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Elderhostel and Medford Leas Present “Training Your Brain to Stay Young and Fit”
Elderhostel, the global leader in lifelong learning, will collaborate with Medford Leas to present a Day of Discovery program entitled “Training Your Brain to Stay Young and Fit."
The one day programs to be held on April 7, 11, 25, and 29, 2008, to be led by Medford Leas “Brain Trainers,” will focus on how older adults can stretch, flex, and extend their brain function in a dynamic program aimed to teach how to improve cognitive fitness.
Participants will take part in the nationally acclaimed computer based Posit Science Brain Fitness Program, engage in a fitness class designed to increase oxygen flow to the brain, and experience virtual sports through the use of “Wii”, the home video game system developed by Nintendo.
A Brain Healthy Lunch and tours of the Lewis W. Barton Arboretum on the grounds of Medford Leas will round out the activities for the day.
Cost per person: $67.
For more information, or to register, call 1-877-426-8056 or visit: www.elderhostel.org
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Medford Leas announces employee of the year
On Friday, February 22, 2008 Medford Leas located in Medford, NJ, recognized Denise Zaugra, as Employee of the Year. Denise was chosen from among the over 400 full and part-time workers employed by Medford Leas. Denise began her career at Medford Leas as a Licensed Nurse Practitioner in 2002. Denise exemplifies the spirit of the Medford Leas Community with her cheerful personality that she shares with both residents and staff on a daily basis.
Denise resides in Medford Lakes, NJ with her husband and two daughters.
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The Estaugh Board Appoints New Board President
The Estaugh Board, a Quaker related not for profit corporation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Thomas E. Zemaitis as President of the Estaugh Board of Trustees. The Estaugh is the governing body for Medford Leas, a continuing care retirement community with campuses in Medford, and Lumberton, NJ.
Mr. Zemaitis, live in Moorestown, NJ, and is an attorney and partner with Pepper Hamilton, LLP located in Philadelphia, PA. His practice is concentrated in commercial litigation.
Mr. Zemaitis has served in leadership positions for many community-based organizations, including Moorestown Friends School, Women’s Law Project, Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program, and Support Center for Child Advocates.
Nanotech, biotech: Seniors say the darndest things
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
By Betsy Anderson | For the Courier-Post MEDFORD
The college professor was discussing the ethical implications of mixing frost resistant genetic material from cold water salmon with that of thin-skinned tomatoes to make tomatoes easier to transport and to bolster the food supply.
“This is a new science,” acknowledges Dr. Mark Manion, associate professor of ethics and director of the philosophy program at Drexel University. “If you remember (pioneering geneticist Gregor) Mendel and his bean plants from your high school biology, it’s been less than 100 years since we've come all this way.”
The technological advances of the past century just happen to be something that this particular class could appreciate. Residents of the Medford Leas retirement community were the students at Manion’s lecture, “The Promises and Perils of New Mega-Technologies.”
And while they may not all be as familiar as younger college students with the mechanisms of biotechnology, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, these class members had a quick grasp of the far-reaching impact of technological changes on society as a whole.
“It seems we have to find a higher motivation that transcends the profit motive and the power motive” in deciding how to apply the findings of technological research, Kay Cooley says during the lecture’s question-and-answer period.
“We need to talk to each other about all this. How much real dialogue is going on?” asks Toby Riley, an industrial researcher for IBM before starting his own company, Riley Systems Corp., to use the scientific method in management decisions.
“I’m very curious about Prince Charles’ condemnation of cloning I couldn’t help but feel it had a religious basis and then Nancy Reagan’s insistence that cloning be relied upon,” notes Nannette Hanslowe. “I’m after an ecumenical dialogue where we treat each other’s ideas with more respect,” she adds later.
And so it went during last week’s session at “Medford University,” a six-year-old Medford Leas’ program in which college professors discuss a wide range of subjects with residents here.
Manion, a Medford resident teaching his second course in the program, said the adult audience is an attentive one. “They are very alert and interested in what I have to say. They’re engaged and responsive and ask intelligent questions,” he says. “hey bring their life experiences to the table and aren’t shy about asking questions.”
His lecture included references to eugenics, deontology, utilitarianism and a system of futuristic totalitarian control illustrated in the Tom Cruz movie “Minority Report.” Manion also referred to “the citizen competency problem” a perception by some experts that some issues are too complex to be decided by the public. Paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson, Manion says the principles of democratic decision-making instead indicate “the solution is not to take decisions from the average citizens, but to inform them.”
Informing the citizenry, imparting knowledge for its own sake and keeping minds active are all goals of Medford University. Cooley established the program when she was president of the Medford Leas Residents Association with the help of Kris Dixon, then associate dean of cultural enrichment at Burlington County College.
“It was a niche that needed to be filled,” said Cooley. The program now features a fall and a spring program of six classes each as well as a four-part summer lecture series. Residents pay a small fee for the courses, which often are condensed versions of those the professor teaches on campus.
“Humanities are the most popular draw,” Cooley says, noting the fall and spring sessions attract between 100 and 200 students; about 50 attend summer lectures. Cooley is a retired Connecticut high school English, history and psychology teacher as well as a human resources staffer for a direct mail business. She recruits the speakers and manages enrollment.
Recent topics include “Film Studies,” “Ecosystems from the Pinelands to the Atlantic Shore,” “Italy in the Short Stories of Three American Writers” and “Views of the Ancient World: Sumer through Classical Greece." This fall, Kristin J. Jacobson, assistant professor of American literature and women’s studies at Stockton College, will direct course attendees to a Web site listing additional resources and to a chat room for follow-up discussion on American culture.
The Medford Leas program is an example of a national trend to develop college courses for older adults. Beyond Medford University, there is the One Day University program, currently active in the New York and Boston areas, but with plans to expand to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Some continuing care retirement communities are being built adjacent to college campuses to allow residents to enroll.
For the Medford University schedule, go to the Calendar page.
This article first appeared in the Courier Post, August 7, 2007.
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Over $66,000 in Educational Advancement and Nursing Scholarship Funds Distributed at Medford Leas
This summer Medford Leas will distribute over $66,000 in scholarship awards to its employees who are pursuing educational endeavors. There are three funds that distribute these awards: The Nursing Scholarship Fund, The General Educational Advancement Scholarship Fund and the Lois Forrest Fund.
The Nursing Scholarship Fund distributes scholarship to employees who are pursuing education in the nursing field or other areas of healthcare. Seven staff members were awarded scholarship grants totaling $19,740 from the Nursing Scholarship Fund.
The General Educational Advancement Scholarship Fund distributes scholarship awards to employees dependent upon their length of service and number of hours they work. This year $44,970 was awarded to 24 employees from this fund. Many of the employees who are recipients of this fund are local students who work in the Medford Leas Dining Services Department.
A third fund is the Lois Forrest Scholarship Fund. This fund was established as a tribute to Lois Forrest, who was the Executive Director of Medford Leas for over 21 years. Residents organized the fund and made donations to it as a way to honor Mrs. Forrest at the time of her retirement in the spring of 2000. Each year a scholarship award in the amount of $2,500 is distributed. This award is based upon merit, community service and academic achievement. The recipient of the award this year is Lisa Minuto. A Receptionist, Lisa has been employed by Medford Leas since 2003. Having received her Associates Degree from Burlington County College this year, Lisa will continue her studies at Rowan University beginning this September with a double major in Special Education and Sociology.
This scholarship program is a wonderful benefit to the employees of Medford Leas. In many cases it has enabled employees to carry on studies, which would have been difficult to accomplish without the scholarship funds. Residents have long considered these scholarship awards to be a wonderful gift to those who provide such wonderful care to them throughout the year.
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Medford Leas Receives Innovation of the Year Award
Medford Leas has been awarded NJANPHA's (New Jersey Association of Not-for Profit Homes for the Aging) Innovation of the Year Award for 2007, at the Annual NJANPHA Convention held in Atlantic City, May 31 - June 3, 2007. This award is presented in recognition of the year's most innovative program or service in a senior community, and one that makes an extremely positive impact on resident quality of life.
This award has been presented for the Cognitive Fitness and Brain Gym Program, which has been implemented by Gerry Stride, Director of Community Life at Medford Leas. This program has been highlighted in feature articles in both The Inquirer and Burlington County Times.
Working in conjunction with San Francisco based company, Posit Science Corporation, Medford Leas residents are given a chance to give their brains a workout with a computer based program designed to improve the speed, accuracy, and strength with which the brain receives, records and recalls what people hear.
In addition to the Posit Science Program, residents are engaged in additional programs to stimulate their brains through specific activities, which are designed to strengthen memory.
Since its opening in 1971, Medford Leas has been recognized for its outstanding programs, facilities, and wide range of home design options. This award is especially meaningful to residents and staff who have participated in the program.
Linda Schultz, Pam Fake, Gerry Stride, Director of Community Life, Davina Cornish, and Rachel Conte
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medford leas awarded carf-ccac accreditation
On May 3, 2007, CARF-CCAC announced that Medford Leas has been accredited for a five-year term. This latest accreditation is the 22nd consecutive year that CARF-CCAC accreditation has been awarded to Medford Leas.
An organization receiving a five-year term of accreditation has voluntarily put itself through a rigorous peer review process and demonstrated to a team of surveyors during an on-site survey that it is committed to conforming to CARF-CCAC’s accreditation conditions and standards. Furthermore, an organization that earns CARF-CCAC accreditation is commended on its quest for quality programs and services.
Medford Leas is a not-for-profit Quaker related community with campuses in Medford and Lumberton, New Jersey. It has provided a wide range of home designs, innovative services and programs, and superior health and wellness services to older adults for over 35 years.
The Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC) was founded in 1985 as the nation’s only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities and similar organizations. Medford Leas played a vital role in the establishment of CCAC, and is proud to have been one of the first accredited CCRCs in the nation to earn this distinction. In January 2003, CCAC merged with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a nonprofit accreditation system founded in 1966 that touches more than 5.1 million individuals served in a wide range of human service organizations.
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The Estaugh Board Appoints
New Board Members
The Estaugh Board, a Quaker related not for profit corporation, is pleased to announce the appointment of David M. Barclay, MD, Paula M. Fairley, and Harry Scheyer, CPA/PFS,CFP to its Board of Trustees.
David M. Barclay, MD is a practicing physician with the Department of Family and Community Medicine of Temple University School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Barclay is an Associate Professor, Undergraduate Education, Department of Family & Community Medicine. He lives in Haddonfield, NJ.
Paula M. Fairley is recently retired from SES Americom, Princeton, NJ where she served as SVP, Human Resources and led the HR development and operations for the business in North and South America, Asia and the UK. Past business experience also includes fourteen years with General Electric, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company and Travelers Insurance. Ms. Fairley resides in Moorestown, NJ.
Harry Scheyer received his CPA certification in 1975, and has been a Certified Financial Planner since 1982. Mr. Scheyer has worked for a number of firms, including E.I Dupont deNemours and KPMG Peat Marwick. He is cofounder and partner of Pinnacle Financial Advisors, LLC, with offices in Marlton, NJ and Bala Cynwyd, PA. A member of the Rowan Foundation Board of Directors, Mr. Scheyer is a resident of Medford, NJ.
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