Generation Solutions

Memorial Day is a time to recognize and thank the men and women throughout our nation’s history who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  Generation Solutions was a proud sponsor of the Moonlight Serenade at The National D-Day Memorial.  Enjoy the photos from the lovely evening.  We salute and thank our armed forces.

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED….

WHAT: Tea Time Talks hosted by Generation Solutions

SUBJECT: Long Term Care and How to Pay for It – featuring Sheila Andrews of Generation Solutions & Phil Hager of Hager Insurance.  Assorted teas and cookies will be available to enjoy.   This workshop is free of charge and open to the public.

DATE: Tuesday June 7th, 2011

TIME: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

ADDRESS: Hager Insurance Seminar Room
13840 Booker T Washington Hwy                                                                                        Moneta, Virginia  24121

Space is limited.  To RSVP, call Sheila Andrews

About 100 people watched as dozens of butterflies were released on Friday for a special moment at the Awareness Garden in Lynchburg. There was special music, including an appearance from Generation Solution’s mascot, Dorothy. (Farrah Davis) There were refreshments provided by Farm Basket and butterflies on display throughout the day. The event honors caregivers and those who have lost loved ones, particularly to cancer. Generation Solutions is a proud sponsor of this annual event. Enjoy the WSET video of the event:  WSET Link to Butterfly Release Video

Experience the beauty of the Awareness Garden on Friday, May 6th,  at 1700 Langhorne Rd, with butterflies on display from 11:30-3:00. At 12:30 there will be mass butterfly release honoring all caregivers, along with musical performances and light refreshments. (rain date May 9th) Event is Free & open to the public. Generation Solutions is a proud sponsor of this event along with Farm Basket, Centra Hospice and the Awareness Garden. Enjoy the video montage from 2010.

Join Generation Solutions this Saturday, April 16th at 11:00 for an informative and entertaining seminar on Healthy Aging at the Pointe at Mariners Landing.

From the fun to the informative, Generation Community, brought to you by the locally owned and operated Generation Solutions, is a collection of resources that embody better living for older adults. Tracey and her daughters, age 8 and 11, deliver music, informational talks, prizes and much more to senior groups all over the region with their Generation Community presentations.  You won’t want to miss their current presentation, “Then and Now”, which encourages folks to have a healthy perspective on life by reminiscing over days gone, but all the while embracing our country’s modern advancements.

What a beautiful picture of four generations and the two lovely ladies are part of our own! Left is Diana Massie, Receptionist at Generation Solutions, along with her daughter Dodie Davis, Office Manager. Center is Diana’s grandson, Mark Mayhugh and her great granddaughter, Presley Mayhugh.  Diana’s mom, Bessie Childress resides in Rustburg but wasn’t present for this photograph. Join on us over on facebook and post your very own generational photograph at Generation Community Facebook Page. Let’s celebrate GENERATIONS!

Perhaps your family, like mine, enjoys visiting the National Elks Home in Bedford, VA each Christmas to see their spectacular Christmas lights, or maybe you’ve attended a theatre production at Bedford Little Town Players located on their pristine campus. Generation Solutions recently visited the National Elks Home to attend the Bedford Chamber Annual Business Dinner. While enjoying our dinner in the Elk’s beautiful dining room, we heard from Bob Bailey, Executive Director of  CAER, and were able to visit a bit with Congressman Bob Goodlatte. Here are a few pictures of the lovely evening Generation Solutions spent at the National Elks Home. We’ve also inlcuded some photographs of the campus along with a snapshot from Fiddler on the Roof performed in the Elk’s theatre by Bedford Little Town Players. If you have never been, I encourage you to take a drive over and see what you’ve been missing.

Date: Session 1: March 19 & 26 Session 2: June 11 & 18
Time: 9:00AM- 12:00PM (Registration from 8:30-9:00AM)
Location: Adult Care Center of Central Virginia
Description: This six-hour training program will offer tips for successful day-to-day caregiving. Topics include legal considerations, memory loss and dementia, end-of-life care, basic care, stress management, local resources and more.

For additional information contact: Beard Center on Aging at Lynchburg College (434)544-8456 or email your inquiry to scruggs.dr@lynchburg.edu or visit them online.

Congratulations to Generation Solutions for their Small Business of the Year nomination. The winner will be announced on March 24th at the Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.

Tracey is still scheduling 2011 Generation Community presentations. So if you would like Tracey and her little helpers to come visit your group, just have your group leader click here and let us know. If you would like someone to share information on a specific medical topic, mention that as well and Tracey will be happy to arrange that. We hope to see your group in 2011!

In the so-called “Jury Duty Scam”, someone calls you and tells you they are calling from the local courthouse, and that you are about to be arrested because you didn’t show up for jury duty. Of course, in this scam the person on the phone is not really from the courthouse, and they have no idea if you have ever received a real jury duty summons in your entire life. They are simply trying to scare you and cause you to offer sensitive information that you would not normally offer to a stranger over the phone. After the victim tells the caller that they never received a jury duty summons, the caller asks them for personal information – such as their social security number, date of birth and possibly bank account numbers – so that they can “confirm their identity”. This should be a major red flag. Law enforcement officials say the best thing to do is just hang up without giving them any information. Most courts send authentic “no show” jury notices by mail, and legitimate officials don’t give warning phone calls when they are about to arrest you. Please report any such scam calls you may receive to your local courthouse and the state attorney general’s office.

We thought it would be fun to look back on something we wrote about in the newsletter early in 2008, and see what has happened since then. We wrote an article about the cellular phone called the Jitterbug. Large buttons, non-cluttered design, powerful speaker, and pay-as-you-go plans (instead of being locked into a contract) were features that caught our eye. We suggested if you were in need of the security or convenience of a mobile phone, but also needed something very simple to operate, you may want to look into the Jitterbug. Well, two and a half years later, what do consumers think of this phone? We went to the internet to gather some reviews to find out. The first thing we noticed was that, compared to the typical cell phone on the market, there were not nearly as many customer reviews to be found on the Jitterbug phone. This is not necessarily bad, however. We speculate that this is due to the fact that this phone is geared toward seniors and older adults, and this age group is not as inclined to leave product reviews on websites. The reviews we did find showed the majority of users were happy with the product. The overarching praise of the phone is the simplicity. Owners wanted a basic phone to simply make calls when they needed to, period. And while we were researching this, we came across a similar phone called the “Snapfon ez One” which also had good reviews, citing the same benefits. So if you are in the cell phone market, you certainly have choices!

Generation Solutions, the Roanoke County Public Library, and Our Lady of the Valley has partnered together for the last year to bring seniors and others who are interested, answers to questions they have on a variety of subjects from fraud, vitamins, poly-pharmacy, herbs, etc.

Jacquie King, Marketing Director of Generation Solutions, came up with the idea a few years ago after the many phone calls she received from seniors and/or caretakers who want to know answers to difficult questions. “People call us to inquire about our services and we find they don’t know what to ask and call randomly,” King said. “There’s no place where they can get all the information.”

So in the Fall 2009, Generation Solutions teamed up with the Roanoke County Library and Our Lady of the Valley to begin a Find Your Answers Monthly Forum free to the public. Prior to the forums, held each month on the third Thursday of the month, the attendees are asked to fill out a survey and list topics they would be interested in learning more about. Generation Solutions then uses those suggestions to book volunteer speakers to educate seniors.

The program began on Thursday mornings only, but as it progressed, Generation Solutions became aware that many people couldn’t make it to the morning forum. So in June, they increased to a second monthly forum held at Our Lady of the Valley in the evening. Speakers include health care professionals, businessmen, nurses, public safety, etc.

Darlene Smithwick, with the Roanoke County Library said for the library, this was right up their alley. “Part of our mission statement is that we are a community center,” she said. “We provide educational opportunities and this fits in with our statement. I hear comments at the desk about the forum and there are people I don’t see in the library that are coming.” King said that their audience has increased to people of all ages, not just senior citizens and come from all over the Roanoke Valley including Vinton, Salem, Roanoke, and New Castle.

Mary Beth Moore, Assistant Administrator at Our Lady of the Valley said, “Not only do we pride ourselves on the highest quality of care to our residents at Our Lady of the Valley, we also strive to be a community resource for seniors, their families and loved ones. Our Lady of the Valley understands the importance of community involvement and education and the Forum offers us a great opportunity to achieve that goal.”

“The Forum gives Our Lady of the Valley an incredible opportunity to educate the public on important issues on healthcare and aging, invite the community to see our beautiful community as well as enjoy a home cooked meal. Our Lady of the Valley is proud to partner with Generation Solutions and the Roanoke Public Library, we are all organizations that focus on public service and helping the community.”

On average, King said that the forums serve about 30 to 40 people and many people come every single month. “We felt there was a need for it and that’s why we started it. I know I get a lot of satisfaction from it,” King said. “We have heard comments from people who say, education is power.”  Emily Watts, also with Generation Solutions said, “It’s been beneficial for a lot of people. It’s for anyone, anyone can come. You don’t have to be a senior to come- it’s information for anyone.” “We want to line answers up and empower people,” King said.

The forums have become such a success that King has already began scheduling next year’s forums. Topics for next year include, but are not limited to, Chiropractic Pain Management- Are you managing your pain or is it managing you, Lifestyles for a Healthy Heart- Managing heart disease and diabetes, and Power of Attorneys.

The next Find Your Answers Monthly Forum is Protecting Assets and Alternatives to Certificates of Deposits by Stu Snyder on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. at the Roanoke County Library and also at 6:30 at Our Lady of the Valley.

More information:

Roanoke County Library: 3131 Electric Road, Roanoke

Our Lady of the Valley: 650 North Jefferson Street, Roanoke

Generation Solutions: 3825 Electric Rd # A, Roanoke

Generation Solutions is a locally owned agency that provides companion services, home health aides, geriatric care management, home health care, and medical equipment and supplies.

Our Lady of the Valley is a nonprofit, nondenominational assisted living and nursing care community sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond.

Article from The Roanoke Times

Click Here to View Event Flier

Join us THIS THURSDAY, November 19th for our monthly FIND YOUR ANSWER’S FORUM at the Roanoke County Public Library (10:00am – 11:00am) OR at Our Lady of the Valley (6:30pm – 8:00pm):

Discussion Topic: “Comfort Care: The New “Old” Kid on the Block When Cure is Not Possible”: Given by Sue Ranson, RN, MSN

Despite evidence that none of us is getting any younger; we feel ill-at-ease discussing end-of-life issues. Advances in medical technology, which are often heroic and helpful, also may feed our fears of pain and being a burden and shield us from what our grandparents knew well — that there is “a time to be born and a time to die.” Learning in advance about options and issues arising at the end of life can actually empower people to make informed decisions about their care and the care of loved ones to suit each person’s unique values and needs. We will discuss the concept of “comfort care” as it relates to pain management, artificial feeding, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how hospice helps to promote quality of life and sometimes length of life when cure is not possible.

At the end of this informative program, participants will have the opportunity to discuss:

Barriers to quality end-of-life care

Medical decisions that frequently must be made at the end of life

The role of hospice in pain management and other end-of-life issues

Recently, Generation Solutions of Roanoke invited friends and family to gather up the grandchildren and spend a special day together at Tanglewood Mall.  Folks of all ages celebrated the decades gone by and stepped to the tunes from the 50′s and 60′s with live music performed by “40 Years After”.  There were contests galore including the Hand Jive, the Jitterbug and the Twist.  Everyone enjoyed hot dogs, sodas and root beer floats and if that wasn’t enough fun there was even a classic car show. This event provided an opportunity for family members of all ages but especially grandparents and grandchildren, to share the richness of their lives and grow together as a family.  Enjoy the pictures from this exciting event.

Generation Solutions has grown again!  Come visit the brand new Scrub Shoppe on 2201 Langhorne Rd right next door to GS Medical Supply Store.  You will find the Scrub Shoppe stocked with popular scrub brands from Cherokee, Landau, Baby Phat, and Dansko. If you are looking for the perfect gift for a nurse, consider getting him or her a gift certificate to the Scrub Shoppe.

Scrub Shoppe Grand Opening

Open House Today at 2201 Langhorne Road

Join us today- November 4th from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Enter for the chance to win one of many great prizes:

~A Free Pair of Scrubs of Your Choice

~Panera Gift Card

~Pair of Aetrex Shoes

~Bandage Scissors

~And many other prizes

Come in and check out our latest scrub selection and receive 15% off all scrubs November 4th-6th