YThree Oaks Assisted Living of Dublin celebrated Assisted Living Week in grand fashion with activities and adventures that celebrated residents, their families and the bonds they share.
“COVID was awful emotionally,” said manager Jonna Alvarado. “Families couldn’t come in and we kind of got stuck in that. I’m really thankful to be able to see everybody sitting at the table again and enjoying themselves.”
In the hopes of helping rediscover this connectivity, Three Oaks set a full week of fun when National Assisted Living Week came around—Sept. 11- 17.
“Our theme for the week was joyful moments,” Alvarado said.
The week was started as usual with Grandparents Day, and the staff was presented with Joy Jars.
On Monday, residents were presented with joy baskets full of some of their favorite everyday treats provided by family members and Three Oaks.
On Tuesday, the facility put up some special and unique decorations with a joy tree. On the tree were leaves with special moments and memories provided by family and friends to remind residents of treasured experiences. Alvarado said since the moments were those treasured by the writer, it was sometimes a pleasant surprise to the resident that they were valued that much. Some of them were delighted to be reminded of moments they’d forgotten.
“It was awesome just to see them smile and laugh about [the memories],” said Alvarado.
The centerpiece of the week was a trip to Fossil Rim as families and staff took a caravan of six cars to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose.
“I think [feeding the giraffes] was everybody’s favorite,” Alvarado reported.”We ate a picnic up at the top [of the hill] overlooking the wildlife park. It was good just to see them laugh and smile. They all enjoyed the petting zoo.”
“That was definitely an all-day event and I think everybody went to bed early that night—including the staff,” Alvarado said with a laugh.
Thursday brought everyone together to make homemade ice cream. “The recipe was an orange pineapple sherbet (like an orange soda),” said Alvarado. It’s a very personal recipe to Jonna as it was her grandmother’s favorite, and it is often requested by residents.
Each resident also received a personal charcuterie board.
Alvarado hopes to continue promoting togetherness with the return of the ‘Thanksmas’ holiday meal and trip to The Promise. They also make regular trips to the cinema, which is fun for all although they don’t always agree on movie choices. (Alvarado joked that one resident won’t get to make the choices for a while after picking “Bullet Train” for the group.)
Alvarado thanked the community and business partners like Dr. Hodges and Patrick Street Pharmacy for their support.
In the end, Alvarado found the week as enjoyable and important as everyone involved.
“It was a reminder even for ourselves that we can’t get away from celebrating what makes us successful— our residents and staff,” she said.