Living the Memories

By encouraging residents to live in the comfort of the lives they remember, Elmcroft of Sagamore Hills has changed the standard of senior care.

By: Ken McEntee
Date: 07/16/2009
According to Gervase Bardy, the Elmcroft of Sagamore Hills assisted living community is more fun than a Caribbean cruise. And when you watch him carry on with friends like John “Sappy” Sapola and Gigi Girbino, there is no reason not to believe him.

Gervase is one of Elmcroft’s part-timers. The 83-year-old Twinsburg resident, who spent most of his life living off Fleet Avenue, in Slavic Village, now lives with his daughter, who drops him off at Elmcroft three times a week to spend the days.

“My daughter went on a cruise in the Caribbean,” shares Gervase. “She invited me to come, but I said I didn’t want to go. I have more fun here.”

It’s John who gladly introduces Gervase to a group of Elmcroft visitors.

“Here comes my buddy,” John announces as Gervase slowly approaches during a conversation in the welcoming and bustling lobby. Within moments, John entices his friend to demonstrate his yodeling techniques. Gervase promptly obliges.

“He can yodel better than I can,” John observes. “But I can sing better.”

And as he breaks into a song to prove his claim, the challenge is on. As John sings, Gervase begins a tune of his own, and a friendly game of “dueling standards” is on.

After a few minutes, the songs stop. The contestants don’t agree on a winner, but they do agree that they love to entertain their fellow residents.

John, who recently lost his wife of 61 years, thinks he’s lived at Elmcroft for about six weeks, but he isn’t quite sure. Although he’s sharp as a tack in conversation, he admits that his long-term memory is a lot better than his short-term memory is.

His passion is writing poetry.

“I have 300 poems in my room,” he insists. He hooks one of his poems to an Irish sounding melody and sings it to Kelly Forrest, residence director at Elmcroft:

“Some people are brave and daring.
That’s very exciting I’m sure.
But show me a person that’s caring
And I’ll show you a heart that is pure.”

John, a retired postman with five children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, walks slowly, using his late wife’s pink and white cane. He claims he doesn’t really need it, then surprisingly proves it, suddenly picking the cane up and sprinting quickly across the lobby.

“I like it here,” John says. “I like the people. They have church services with different denominations, but for me, the Lord’s the Lord, so I go to every one of them.”
Sitting down to relax with resident Gigi Girbino, John and Gervase encourage her to sing a song. Her brief, half-hearted resistance instantly melds into a confident rendition of “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone.”

Gigi, the mother of four, with four grandchildren, has lived at Elmcroft for eight months.
“I like it here,” she says. “It’s a nice place. Everybody is very nice. Whatever they are doing, I like to do—bingo, trivia, whatever.”

The camaraderie and partnership among residents, staff and family is one of Elmcroft’s strengths, says Beth Gamache, community relations director.

“As soon as you walk in you can see that the residents are talking with each other,” Beth explains. “It’s a very welcoming place. I think a lot of people choose us because of that sense of community. They choose us because it feels good here.”

Elmcroft of Sagamore Hills, situated in a country setting on five manicured acres, is surrounded by the Cuyahoga Valley Metro Park System. The 102 apartments, organized into “neighborhoods,” include two neighborhoods dedicated to residents with  memory loss. The community, called Heartland Village, offers long- and short-term stays, on-site rehabilitation and respite care, is staffed 24 hours a day with trained healthcare personnel and offers as much or as little care as a resident may want or need. Residents enjoy daily activities, a private dining room for family and guests, a library and sitting areas, a bistro and billiard activity room, housekeeping services and many other amenities.

The memory loss units offer Elmcroft patients consistency of care.

“Some people move in with just mild memory loss, but their families like the security of knowing that they can stay here if it develops into more advanced memory loss, instead of having to move into a more clinical setting,” Beth says. “That is another big advantage we offer.”

Residents with memory loss at Elmcroft are allowed to live in the comfort of the lives they remember, Kelly says.

“Some of them may have gone to work at 10 o’clock at night, and that’s what they remember,” she explains. “Some facilities want them to go to bed at that time, because that’s the rule. We believe in accommodating their reality instead of forcing ours on them, if it’s going to make them happy and secure. How many times are you going to put somebody to bed before you get smart and realize they don’t want to be there? Why not let them stay up and maybe have an interesting conversation.”

Elmcroft residents and their families have significant input into how the community is managed, Kelly says.

“There is a resident council that meets once a month to give us their feedback on food and other things,” she says. “They are not afraid to say what’s on their minds. We also have a family council, which is very unique to Elmcroft. There is sometimes a hesitation to do this because once a month you stand to get beat up about everything you’re doing wrong. But it is very constructive. It’s very helpful to get the perspective from the residents and the family members. It helps us to bring a higher quality of life to the residents who are staying with us.”

Kelly, who has worked with seniors since she began volunteering at a nursing home at the age of 12, finds her work highly rewarding.

“Most of the residents are very entertaining,” she says. “The nice thing about working with seniors is that they all have something to contribute if you only take the time to listen to them. They have lived through a lot of the mistakes that we’re yet to make.”

Elmcroft of Sagamore Hills is located at 997 West Aurora Road, in Sagamore. You can get more information, or schedule a tour, by calling 330-908-1166. You can find more information on the website at www.elmcroftal.com.

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