Hermosa and Arbors hosted some very spook-tacular Trunk-or-Treat events at their homes. Lots of families joined us for the event and went all out decorating their trunks for the trick-or-treaters. The elders were able to see all the kids in their costumes and get into the spooky spirit. ​

Join us for the 5th Annual Ride To Remember event benefitting The Memory Care Alliance, sponsored by Vista Living Care.

The ride starts at Santa Fe Harley Davison.
​
You can ride with us up North to Taos or meet us back at the final destination, where there will be:

• Music
• Silent auction
• Door prizes
• Poker run
• 50/50
• Gift basket raffle

Event fee: $25

​Our activities director at Sierra has been planning awesome activities and themed events for our elders! They've had a carnival, crazy hat day, a Zozobra themed fall fiesta, and much more! Check out some of the fun photos from all their events.​

Laughs and fun were the center of this 4th of July! The Arbors stayed fresh in the Las Cruces sun with water balloons and water guns. Hermosa got all their elders involved in making 'explosive' cake pops in honor of the fireworks. Sierra Vista really got into spirit with red, white, and blue hats, necklaces, and decorations! As always, all three homes had delicious themed meals. ​

Our Senior Director of Social Services and Education, miss Ruth Dennis, spoke on 'The Last Word' podcast about her book "Mindful Dementia Care: Lost and Found in the Alzheimer's Forest". Ruth talks about the inspiration for the book, the writing process, and all about caregiving.

​Check it out!

This month our staff and elders in all three of our homes received their first round of the COVID-19 vaccine. This has been a beacon of hope for us all as it helps keep our elders and team safe and healthy, and moves us one step closer to being able to reunite families with their elders.

Thank you for all the wonderful support from the families, you all have helped us through the past year and we can't thank you all enough.

This year, many members of our team were nominated for NM Health Care Association's 2020 Best of the Best Awards. These awards are a great honor as the healthcare community recognizes the hard work, love, and care that go into being a caregiver. We are so proud and excited to announce our winners and finalists!

We asked our staff at our three homes what they like most about working at Vista Living Care. Here's what they had to say!

Our elders celebrated National Sugar Cookie Day by baking and decorating sugar cookies for themselves and to share with our care partners and staff. They had so much fun working with their hands and their creativity shined as they put their own personal touch on their cookies. Check out their smiles in these photos!

It's super important to us to keep our elders both physically and mentally active and we are constantly trying to find new and fun ways for them to get moving. Our elders had a ton of fun with these chair exercises with their pool noodles! It is lightweight enough for them to move and lift with ease but still get their mind muscle connections working. We try to incorporate little exercises like these at least once a week to keep them sharp.

It's time to announce the July winner of the We Cook Honors award! With a total of 18 people voting…the results are in!  There is no doubt that Sierra makes a wicked pozole, Arbors a beloved Tuna Sandwich and Hermosa a mouthwatering Red Chile Chicken enchilada! 

With that said this was an unbelievably difficult month to judge. Even with 18 voters, between Arbors and Hermosa it was so close we had to look at the data three different ways to determine who could be named the winner for July. After much deliberation and review of several photo finish camera shots, team HERMOSA is the winner of July’s We Cook honors! This is the second win for Hermosa this year. Well done to ALL THREE HOMES!  You each created some unbelievable meals in which you should be proud to serve our elders.

Our elders are staying connected with their loved ones. Daily phone and video calls between our elders and their loved ones never fail to brighten up the day for everyone. We love to see our elders smiling at the sound of their loved one's voice, or joking with their family on their video calls.

Celebrating Father's Day! Our elders enjoyed a nice picnic outside with delicious BBQ ribs, potatoes, and a beautiful cake. We are happy that we can still celebrate and honor our fathers during the times of COVID, even if it means staying connected virtually.

Here at Vista Living Care not only do we care for our elders, but we also care for our amazing staff and team. They come to work faithfully and try their best to keep each other and our elders healthy, happy, and safe. We recognized that dedication and surprised each employee with a bag filled with grocery essentials! Thank you team for your hard work and dedication!

Our very own Ruth Dennis, our Senior Director of Social Services and Education here at Vista Living Care participated in an interview in #StayHomeInstead Chats, a recurring interview show hosted by Home Instead Senior Care (Santa Fe). 

In her interview, Ruth talks about how art and other creative forms can be an outlet for those living with dementia and their caregivers and references her recent video, 'Art Saves Lives'. Ruth does hosts many art therapy sessions with out elders which include pottery, mural painting, crafting, and much more. In the video referenced, 'Art Saves Lives', Ruth discusses how at her latest art therapy session with a group of elders, she was able to guide them through creating a mural and used this process as a way to help them develop new skills that they may not have thought possible before. She also notes that during this time of COVID-19, the elders can feel the loneliness and stress that comes from not being able to visit with their family members and so she wanted the elders to work on this mural together as a sense of community and connection. 

Ruth goes on to share a story about how art changed an elder's life which was mentioned in her recent book "Mindful Dementia Care". This particular elder had been a corporate lawyer for her whole life and had always been extremely articulate and sharp, but when she developed dementia she began to have difficulty speaking and expressing herself. Ruth and the other caregivers introduced her to drawing and sketching, and she soon fell in love with drawing as a means to express herself and to tell a story. She even started to tell people that she considered herself an artist. This powerful story illustrates how art can become part of a person's identity and really shape their lives.

Ruth's tips for caregivers at home who would like to bring art into their loved one's life are simple: she says all you need to do is simply get the supplies, like sketch books, a nice set of sketching pencils, water colors, etc. and make them accessible in your home. Give your loved one the opportunity to explore these art tools and create from them.

Ruth closes her interview by sharing her description of 'perfect moments' in time that sometimes just happen, but are priceless. She describes how at Sierra Vista a few years ago, they experienced one of these moments when on a cloudy afternoon it had just began to snow and the scent of fresh baked cookies was filling the home as the elders gathered around to draw and listen to music, and the moment just felt perfect.  She talks about how at the three homes, they really try to get these 'perfect moments' to happen organically as much as they can for their elders and their families. 

Our monthly We Cook! Honors Awards are back! Each month we have a food competition between our three homes and award a winner. The judges are asked to rate the meal on:

1. Nutritional Value
2. Appearance
3. Creativity & appeal
4. Do not consider whether they like the particular meal

 
This month we had to expand to 11 different voters!  Hermosa had nice presentation, good meal variety and some really great food.  The Arbors had great presentation and some great food as well.  Of the 11 voters… 5 of them selected Hermosa overall and 6 of them chose Arbors overall. So we are excited to announce that THE ARBORS has retaken the Cup for May!  Congratulations Team Arbors!!! 
 
We suspect June will be the tightest competition yet!!

Our very own Ruth Dennis, Senior Director of Social Services and Education, shares a touching video surrounding the quote "Art Saves Lives". Ruth talks about how this quote has shifted from just a saying, to reality especially in these times of pandemic. She has seen art heal, bring comfort, be an escape, and help elders communicate with each other and their loved ones. 

She stresses that in these times of uncertainty that are filled with fear, grief and loss, there is another story to tell. A story of positivity, hope, and resilience that is taking place all around us as well. Art, music, laughter, good food, and love are keeping our communities and our elders safe. Art, love, and hard work really do save lives!