Hello JAA community members! My name is Tye Ogg and I’m proud to introduce myself as the Director of Anathan Adult Day Memory Care Services. I’ve been in this role for about six months and have enjoyed getting to know our wonderful members and their families while doing what I love every day. I have 25 years of experience working with adults who have dementia and disabilities, and treat everyone I care for like my own family. I am happy to be part of the JAA team!
Anathan Adult Day, a nationally recognized Hearthstone-certified program, is designed to fit each members’ individual needs.
Our goal each day is to create experiences for our members that are engaging, stimulating and purposeful. Our full schedule of activities is built to fulfill our members by keeping their minds sharp, supporting their spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being, and encouraging social interactions among peers.
Each morning begins with members singing oldies and socializing with each other as they settle in for the day. Once everyone arrives, we start our opening activity, which includes a discussion about local current events, weather updates, and members sharing stories from the night before or the weekend. We celebrate birthdays and holidays by honoring traditions with activities and special foods. Birthday celebrations include parties with fun decorations, cake, and music!
The JAA’s Director of Pastoral Care, Rabbi Dovid Small, visits us regularly and leads services for our members. On Jewish holidays, he joins us to celebrate and share the stories and traditions of the holiday. Most recently, we celebrated Passover with a model Seder, where members experienced the spirit of the holiday and enjoyed matzah and grape juice together.
Recognizing the physical and emotional benefits of pet therapy, Anathan members enjoy regular weekly visits from Cooper, a friendly therapy poodle, and his owner Bonny. Cooper is incredibly patient and happily lets the members pet and fuss over him as long as they want.
Games like Wheel of Fortune encourage teamwork and strategic thinking, and with our members’ enthusiasm and determination no puzzle goes unsolved! BINGO is another popular choice, which is great for helping with memory and number recognition in a fun, engaging way.
Anathan members also use the CONNECT Dementia Engagement Platform, which is a tablet-based app that prompts members with questions about various topics. These questions spark meaningful conversations between members, encouraging them to share their experiences, life stories, and to ask each other questions. It is wonderful to see their interactions during these sessions, which have become a great tool for increasing their communication and socialization with other members and staff.
Each day after lunch we do about an hour of simple chair exercises to help members maintain their physical strength and reduce falls. These gentle, yet effective exercises make a difference in their mobility.
As the weather gets warmer, we’re looking forward to spending more time outdoors in our beautiful courtyard. We’ve already planted seeds for our flowers, vegetables, and herbs inside, and once the risk of frost is gone we’ll move them outside. We’re even hoping to enjoy a fresh salad or two with our homegrown lettuce! We’ve also started seedlings on our windowsills in plastic bags, and members are enjoying watching them grow a little more each day.
If members require additional care, JAA’s home health and hospice staff are able to provide the extra support needed while they are here for the day. These visits are arranged at the family’s request, with the necessary physician orders, and nursing and therapy services are coordinated internally through the appropriate departments. Receiving these services during the day allows participants to enjoy our programming while also getting the additional care they need in a familiar setting.
-Tye Ogg
Director, Anathan Adult Day Memory Care