Speaker 1
Good Saturday morning to everybody and welcome to your next chapter, a production of the Heights at Avery Heights, a one of a kind senior living community, centrally located near the most entertaining and historical spots in Connecticut. Now this show is dedicated to empowering older adults with helpful resources, ideas, inspiration and tips to encourage them on life’s journey. Now, our production is also dedicated to the younger generation so they can better understand how to develop greater communication and enjoyment for those elders in their community.

Speaker 1
Along with the Heights Senior Living Specialist, Siobhan Mattingly, I’m Gary Byron. Siobhan, good to see you. Good to see you.

Speaker 1
How was your week? It was good. Go UConn.

Speaker 1
Yes, I know. Did you see that game?

Speaker 2
What was it? Monday night. I did.

Speaker 2
I fell asleep at the end of it. I was so mad. I was trying to stay awake.

Speaker 2
I was into the… No, I’m glad they won. But I was into the second half and I fell asleep.

Speaker 2
I would rather fell asleep on the beginning, not the end. What? I wanted to…

Speaker 2
I know. Really? I should have been laying down.

Speaker 2
You couldn’t have taken a nap earlier?

Speaker 1
I know. I watched the whole thing Monday night. And of course, I got to get up at 4.30 in the morning. I know.

Speaker 2
Tuesday. That’s impressive, yeah.

Speaker 1
I was dragging.

Speaker 2
Yeah.

Speaker 1
Oh, my goodness. You have no… So I got four hours in. Because the game ended around like 10 of 12.

Speaker 1
But then with all the pomp and circumstances. They cut down the… They cut down the net and the ceremonies.

Speaker 1
Oh, my goodness. The trophy and… That was a good game.

Speaker 2
Those three partners were ridiculous.

Speaker 1
You know what I find fascinating about that championship game Monday night? Neither team was really a contender all year long. I mean, even UConn lost in the Big East.

Speaker 1
They choked. I remember that was a Friday night game. I remember watching that, and it was over only minutes into that game.

Speaker 1
But look at that. They came back.

Speaker 2
Yeah, and I was expecting, actually, California, San Francisco. What is it? San Diego.

Speaker 2
San Diego State. I was expecting because they kept on saying that they come back in that second half because I guess the two games they had prior to, they came back. They were down like 13 or whatever, and they came back.

Speaker 2
I was all into the commentary for this. I was like listening to – who was there? Was it Charles Barkley and those guys were kind of doing the commentary?

Speaker 2
Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1
They were doing the – but Jim Nance, I think, was doing the actual play-by-play.

Speaker 2
They seemed to have a couple of different groups of commentary. Like they had the – Well, yeah, they had the Greg Gumbel and Kellogg. And then they had a smaller –

Speaker 1
Yeah. Yes. That’s like the pre and half game and the post game. But the play-by-play and the color, I think – that was Jim Nance’s last game.

Speaker 2
Wow.

Speaker 1
I know.

Speaker 2
He’s been around for a long time. He has.

Speaker 1
He’s not even that old of a guy. He’s still going to do NFL. He’s still going to do the Masters, which is going on right now this weekend.

Speaker 2
Right.

Speaker 1
Easter weekend. Yeah. He’s just not going to do the bracket. He’s going to want to spend more time with his family.

Speaker 2
Makes sense. Got a young family. It’s a lot.

Speaker 2
It’s a lot. So what’s new over at the Heights? Easter dinner tomorrow.

Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. We’re doing a brunch.

Speaker 2
Look at that. Tim is putting the final touches, you know. That Tim.

Speaker 2
The master chef he is. You tell him I said hello. I know, right?

Speaker 2
Yeah. I’m excited

Speaker 1
Do you have a Is it typically When you look back On the last You know Few Easters Or even just last year Was it Busy At the Heights

Speaker 2
Or a lot of families Come to That is a good question And one for our guests Actually Because I started in May My anniversary is coming up On the 9th of May So I was not there For Easter I was there for Mother’s Day

Speaker 1
Well yeah Because that’s in May So that’s good I always want to tell you Do people leave And go to family Or do they come I know it’s both But I’m saying The majority of people Do they leave the premises and then go to a family member’s house? Or do you have more people that, more family that come to the Heights?

Speaker 2
I feel like more family than I’ve ever seen, actually, in any other community I’ve worked in come to the Heights because we actually have the hospitality rooms as well. And so I know, for example, for Christmas, and I think I’ve mentioned this a few times, I think she was there the day after Christmas. And I remember sitting at my desk and it was around like four o’clock.

Speaker 2
And this is when you know it’s time to leave. And the Christmas carols started right outside my office, someone playing the piano, everybody singing, kids running back and forth. I’m like, I think it’s time to go home.

Speaker 2
I’m not getting any work done here, but it was neat to see. It really, it comes to life. It’s really beautiful.

Speaker 1
Well, great. Speaking of our guests, why don’t you do the liberty of introducing her?

Speaker 2
Well, this is actually, and I truly mean this to me, one of the most important people at our community. I have actually never worked at a senior living community where we had this role, the resident services coordinator. Roseanne Holland is amazing.

Speaker 2
She is a social worker. She’s been with the company or the organization for 26 years. And she absolutely positively is incredible.

Speaker 2
She knows what she’s doing. She’s an incredible advocate for our residents, as well as she literally holds the hand of not only the residents’ families, the residents themselves, but even, like, the staff. Like, she really is that catalyst, so to speak, that brings it all together for us.

Speaker 2
Oh, wow. I really. That’s remarkable.

Speaker 2
And I truly mean that. I don’t know how I would do my job without her. Well, I can’t wait to meet her.

Speaker 2
Let’s bring her on. So let me introduce Ms. Roseanne Holland.

Speaker 1
Roseanne, nice to meet you. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 3
Thank you so much. It’s wonderful to be here, and that was such a kind introduction. Thank you. It was true.

Speaker 1
I can tell. Just looking at you, it’s very heartfelt. Roseanne, please, I’d love to know more about you and specifically your role and what you do at the Heights.

Speaker 3
Sure. I’d love to tell you about that. It’s such a wonderful community, and I’ve been a part of it, as Siobhan said, for 26, going on 27 years.

Speaker 3
I’ve been a social worker for just over 30 years, and my background is in more medically oriented social work. I came out of a hospital setting where I worked doing counseling with patients and families, And then I worked in a rehabilitation setting doing short-term kinds of things and helping people to get back into their own homes after a rehab stay. And I developed an affinity for the senior citizen population.

Speaker 3
And that’s what led me to Avery Heights and then more specifically to the Heights at Avery Heights. So in my role, my day-to-day role, I have a very hands-on position. It’s a direct care role, and I’m involved with our residents really from the very time they move in.

Speaker 3
And sometimes even Siobhan helps me to connect with them before they move in so that we know each other a little bit on move-in day, which is great. I work in the area that is described as independent living and assisted living. We have apartments here.

Speaker 3
We have cottages. That’s all my domain, and I describe myself as being part of the package. I’m available to people as a support person.

Speaker 3
I really like to help them orient to life at the Heights when they arrive so that they get off to a really good start and have a really good time here.

Speaker 1
Sounds like you have an incredible value. And I would imagine not every senior living community actually has your position. That just makes the Heights just that much more spectacular and unique. Rosanne, what is your, like a typical day, what does that look like for you? Maybe give us a sample of your day.

Speaker 3
And I feel as though the beauty of my role is that there is pretty much no typical day, and that’s what I love about it. I’m going to share with you some of the kinds of things that I do and some of the issues that really are a priority to me, but just know that every day is different, and I’ve learned that it’s so important to leave room in each and every day for the unexpected. because when you’re amongst people, when you’re working with people, all sorts of different things can come up any minute of any day.

Speaker 3
But my priority is really to spend time with and pay attention to our residents. So I either invite people into my office if they have something that is on their mind that they want to talk with me about, but I also am happy to go to their home, either to their apartment or up to their cottage. It doesn’t matter to me.

Speaker 3
I just want to be wherever they’re most comfortable. I also have lots of involvement with our residents’ families because when residents move in, everything is new for them, and likewise, everything is new for their families as well. So that’s a big component of what I do is also staying in touch with the families, making sure that their questions are answered and that they know the ropes and where to turn for the things that they might be looking for so that they can be the best support people that they can be for their loved ones.

Speaker 3
A big piece of my role is, I think you get a hint of it in my title, I am the Resident Services Coordinator. As such, I’m meant to be the point person for people who live here to learn about and get connected to the supports and services that they might need as individuals. Avery Heights, I always say, is a big, beautiful place, and there’s lots to learn about it, but there’s not any way for a new resident or a new family member to know all about it from the moment they arrive.

Speaker 3
So I’m meant to be that person that they know they can call on and get answers and get connected to whatever it is they might need, whether it’s nursing services, whether it’s some people want home-delivered groceries. Everyone learned how to order their own home-delivered groceries during the pandemic, whether it’s physical therapy, whatever it might be. I also have a support group that we run different support groups over the course of time.

Speaker 3
Currently, we have a caregiver support group that I run along with Holly Taylor Fry, who I believe has been on your podcast previously. She’s the director of our memory care unit here. And I also like to leave, for our newer residents, although anyone’s welcome to come, a tour of our whole campus.

Speaker 3
We are a continuum of care, and it’s really nice for people to get to see how all the different buildings interconnect, why people might live in one area versus a different area. Just really get comfortable, get people comfortable with their home here.

Speaker 1
One of the things that you said that really struck me was your involvement and interaction with family members. And I’m just curious, who is more bright eyed, bright eyed when you initially sit down and talk to them or guide them? Is it the the potential resident, him or herself or. Or the family members, maybe like maybe a better question is who asks more questions and and is that point person that. You know what I’m saying?

Speaker 3
I do. Yes, yes. And the answer, of course, varies.

Speaker 3
I would almost divide that into a little bit of two categories. We have some residents that move in that have done all their own research. They have visited a variety of communities.

Speaker 3
They come with their eyes wide open, and they know just what they’re looking for, and they’re kind of ready to roll. You know, they come in with their questions. Their family is very much more so on the sideline as support people, But those residents, they want to know, gee, how do I get to this activity?

Speaker 2
What time does dinner start?

Speaker 3
All that kind of stuff. Other times we have people, and you might be able to imagine this, where the families have really been the ones that are encouraging their loved one to make the move. So in those instances, I find sometimes those residents, upon arrival, and I try to be there on their move-in day, they might be a little bit quieter, a little more reticent. The families might be the ones really buzzing around, really with lots of questions on their mind. And over the course of time, whichever of those situations it is, it tends to even out.

Speaker 1
I would imagine perhaps some anxiety and curiosity, just a wide range of emotions, really with all family members, but particularly with that new resident, you know, where, you know, they’re excited, but they’re nervous, but they’re kind of excited in some way. But I guess it’s that unknown. I think we’re all guilty of the fear of the unknown.

Speaker 1
And it just takes a while, I would imagine, like anything else to get acclimated. I guess maybe a companion question would be, Roseanne, when a new resident moves into the Heights, Like, what’s the process that you use to help them transition successfully? And do you use that formula pretty much uniformly, or do you customize your process according to the individual that you’re with at that moment?

Speaker 3
I absolutely have to read the room. It has to be customized. I can come in with, you know, I certainly have developed over the course of time, I have a pretty specific orientation process that I like to go through with each resident, but I have to, you know, a really basic premise of social work is you have to start where your client is at. So I have to get a sense of what are their needs right now. Sometimes I come in with, you know, all my ideas of all the fantastic things that I want to share with someone, but mostly there are times in that first visit where someone mostly really just wants to talk about themselves. They want me, they want us, the people that work here, to know who they are.

Speaker 3
And that’s obviously vitally important. Some people really are much more full of their own questions that they’ve come in with. So I do have my orientation process, but the time frame that I provide that orientation process really varies from person to person, because maybe in that first visit. We just need to sit and have a getting to know you session. And equally, I want them to be very comfortable with me because when I leave that apartment or leave that cottage after that first visit, I want them to know they can count on me, they can turn to me, that I’ll be there for them.

Speaker 3
So a lot of it is about developing relationships and trying to allay those very fears that you talked about, Gary, that fear of the unknown. That’s pretty big. You know, any of us taking a move to any new place.

Speaker 3
That’s inevitable. So that’s, we work through that with people. Absolutely.

Speaker 1
And actually, Siobhan, you can comment as well. I mean, you must, both of you, when you see that person on day one, and maybe that look on their face, and I don’t want to misstate this, or I don’t want to, but I guess it’s wonderment. And compare that to if you were to look at one day, you know, one week to the day later, you know, one week to the day later.

Speaker 1
I mean, they’re probably acclimated. They’ve gotten friends and they’re already making plans. It’s just that must be a very interesting or fun week.

Speaker 1
I don’t know. Maybe fun is maybe an overstretch, but certainly a unique week to observe a new resident, you know, because they’re just bright eyed. And, you know, it’s a whole new world that is right before them.

Speaker 1
And I would imagine, Rosanna, maybe you can answer this. Do people have preconceived a conception of what that experience will be like? And then when they’re there for a week or two and they come to the realization of, oh, it’s not what I thought at all.

Speaker 1
It’s better. And they feel relieved. I don’t know.

Speaker 1
I’m kind of going all over the place here.

Speaker 3
Yes, it’s a great point. And I would say the majority of people have an experience, like you have described, where they, you know, the place doesn’t feel foreign to them anymore. Once faces become familiar faces, once they know who their neighbors are and they know who the staff members are and they find the friendliness everywhere they go in the dining room when they utilize our van service.

Speaker 3
I mean, everybody talks about all of our different staff members, and they say, our residents say the nicest things about all of these departments. I mean, I get so many compliments on our drivers that get people to their appointments and to their shopping trips. I get so many compliments on the servers, the wait staff in the dining room, the housekeepers who are, you know, in people’s apartments doing very important work.

Speaker 3
So I think it’s once people have a sense of community, and we really are a true community here. We really talk about people becoming part of our Avery family. That really helps people to say, wow, I didn’t realize, you know, this is what it was going to be like.

Speaker 3
Others who have, some people move in and they already have friends that moved in ahead of them. Those people tend to come in already having a good sense of that. You know, they come in knowing this is a community, this is a warm place, this is a genuine place.

Speaker 3
And they come in with a really high expectation.

Speaker 1
Folks, we’re listening to your next chapter, a production of The Heights at Avery Heights, along with senior living specialists Siobhan Mattingly. I’m Gary Byron. Our guest this morning is Roseanne Holland. She is a resident services coordinator. Suzanne, if someone is having, oh, I don’t know, maybe a difficult time adjusting, are there things that you can do to help them feel more comfortable and acclimate themselves a little bit more successfully?

Speaker 3
Yes. Definitely, that’s something that we’re tuned in on. It’s something that we’re paying attention to and watching for because transitions are a really important time, beginning with getting started.

Speaker 3
It’s a really important time, and if someone is having more difficulty with that, we draw in closer to that person. That’s someone that we identify, oh, this is someone that needs more support. And it’s not just me.

Speaker 3
It’s a team of people here working together on that. Myself, what I like to do with someone who’s having a more difficult time in my role is I like to sit down with them and have a heart-to-heart conversation. Because if they’re willing to tell me what is going on for them, then we can work with that.

Speaker 3
You know, if they share what their concern is, if they feel like, gee, I don’t feel like I fit in. I feel like I’m younger than others or older than others or whatever it might be, then we’re able to work with that. Other times, something that we’ve done, sometimes I’m the one that does it, is to take our activity schedule for the week, which is, I mean, just chock full of fantastic things to do, and really sit down with a new resident and help to identify what are some things that you might like to do.

Speaker 3
Let’s go through this schedule together. Sometimes people, they’re a little bashful about things. They feel like others already have friends and they don’t. Maybe they need someone to accompany them to an activity that they might enjoy, to come see an entertainer, to learn how to sign up to take our van somewhere.

Speaker 3
Sometimes it’s doing concrete things like that, doing some of the handholding, giving someone some encouragement. In addition to that, if someone is having adjustment issues and they seem to be more of an emotional nature, maybe they really are having a difficult time, we do have a consultant that can come in. She’s a licensed clinical social worker from a company called Harvest Healthcare.

Speaker 3
And she’s really skilled at sitting down with people to do the counseling sessions with them in a scheduled way to really get to talk through what those issues are. That’s nice to hear. And help someone make their way through that.

Speaker 3
So there’s lots of different ways that we can be helpful.

Speaker 1
If I remember correctly, did you say you’ve been with the Heights for 26 years? That’s right. I’m going to ask you kind of a personal question. um what keeps you there you can go anywhere you can use your skill your experience anywhere but yet 26 years i mean that’s that’s impressive with with one company i mean that’s amazing what keeps you at

Speaker 3
avery heights thank you i love that question you know just as much as i say that avery heights is a great place to live it is also a great place to work and the residents you know that’s the first that comes to mind of, you know, what keeps me here? It is these residents here. It really is a privilege for me to be part of their lives. I get to come in for my work day and kind of be who I am, be with people, be curious about people, learn from people. I learn so much from this population of residents. And when they let me into their life, that’s really a gift.

Speaker 3
You know, we don’t all let new people into our lives all the time. So the fact that they do that, that really is a draw for me. And conversely, I really feel as though these residents are a part of my life.

Speaker 3
You can imagine over the course of 26 years, I’ve gone through a lot of changes in my own life, and there were residents that were there on my wedding day. They showed up at the church on my wedding day. I mean, it was, you know, I could tear up just thinking about it.

Speaker 3
There were residents who came to my mother’s service when my own mom passed away. So they’re really part of my life as I am part of theirs.

Speaker 1
You know, it sounds like everybody’s aging or maybe a better word is just, you know, you’re going through life together, you know. You know, I’m running out of time, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you for some, oh, I don’t know, some stories that you can tell us, some success stories that you’ve witnessed in your 26 years

Speaker 3
there? Oh, sure. My goodness. I feel like success, you know, it comes in all shapes and sizes, right? So, I mean, small successes are great successes. People who tell me that they met up with friends that they had lost track of years ago, people that went to high school together and that haven’t seen each other since then, and they meet up again here and start having a great time.

Speaker 3
they can pick up where they left off. I mean, that’s a success story to me. We had a gentleman at one time who he was very, his biggest concern was about, he felt like he’d be giving up his independence to move in and be accepting of some services.

Speaker 3
And when I went back for a follow-up visit with him, he said to me, you know, it’s the best of both worlds here. He felt like he had the privacy of his own apartment, but he had the support that he needed, which he had been holding off on for a long time. That was a huge success story.

Speaker 3
Another woman who moved in and was really feeling quite shy, and when I went to see her on her second day here, and it was late in the day, and she’d stayed home that whole day and she hadn’t come out yet, and I said, come on out, we’re having some entertainment. It was evening, we had some evening entertainment going on. We came downstairs together.

Speaker 3
I introduced her to one gentleman, to another resident, and he took her by the hand and went from there and introduced her to everybody else and the next time I peeked in she was up and dancing and I

Speaker 2
and they got married

Speaker 1
just kidding now that would be a story right there what and I’m sad I’ve got to wrap this up I’ve got a few other questions that come to mind but I guess I’d want to leave it with this if there’s a piece of advice that you could tell our listeners maybe to help them with their transition into a senior living community? And I know you probably have a laundry list of things that you can go over, but what’s one or two nuggets that you can just extract from that and say, these are the top two, these are key to help you in transitioning to senior living? What would it be?

Speaker 3
The first one would simply be to be yourself. You know, bring everything, bring your experiences, bring your fears, bring your questions, bring your joys, bring yourself. Just be yourself and come and share of yourself.

Speaker 3
And I think that’s the best way to connect with other people. There’s no reason to come here and feel as though, no reason to move into any senior living and feel as though you can’t be yourself. If you’re someone that is a joiner, join in on things.

Speaker 3
If you’re someone that likes a quieter life in retirement, you can have that as well. I just would say be open to the next step along your journey. It really has the potential to be quite wonderful.

Speaker 1
Siobhan, what’s really important here is she used the term the best of both worlds when she was paraphrasing what a new resident had said who was afraid of losing their independence and maybe some of their identity with that independence. But it’s there. Yes.

Speaker 1
And at a time when you need others, well, that’s there. Yes. And you don’t have that when you’re living alone and it’s 9 o’clock at night or 9 o’clock in the morning and you really need companionship that, well, you have that option.

Speaker 1
Or support and services.

Speaker 2
And, you know, you don’t have to worry about stairs and getting in the car and putting equipment in the car. You can just kind of go outside your door and have, like she said, the best of both worlds.

Speaker 1
Thank you so much for being with us this morning, Roseanne. We’ve learned a lot. And I can’t thank you enough for giving your time to us.

Speaker 1
Folks, you have been listening to the latest edition of your next chapter, Senior Living, with Siobhan Mattingly, the Heights Senior Living Specialist. Avery Heights, by the way, is a beautiful senior living community nestled within 43 acres of nature, right in the heart of the junction between West Hartford, Newington and Hartford. Those who live there have access to a full continuum of care, including independent and assisted living to memory care and a whole lot more.

Speaker 1
Visit AveryHeights.org or call 860-953-1201. That’s 860-953-1201 to learn more about their own special brand of community, unlike any other in Connecticut. For Siobhan Mattingly, I’m Gary Byron.

Speaker 1
Thank you so much for listening. Until next weekend, have a good one, everybody. So long.