the community. A few tips to help your loved one’s transition is to fix up the suite much like their old home, adding family photos and other favorite mement...

MorningStar of Wheat Ridge is a 55+ community in a suburb northwest of Denver. We provide residents compassionate assisted living and memory care with resort-style amenities, wellness programs and activities, and a wide range of care services to ensure their utmost comfort and wellbeing. At MorningStar we define health and well-being holistically and as such, offer programming that supports the whole person – body, mind and spirit. Reflective of the full authority of our licensing with the Department of Health, our resident care services are broad and help extend the stay of residents even as their health conditions change. In fact, we will routinely look for creative solutions (within our licensing mandate) that yield a higher quality of care for residents often at a lower cost to their families. To improve care services, we proudly bring the MorningStar Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to our Wheat Ridge retirement communities. It provides us with a central, mobile solution ...

The Harvard Medical School writes that many people suffering from fatigue, joint pain, and digestive issues may have chronic inflammation that is affecting their health and not know it. For many, chronic inflammation plays a central role in some of the most challenging diseases of our time. These include conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and even Alzheimer’s disease. So, what is inflammation and when is it considered chronic? The Cleveland Clinic explains, “Inflammation is a normal part of your body’s response to injuries and invaders (like germs). It promotes healing and helps you feel better. But inflammation that happens when there’s no injury or invader can harm healthy parts of your body and cause a range of chronic diseases.” Chronic inflammation can be the result of a variety of factors such as persistent infections, autoimmune disorders, environmental exposures, and lifestyle factors like poor diet and lack of physical activity. In so...

Every year we hear about the thousands of people who die from pneumonia. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2022 there were over 40,000 deaths in the US due to pneumonia and most of them were over the age of 65. Weakened immune systems, a greater prevalence of chronic diseases, and age-related changes in lung function all contribute to making the elderly more vulnerable to infections including pneumonia. The CDC ranks pneumonia as the 10th leading cause of death with a mortality rate for severe pneumonia in the elderly as high as 20 percent. The Cleveland Clinic explains pneumonia is inflammation and fluid in the lungs caused by a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. Symptoms include a fever, difficulty breathing and a cough with yellow, green or bloody mucus. The flu, COVID-19 and pneumococcal disease are common causes of pneumonia; and treatment is based on the cause and severity. Bacterial infections include Streptococcus pneumoniae, and are one ...

As we age doctors recommend seniors get some additional health screenings. However, certain tests may no longer be required for very elderly people so be sure to talk to your doctor about what is appropriate based on your medical history and age. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends adults 65 years and older get a thorough eye exam every 1-2 years as problems increase with age. Ophthalmologists warn serious diseases such as glaucoma can silently steal our vision without noticeable symptoms. An exam also looks for signs of cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Colorectal cancer screening is recommended for adults starting at age 50 and continuing until age 75 (if you’re older than 75, it may depend on your history). Tests include colonoscopies, fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), or flexible sigmoidoscopy. Breast cancer screenings are recommended at age 50 to 74 every 1-2 years, or based on family history of breast cancer. For men, prostate canc...

Along with assisted living, MorningStar at Mountain Shadows offers individualized, specialized care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementia-related diseases. Our holistic approach to memory care includes finding ways to connect with and nurture the essence of the individual, and to celebrate and elevate life. Our Reflections Neighborhood is specifically designed to meet the needs of residents throughout the various stages of the disease. The area houses 19 suites and is intended to encourage residents to safely explore their surroundings with clear wayfinding and inviting common areas. Memory care residents also enjoy the outdoors in the secure courtyard. Mealtimes in the Reflections Neighborhood are as much about Community as they are about Nutrition, with residents and team members eating together. Family style meals allow team members to encourage residents’ appetites as well as to provide any needed assistance with eating. In addition, much of our food is modified out of ...

Sometimes a senior has a fall or another medical emergency that precipitates the need for a change in their living circumstances such as a move into an assisted living community. Other times, the situation is not so clear-cut and is more a case of a senior slowly losing the ability to attend to their daily care needs. Most older adults wish to maintain their independence as long as possible by living on their own; and that is why many who encounter problems in their day-to-day lives are reluctant to get the help they need. The problem with this is as a senior starts to have more difficulty caring for themselves, their quality of life can be greatly diminished. We know it is upsetting for families to see their loved one decline, which is why experts offer advice to help determine if an assisted living setting would be an improvement in their lifestyle. One way to decide if assisted living is right for your parent or another loved one is to take an inventory of what they are having t...

We have all had the experience of sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office with a clipboard or tablet loaded with forms ready to be filled out. You may wonder why as you have already filled out similar forms at your other healthcare providers, and maybe even at this office. Experts say it is good to remember there are several reasons why you are being asked for your medical history again. To start with, your health may have changed. Additionally, not all doctor offices have access to the same digital information; or it may not have been updated. Also, a specialist may be looking for different information not typically collected by your primary care physician. Remember your refusal to answer questions could make it harder for your doctor to see the full picture of your problem; or at the very least make you look uncooperative. Dr. Robert Shmerling, a rheumatologist and senior faculty editor at Harvard Health Publishing, agrees you are not obligated to fill out your medical histo...

As we age, more of us worry about ourselves or a loved one getting Alzheimer’s disease. Currently the disease does not have a cure but there are several medications that help mitigate symptoms, and a few more promising treatments on the horizon. That being said, it is still a disease none of us wish to experience. Many people are aware of studies showing a good diet and exercise are not only good for heart health but also good for maintaining cognitive health. Additionally, Jessica Caldwell, a neuropsychologist and director of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement Prevention Center at the Cleveland Clinic, told AARP there are lesser-known things people can do to strengthen cognitive health. She explains it involves letting go of some bad habits and replacing them with healthier ones. One suggestion is to try and limit negative thoughts. A study reports “participants who repeatedly dwelled on negative thoughts had more amyloid and tau deposits in their brain, the biological markers o...