Resident Stories

“As a welcome move-in day gift for our resident of Irish descent, we arranged for a bagpiper to be here and entertain her and the rest of the community! It was very special! Peg, our new resident, was delighted and made her transition smoothly.”

An Irish Welcome

“A woman who came to live with us earlier this summer was a nurse for many years, and she takes great pride in her profession. We learned how important this was to her identity from her partnership profile, conversations with family members and the photos she displayed outside her apartment. Her initial transition was difficult, and our care team had been trying for weeks to coax her out of bed and out of her apartment. Her demeanor was sullen; her temperament was angry. Yet she noticed the nurses’ name badges and connected with them over their shared profession. She was heartened by their interest in her career and shared knowledge. Then, we had the idea to ask our resident if she would like to be our ‘Nursing Supervisor’ in the community and to give her a badge with her own name and title that she could wear every day. This offer, and her acceptance, was the start of a remarkably positive change in this resident.

She began to spend more time in the neighborhood outside of her apartment and participate in more community life enrichment. Her demeanor and temperament also improved over time. She engaged more with staff and other residents. And the nurses continue to talk with her as a peer to a peer, which reinforces her status and shows that we benefit from having her here as a resident. Her family is delighted with the turnaround and very complimentary on how this strategy has worked for their mom.”

From Resident to Nursing Supervisor

“A longtime resident, Beverly, had been a piano teacher for many years but due to her dementia, had not played for at least a decade, according to her family. Beverly had been living in our community for two years and although she had been invited to play the piano many times, she always declined. Beverly had been hard to engage, as her attention span was short, which is why playing the piano had become so challenging for her.

One day, one of our Life Enrichment assistants, Wayne, asked Beverly if she wanted to play the piano. Beverly responded with her usually boisterous “no,” but Wayne kept asking, hoping she could eventually be redirected to play. After some time, Wayne finally got the idea to roll the piano over to where Beverly was seated and sat down beside her. He started tapping the keys and talking to Beverly about her years playing the piano. Within a few minutes, Beverly began tickling the ivories, slow and steady at first, but soon was playing a beautiful piece without prompting from Wayne.

This was such a moment, as the staff had always heard of Beverly’s talent on the piano but had never witnessed it in person. Since that day, Beverly has enjoyed sitting at the piano and playing alongside another resident, Polly, and the two have played to a large audience, much to the joy of Beverly’s family!”

A Musical Breakthrough

“Marc was an entrepreneur and had his own Business Development Consulting business, where he would consult with small businesses to make them better. While living at Artis, Marc would ‘conduct meetings’ and manage our work ethic and give us helpful tips and advice to make a better day.”

Back in Business

“One way we express Artis Senior Living’s ideal that ‘everyone deserves to have a voice’ is by holding monthly Town Meetings. At these events, residents can weigh in on policies, their preferences about daily life and even what restaurant to visit that month. At a recent Town Meeting, residents were asked about things they used to love to do but can no longer enjoy. The topic of missing going to farmers markets came up. Our creative Life Enrichment associates designed an authentic farmers market, complete with a wide selection of produce, fall decorations, delectable baked goods, and baskets for each resident to shop.”

Farmers Market Comes to Visit

“Nancy was the executive director at a local senior community, so on her first day living with us, and still to this day, Nancy has been an Artis ‘employee.’ She helps residents get where they need to be, and she helps our new residents become familiar with their new community.”

On The Job

“Resident Peter moved to Artis at 101 years old and has since celebrated two birthdays with us. When we learned that he had been a POW and was a decorated WWII veteran, we contacted the local Veterans Affairs office to help us welcome and celebrate Peter. We were prepared to honor him with some fanfare, but we could not have anticipated the response from local veterans who arrived en masse for the event. In addition to his entire extended family, there were three generals, 25 soldiers in fatigues, five local veterans, two selectmen, and two state representatives in attendance. It was particularly heartwarming to witness the respected tradition of the generals passing their commemorative coins on to Peter, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.”

Saluting a POW and World War II Veteran

“On the longest day of the year, June 21st, we hosted a fashion show to celebrate. Our residents, who are true fashionistas, walked the red carpet as they modeled beautiful clothing from Macy’s. The smiles on our residents’ faces were priceless, and the event was outstanding! Our residents live with dementia and fight every day with dignity and class. We were so grateful to Macy’s for partnering with us and making the day extra special.”

Red Carpet Fashion

“One resident had aphasia and had pretty much lost his ability to speak. It’s very frustrating for him, but he wanted help in celebrating his wedding anniversary. On the anniversary date, when his wife came to visit, residents and staff were all gathered around the room, carrying a banner the residents had made—with our resident in the center, holding a bouquet of flowers and a card for his wife. We even helped him sign his name on the card—something he hadn’t been able to do in years!”

Special Anniversary

“One year during a snowstorm, the residents wanted to have a snowball fight—so we brought in bowls of snow for them, and they did indeed throw snowballs at one another.”

Snowball Fight!