Senior Care Academy - A Helperly Podcast
Senior Care Academy is the podcast for caregivers, senior care providers, and families with aging loved ones. Hosted by experienced professionals, we explore essential topics like elder care planning, dementia support, financial advice, and emotional wellness for caregivers.
Each episode offers expert insights, practical tips, and resources to help you navigate senior care with confidence. Whether you're a healthcare provider, a family member supporting aging parents, or a senior adult seeking guidance, this podcast delivers actionable advice tailored to your needs.
Subscribe now for in-depth discussions, expert interviews, and real-world solutions to improve the quality of care for the seniors in your life.
Senior Care Academy - A Helperly Podcast
Aging Gracefully: Supporting Senior’s Mental Health with Pam and Byran
Pam Hill and Brian Tucher from Beacon Therapy reveal the transformative power of therapy for seniors, joined by their delightful therapy dog, Hal. Experience firsthand how they create a nurturing space that allows older adults to express their emotions freely, overcoming the stigma of mental health often faced by the elderly. By sharing their compassionate approach, Pam and Brian emphasize the critical role of building trust and friendship to help seniors find renewed purpose and joy even amidst the challenges of aging.
Listeners will gain valuable insights into the nuances of supporting older adults' mental health, from the societal perceptions that often undervalue them to the family dynamics essential in offering empathy and understanding. The episode underscores the importance of engaging with seniors in their reality, particularly in navigating conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's. The therapeutic journey of transitioning from despair to ego integrity is explored, highlighting how community and reminiscence can play pivotal roles in this profound transformation.
Discover the heartwarming impact of therapy dogs in the healing process, as Hal's presence brings joy and sparks positive memories for clients. Pam and Brian share personal stories that honor the individuality of their clients, shedding light on their unique lives and contributions. Additionally, we explore the services offered by Beacon Therapy in Taylorsville, Utah, noting its accessibility and the importance of spreading awareness about these vital resources. This episode is a testament to the power of compassionate therapy and the boundless benefits it offers to seniors and their families.
This episode includes the following:
• Discusses the journey into focusing on geriatric therapy
• Explains how therapy dogs enhance emotional expression
• Examines common barriers seniors face regarding mental health
• Describes strategies for family involvement and community building
• Explores grief and loss within the aging population
• Discusses the unique perspectives of aging gracefully
• Highlights the importance of respecting the individuality of seniors
• Offers insights into the future of geriatric mental health treatment
Welcome back to Senior Care Academy. Today we are thrilled to welcome some extraordinary guests Pam Hill and Brian Tucher. They are highly experienced therapists that specialize in the aging process at Beacon Therapy, with a compassionate approach, and a unique addition to the sessions that they do is a therapy dog named Hal. They have been transforming the lives of seniors by helping them overcome mental health challenges, building emotional connections and finding a renewed purpose as they age. Their innovative use of animal therapy has brought comfort and joy to countless seniors, and so today they'll be talking about their journey methods and heartwarming stories from the work that they've done.
Speaker 1:Get ready for an inspiring and insightful conversation about the intersection of therapy, companionship and unique needs of the seniors in our community. Pam and Brian, thanks so much for coming on Senior Care Academy. I'm excited to talk about what you do and the way that you're helping older adults. So, yeah, so what inspired you to specialize in therapy? We were talking a little bit before. You kind of have other options of people that you serve, but primarily the demographic is seniors. So what inspired that?
Speaker 3:options of people that you serve but primarily the demographic is seniors.
Speaker 2:So what inspired that Go ahead. So I mean a lot of it starts just my own background. I've worked within the hospice world and even outside of like my job specifically, just have always kind of had a soft spot for the senior community. My grandma was my best friend for a long time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so then, as Pam joined my team, we were originally just going to be a traditional outpatient practice, and she started talking about some of her connections with the work that she's done in the skilled nursing and assisted living world. That's really kind of what sparked the idea of us trying to go in this direction, niching specifically with seniors.
Speaker 1:I think there is a massive need for seniors within the, and we'll get into different reasons why, but how would you say the working with seniors is different than maybe the approach that you take with working with other demographics, younger people?
Speaker 3:I think that mostly one of the things we do have to realize is that they've kind of lost everything that they've built over their lives. Now we're taking them and putting them into a nursing home or into an assisted living, and they are losing their autonomy to just be their own person, and so we take an approach more of building a good relationship, building a friendship with them and then allowing them to kind of guide the way they really feel like they need to talk, because sometimes it might be about a trauma they have in the past and sometimes it's about this initial trauma right now that's causing them to be there.
Speaker 1:That is interesting.
Speaker 2:I think maybe the only thing I'd add with that is that along with that loss of independence there's also a bit of a mindset around mental health that this particular generation has, and so that does kind of shift the way that we would show up where most of our people were getting like referred from a third party saying hey we think so-and-so could benefit from services and so-and-so maybe is not aware of that benefit from services.
Speaker 2:Yeah and so, and so maybe is not aware of that. Yeah, yeah, um, where, like traditional outpatient, they're calling in, they're wanting the work and so we part of the reason we take such a relationship focused approach first is to be able to help overcome some of that mental health stigma yeah, I was, I was gonna bring that up like there is a big stigma.
Speaker 1:I mean my grandpa, all of my grandparents, it's kind of same idea where it's like they just grew up in a time where you know the it's kids are to be seen and not heard, and then they raise that and it's like just things a lot of times get pushed down and not talked about. How have you guys found, like, are there any things you've found that kind of break, that barrier that you're able to use? Or like the maybe their kids are able to use, to be like? You know?
Speaker 2:I want to talk about some stuff from childhood mom, you know, as in their later years, so I think I'll be honest, that's still something that we're figuring out like a great way to go about doing that. I think the first thing is is just that we get comfortable talking about what's the present day stuff first Interesting, and even just comfortable talking about. You know, you can tell me the story of what happened last week when your granddaughter came to visit, but how did that feel? What was it like? Yeah, of what happened last week when your granddaughter came to visit, but how did that feel? What was it like?
Speaker 2:Just so that we were getting them comfortable with language around emotion, and it can be sometimes a week's worth process of a few sessions at a time before we even get to that spot. Yeah, and a lot of times it's just showing up, more so with the perspective of how a friend would listen than how, like a clinician is going to listen right from the beginning. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:And I was just going to add. I think too that it's a hard question to answer because everybody's different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some people are like ready to share.
Speaker 3:Yeah, some people have are a little more reserved and you have to find the right spot for them to decide.
Speaker 1:They're ready to open up a little bit, so I think everybody's different yeah, I think the key tactic, potential tactic that like I pulled from it, like uh brian said, was like talk about, let them vent, maybe about the daily, the struggle they had that day, or like if it's or like their political grievances or whatever. It is just like pause and let them talk openly and then from there you can start kind of prodding in a little bit rather than being like super deep right off the bat.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that fits just therapy in general.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true. Are we going to get?
Speaker 2:deep in off the bat, because so much of that work is just building the good relationship with your client first.
Speaker 1:Do you find that there's any sort of like original barriers, because there's, you mentioned at the beginning, like societal perceptions on aging and there's a lot of r? Does it have impacts generally on the mental health of older adults, like the way that they view themselves because of the way that society views them?
Speaker 3:Oh, for sure that's. I mean, that's just a definite yes. Like they, I think that they just, we just think we're going to get sick and old and die and so we should just be quiet and sit in our rooms and that's what a lot of my clients will tell me is like my family doesn't want to hear about. I don't feel good again, or my family doesn't want to see that I don't have.
Speaker 3:You know that, like with Medicaid, I only have a little bit of money to spend, so they don't want to get me the things that I need, and so they just quietly sit and say nothing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, and I was actually even thinking about that this morning how the work that we do really kind of has a bell curve as far as the work with seniors mirrors a lot of aspects of the work with, like teenagers or children Interesting. But the difference is, I think, that with teenagers or children it's so easy for us to say, well, they don't have as much control of their situation, they like life experience, right, they don't have as much control of their situation.
Speaker 1:Life experience.
Speaker 2:Right, there's not just life experience. Or they even like we're kind of willing to do a little bit more investment because there's this future ahead of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That could be years worth of time, where, with seniors, there's the expectations of they should know better because they're older, they've been through it, or you older, they've been through it, or you know they're an adult like they can take care of themselves. There's this tendency, I think, to be able to write off what some of the additional needs are for an adult, and I think there's a societal bias towards like do we want to focus on putting some time and effort into a situation that's not going to have a quote unquote payout?
Speaker 1:Yeah, It'll have a huge impact on that individual. But then, if they pass away five years later or two years later, one year later, did it change anything other than how they felt about themselves at the end of the day? Versus, yeah, that's an interesting like thing to tackle. It's something that people put older adults I mean, these people are mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and they built the society as we know it. So they are on this pedestal of like well, they're our elders we need to respect and they know better and it's like.
Speaker 1:But in reality, like you said, it kind of does revert back where it's like. No, we actually do. Sometimes I do need support and be like we're all figuring this out, just like. So I have a toddler and we're potty training him and we're figuring out the toilet together and it's scary for him, and it's the same kind. It's a different dynamic a little bit, but it's the same concept, like we're figuring out getting old together and bodies not doing what they normally do, and so realizing that and opening up. And so realizing that and opening up, are there things that you've found like how can families play a role in supporting the mental health of their older, their grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, aunt, uncle?
Speaker 3:I think part of it is knowing that. The one that really sticks to me is that as they start to age and we start to get like onset of dementia or Alzheimer's or any of that direction, is reminding them that we kind of have to live in their world, with them. We can't we're not going to change a perception they have when that starts to hit.
Speaker 3:And that's a lot of the times where I see the some issues when families start to butt heads over no, that didn't happen. Or you've been here five years and the thinks. I have a client who thinks she's only been in a facility for two weeks and she's been there over two years. But every week she tells me it's just been two weeks. But to argue that with her every single week would be pointless. It would just be a pointless conversation, where instead we focus on so many other things for her.
Speaker 3:And I think that's a big one that family seems to miss sometimes is just living with them in their world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't realize that you can work with patients that are going through memory loss.
Speaker 2:It's a. It's a. Honestly, it's a great area that we're kind of navigating what's going to be the most effective. It is a little bit different than traditional therapy, because someone with dementia we're not going to be teaching coping skills. Yeah, we're not going to be, you know, heavily processing trauma with the intent that, like, we're going to get a new way of thinking about the situation. Yeah, there's. It's a pretty minimally researched area for mental health.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's super. I'm just like flabbergasted. It's so interesting yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, some of the things we are finding is how do we maybe help their? Their environment is where most of the change comes from, but how do we help them maybe bring a system to? I just blanked on the word meaningful activity, right, so like in a, in a facility, like, quote, unquote giving the person a job or a role? Yeah, and it can be like Like, even as simple as like a greeter.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, and they don't have to like be held accountable for that. Yeah, it's just a sense of purpose that comes with it and that reminder of like hey, this is part of your role, you're helping actually helps boost levels of mental health. They find that when there's that purposeful activity and meaningful engagement, the depression scores and anxiety scores go down for individuals with dementia Wow, but it's still pretty early. The biggest yes, I was figuring it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really cool, though, that there's even investment going into that, because I think that there's so much life still left to live and memories with the people around them that are left to be made. That are left to be made, and it sounds like the biggest difference, more than anything, from traditional therapy to dementia therapy, or helping those with dementia, is like traditional therapy you're diving super into personal problems and like how can I get through this trauma, how can I resolve and become better? And with seniors you're trying to really, or with those with dementia, you're trying to really dive into how they perceive the world and then go to the people around them and say let's change the world this way. So, rather than internal, it's kind of making an external thing, that's really cool.
Speaker 1:I had no idea. That's way cool, that kind of that exists at all.
Speaker 2:Well, this is this is purely just a Brian thought. Just as we're finding so much more of how, like in trauma, it's connected to our brain but also in our body, my guess will be is that more of the somatic interventions, like physical and physiological interventions, that happen for processing trauma could find a place for individuals with dementia.
Speaker 3:I don't know what that would look like.
Speaker 2:That's interesting and maybe that's thinking too far ahead. But my guess would be, as we're learning, that just the body is keeping a lot of this information.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it stores different.
Speaker 2:That I think there's going to be some interventions there to help process negative emotion.
Speaker 1:So that would look like, you know, finding. I don't. I'm not. I'm not a therapist, so educate me. But that's like finding, like this trauma, this deep rooted trauma is stored in the back or something and so it's bringing in other modalities like acupuncture or physical therapy or like other things. Is that kind of what that means?
Speaker 2:I think there's parts of it that are that, um, I'm really well versed in one mode, that's emdr, which still has a pretty oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Is that the cognitive component?
Speaker 2:yeah, the eye movement yeah, sensitization and reprocessing um, but I know that there are specific modalities that are strictly just somatic processing um. I I will not claim to be trained in there, but that's probably a direction that we're going to start looking at just because I think it potentially could have benefit with dementia. Again, totally Brian's opinion yes.
Speaker 1:That's where this is. This is a safe place for Brian's opinions and Pam's.
Speaker 1:So how would you? I guess switching a little bit, I guess maybe not. It applies for those with dementia and everybody else but how do you address the feelings of loneliness or isolation, because that's probably a big one that you face. Like you said, they feel like they can't open to their family or their family doesn't care. I don't want to burden them, which leads to feeling really lonely if you feel like you're on an island. So how do you, once you get there with a senior, how do you approach that?
Speaker 3:So we do a lot of, I think, for me, when I'm sitting with my clients, first I try to get to know who they are and what what would help them. So some of my clients don't want to go play bingo and some of them live to go play bingo. So it's like, which direction are we going to make sure they make it to? So I think it's finding their own um, their own happy spots that give them some, a way to find some, not to not be isolated, to go out of their room, to get some, you know, to be able to speak up for themselves. It's just teaching them the coping skills, I think, to just incorporate all of that. And again, all of them are different, Everybody's different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's such an interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think with a lot of our clients, a lot of our work is in helping them to realize what is still in their control. You know that maybe my children don't come and visit me, but it is in my control to be able to pick up the phone and reach out to my friend that maybe still lives at home, or I can be. It's in my control to. We've had one person who is like learning how to be able to be online in a stronger capacity, or another person who's actually a younger client compared to most, maybe in their 40s but they enjoy being social with video games and they'll get like their headset.
Speaker 3:Just getting the live chat.
Speaker 2:Where can they have control of finding a community that they can connect with, rather than having to focus beyond what's not in my control, with the community that isn't showing up? We'll validate and be present with the frustration and disappointment that comes with those.
Speaker 1:And then we get into that space of what can we do about it. Yeah, once a senior connects to that community because I imagine there's some legwork there to like help them realize, you know, as as disappointing as it is that your built-in community or the one that you had isn't doing what you feel they should be doing um, so getting past that and realizing there's other communities, once you get there and they're on board and they plug into, say that they're just like, are obsessed with fly fishing and they found like some Reddit or something like what, what impact does that have on them? After? After plugging in like, uh, mentally, emotionally, physically even maybe.
Speaker 3:I think that it gives them a space to feel accepted, to feel kind of part of a group, and that is going to help with. I think what it does is it takes them out of their own head. It takes. It takes less. It gives them less time to just be thinking about all the things that aren't going right in their lives and start seeing some things that are positive. And once we have some positive points in our life, it gives us a better outlook and it grows from there, going right in their lives and start seeing some things that are positive. And once we have some positive points in our life, it gives us a better outlook and it grows from there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I like that. I'm curious on. So something that I like a lot is I'm sure you're both familiar with, like Eric Erickson, the psychosocial. How does that play into it? Kind of trying to get them out of despair, back into ego, integrity and everything that that entails. What is? Is that a focus or, as community, play a role in that, or what does that look like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, and even as you asked that question before of like what impact does it have? I think there is a natural transitioning of that. You know we're no longer maybe going to be able to enjoy the activity of fly fishing, as you bring that example up. But do we now gain some benefit in the reminiscence about fly fishing?
Speaker 1:Oh I like that.
Speaker 2:Is there opportunity that we can be able to connect with others around this thing and be part of this community, or that we're maybe teaching someone younger about this thing that we enjoyed, that they might not be as engaged in? I think that that can be part of helping make that transition from despair into this ego integrity, because we're building purpose in the life that was lived through that reminiscence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really cool, kind of helping them realize that just because they're not doing, because they're not, you know, racing around the street on their 85 motorcycle anymore, they can still be a part of a motorcycle group and talk about how much they loved their whatever model and stuff and I don't know. It's. That's pretty cool to be able to help them see that, like I said, getting back into ego integrity, they can take these seven, eight, nine years, decades of knowledge and wisdom and start teaching. And that's making them realize like holy crap, I think a lot of the times what happens is they. You know, life gets just like bombarded and all of the bright spots get buried with monotonous monotony or whatever. And so helping them find that bright spot and pull it back up to the top is what we focus a lot on, as well as just like realize that's what's important and help them feel that, yep, um, so we have a special guest today. Um, what's his name? Again? How, how get, how a little treat come here, bud.
Speaker 3:Hey, uh, come here. He's like look, how how do you see what I have?
Speaker 1:see, if you'll, he's what he does, he's content, come here look, oh, there he is do you see it come here so how and so what inspired you to incorporate therapy dogs into your practice with these older adults?
Speaker 3:well, hal is our only dog. He's the only one we have, and I'm a dog lover. Brian loves cats, but I'm bringing him.
Speaker 1:Cats are a little bit more difficult to get them to emotional on demand.
Speaker 3:I have a friend who owns a not for profit where he puts golden retrievers with therapists, and he called me and asked me if I wanted a dog. And I called Brian and said, can I have a therapy dog? And he said no.
Speaker 1:I mean kind of quickly. He kind of quickly said no.
Speaker 2:Let me think about that so anxious.
Speaker 1:Brian kicked in.
Speaker 3:But we, uh, we had some discussion back and forth and he agreed to let me do it, and so I got Hal when he was three months old and he pretty much every day, probably four out of five days, comes to work with me and goes to see the clients and and he is the highlight of I know there are some clients who will talk to me when I come in laying on their bed and then when Hal is there, they will sit up and they're happy to see him.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask what like? What's the? What impact does that have on the dynamic of the visits?
Speaker 3:It is to me to see. It is incredible, like there really are some clients who don't, who have zero affect to their voice when they're just talking to me there's, I feel like they're still getting something out of our sessions. I don't want to take my, just talking to me. I feel like they're still getting something out of our sessions.
Speaker 1:I don't want to take my purpose away from it, I feel like they still are able to share.
Speaker 3:But when the dog comes in, they laugh and smile and love on them and talk about their past animals and I think it gives them some nice memories, and he's good at giving loves, so yeah, what does that visually look like?
Speaker 1:Like I know that as a kid, anytime I had to talk through something sitting there was really hard for me. So we went out and got ice cream, or like we'd tinker and clean dishes or something. So is it kind of look the same where they're? Just you know petting. Hal and mine like mindlessly not mindlessly but kind of out of focus being able just to talk and open up more.
Speaker 3:I think it does help some open up. I have mentioned that sometimes. I think sometimes crying is helpful to us to get some emotions out, and Hal doesn't want people to cry. He will get up and hug them. So, sometimes I want him to not.
Speaker 1:I want him to let them get their emotions out, stop being such a sweet boy.
Speaker 3:But he is really good at giving the hugs and feeling people's emotions.
Speaker 1:That's so cool. Yeah, do you have a cool experience, maybe where there was a client, like you said, kind of generally speaking, but where, like one that you've been going to?
Speaker 3:and finally, my client, who I mentioned earlier, who has the two-week thought in her head, her head she's. She's not full-blown dementia, she's like onset of dementia.
Speaker 3:She's a really good historian about her life story, just not the last two years yeah and um, she is the one who lays on her bed and will just stare at the ceiling and tell me everything. But when hal comes in, she will immediately sit up, puts her feet on the ground. He, he, just gets up and she, just, she, just loves on him and it's. It is such a switch of a person. It's incredible to watch. But she remembers his name and she remembers when I got and she'll tell stories of the first time he came in with me, even though it was six months ago.
Speaker 1:But she thinks it was two weeks ago. Yeah, yeah, and that's okay. That's so special. I just love that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 1:Just getting people to open up, and it's a creative way. Kudos to you, brian and Pam, for being open to it and convincing me.
Speaker 2:Well, the story with Hal actually is kind of a good representation of just where we're going with everything, because it's you give us credit to say what inspired you to be able to.
Speaker 3:We don't know, we just say I'm the gas and he's the brakes. Yeah, that's fair, so I always have great ideas that I throw out, and he's like, okay, hold on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have some brakes in my life, some breakers in my life.
Speaker 2:I think overall, though, is that it represents just like we are committed to this population.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we're kind of willing to be able to figure out what's going to be able to work best for them, because I think on the whole mental health wise they've been a pretty neglected population, and so that's why, as you ask some of those questions about what's the best practice or what's this, we fumble a little bit because there isn't nearly as much research around. How do you do trauma with a senior or someone who maybe does have dementia, versus how do we do trauma with a three-year-old? How do we do it with an adult? And I think that kind of ties in, as you asked that question before, of like, how does society's view of this population impact the way they show up? I think that view has kind of trickled into the lack of research that's been done for working with this population.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's something that I think is going to become more and more valuable over the next, like as baby boomers that are a little bit more open to these things compared to like the silent generation and stuff, really hopefully getting more research. And then you guys potentially leading you guess a different question, I think a lot of the time. So some stuff in my childhood I had to go to like grief therapy, to kind of work through grief. How does, how do you help seniors navigate grief and loss, whether it's a spouse or a lifelong friend, and is it like different than younger people? Or is it basically the same premise Because it's I or a lifelong friend, and is it like different than, um, younger people? Or is it basically the same premise because it's, I don't know, like you said, the younger people they had that same with, just like it's society worth helping the younger people because they have this potential? Is grief different for younger people because they had the potential of the life, the relationship when somebody passes, or something like that?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I. So I guess because a lot of my work has been grief-related even before we started working specifically with seniors, and I think for the individual experiencing grief, it actually is going to look pretty similar. I think sometimes and this isn't maybe even the most fair statement to make but I do think there are differences between whether it's like a young person who has lost it then makes grief for the remaining people, like a parent or others, like there is that component of the life that was lost. On the flip side of that, I think for an older person who's lost a spouse, a lot of their grief is my world is now completely different. I've had 40 years of my life being the two of us together as a combination.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And now I have to navigate, doing this by myself, and so I think that's part of the unique aspect with a lot of our elderly population is reinventing or redefining what life is like as a single person. They've spent probably more time in a couple than as an individual, and that's a big learning curve, especially in the time when your body's also declining as well, so it's not like I'm an individual and now I can go out skydiving do all the activities I wanted to do. It's now.
Speaker 1:I'm an individual and I'm kind of stuck yeah, that is really unique where it's less of grief of the life that could have been or the potential, it's the grief of the life that had been and not having that anymore. Yeah, that's super interesting, um, where this time has flown, because I find this incredibly interesting. But, um the last few questions, how would you define aging, gracefully, as far as the context of mental health?
Speaker 3:hmm, I think that's such a great question, and my background actually before I worked with Brian, I came from aging services and that was kind of one of the components we really focused on was aging gracefully, and one of the big things was what does that look like to the person Like? What does aging gracefully look like?
Speaker 1:Was it mean? It sounds really cool, but it's kind of amorphous.
Speaker 3:But to each person it's going to be so differently, because some people don't want to go to a nursing home or an assisted living. They want to age in their home and be able to live their life out there. Maybe they live there for 45, 50 years with their spouse and that's their home. Some people are like I can't do this on my own and they don't want to have the fire department show up to get them off the ground or people to show up to do everything for them and we're moving into an assisted living feels a little safer and feels more graceful to them.
Speaker 3:And so I think that's the biggest part of it is that we lump them all into this big category, our aging population, but they're all so different and just hearing their stories and seeing who they were in their 30s and 40s I think that's how you help them age gracefully, Because you have. I have a client who's a motorcycle guy. He's going to be a different person when he's 80 than somebody who is a. You know, I don't even know.
Speaker 1:A retired nurse or something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're such different lifestyles that aging gracefully to them is going to be so different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. They just they're such different lifestyles that aging gracefully to them is going to be so different. Ego, integrity, whatever. That means getting them there physically with their environment, mentally with what they're doing, you know, socially with their community, just all around. What gets them back into integrity with the life that they feel they lived and and that's really insightful and just taking the time that it takes to get down to what does. What is that life and how do we bring it to the surface? So I love that. Um, what, um. If you could this is a last question on this but, um, if you could share one lesson that you've learned from your senior clients about their, about the world, and summarize it in one word, what would that word be?
Speaker 2:It's going to be a hyphenated word Perfect Like respected individuality, and I guess by that, if I can explain, yes, please. For me I think back to when I was like 12 or 13 and I would have to like, have to, in quotes go visit some of my neighbors or visit someone who was older, and in my mind I put this category of just the elderly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally and for a long time it was anybody who I visually saw in this category just fit Like I kind of I'll be open I kind of saw them as maybe less competent, less to be able to provide or offer a little bit of a burden, right Like I had this preconception in my mind of, like aging, that's just this group. But in working with these people it's helped me to be able to see like they have an entire individual life that they've lived and there's no matter how they're showing up, no matter what their mental health or cognition level is with dementia, there's a degree of benefits that's going to come for my life as I interact with them, and so I think that's where I have to make sure to respect the individuality of them rather than keep them in that lumped up group.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Res Respect to individuality. Yep, do you have a different answer? No, I like his answer.
Speaker 3:It's so true. I, when he was saying it, I was thinking about I think we all have those pre-judgment moments right. We all need them when you're a kid, you're like thinking through all my clients and I found it interesting because I have one client you do, you treat them all with such individuality. I have one client who has. She hugs me at the end of every session and she has some cognitive disabilities and I'm not a hugger. I'm not a big hugger, so, but I Unless it's Hal.
Speaker 3:Well, yes, I a big hugger. So but I, unless it's.
Speaker 2:Hal.
Speaker 3:Well, yes, I'll hug her every time and she gives the best hugs and it's just the sweetest thing. And and if I don't hug her like then when I'm leaving the building and she'll see me and she'll be like you have to give me my hug and it's just, it's just, it is. It's such individual, like you just take those individual moments and really work through on my and it's pretty great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Um, wrapping up beacon therapy who should? Who's like your ideal person? If anybody wanted to, at the end of this, work with you or, uh, be a client of yours or a referral partner, who's that?
Speaker 2:Our focus right now is really it's anybody who's connected to or experiencing the aging process, so that can be the individual themselves and navigating their loss of independence and mobility. It can be the adult caregiver that's a child who is struggling with managing with mom or dad with dementia, or even people who work in facilities that are feeling burnout and that they're struggling with just being able to keep their best face. On working with this group, we that's our focus as anybody who's connected to that experience of of aging and decline.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, helping the whole circle of all the people that are in the part of part of the aging process. I like that. Um, how do they find you? Where should they go? Who should they contact?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so our website is Beacon Therapy UT it's like Beacon Therapy Utah, but just shortened UT Dot com and they can be able to find us there. For we do like general outpatient services if people are mobile and can be able to get out. But then we also do in-home visits for people who are homebound or like for the caregivers who can't find a sitter for their parent. We can go in. So beacontherapyutcom, our physical office is out of Taylorsville, just off Redwood Road, so pretty accessible.
Speaker 1:That's why I recognize the name. I live in Taylorsville. Sorry, I just connected that dot, but I was like I feel like I've heard this before. Yes, I live right there. I've probably seen you. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And our main phone number as well, if they wanted to be able to call in, is 801-742-5851.
Speaker 3:Yep, and then I think our main source of referrals come from just about anybody. We've done a lot of work with the facilities themselves case management, some of the home healthcare agencies or home agencies. We get quite a bit from all over the place, which has been great which has been nice to get out and do some of that and meet new people, to just get our name out there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Well, I can't recommend you guys enough. This conversation was really great and insightful. It was interesting to learn about this resource and I think it's an education thing. Most people don't know that this resource is there, so, hopefully, just keep on keeping on, and it'd be cool to see the research that comes over the next five years, especially as you guys are focusing on it. So thanks again for coming in.