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Center celebrates National Nursing Home Week

The Daily Times - 5/22/2017

The celebration of National Nursing Home Week at Life Care Center of Blount County will serve as a tribute to residents of the local nursing/rehabilitation center, as well as a trip down memory lane.

“It’s to celebrate the residents and their lives,” said Cindy Bolduc, the facility’s director of business development. “We have lots of residents who have lived very long, full lives. But the things they’ve seen and done tend to be forgotten with time.

“This year’s theme (for National Nursing Home Week) is ‘The Spirit of America,’ and that’s a very fitting theme for the generation we take care of. They’ve lived through a lot, and they certainly exemplify the spirit of America.”

Observance started in 1967

National Nursing Home Week was established in 1967 by the American Health Care Association. It kicks off every year on Mother’s Day, providing communities an opportunity to interact with the residents and employees of their local nursing home facilities.

This is the second year that Life Care Center of Blount County has participated in the recognition. The 120-bed facility opened in December of 2015 and celebrated for the first time in May of 2016.

Bolduc said each day of the celebration, which runs May 14 through May 20, has a special theme. Sunday featured a Mother’s Day tea. Today is a military appreciation day, recognizing veterans with a military truck show at 1:30 p.m., followed by an honor guard and a presentation from Blount County Veterans Affairs Director Nathan Weinbaum at 3 p.m.

Tuesday will see an antique car show beginning at 2 p.m., as part of the day’s “Evolution of Locomotion” theme. “The idea is that these residents have seen a lot of change in their lifetimes in transportation. Some of these people grew up walking, and now they can get on a jet plane and go anywhere in the world.”

The center will host a staff olympics on Wednesday, which Bolduc describes as “an opportunity for our staff to have some fun, because we couldn’t do what we do without our staff.”

And Thursday will be “Pioneer Day,” with an antique show and demonstrations of old-time crafts and trades. “We want to include lots of the things that our patients may have grown up with,” Bolduc said.

‘Country Fair’ concludes week of activities

The week ends Friday with a “County Fair” from 3 p.m.-5 p.m., featuring games, face painting and food.

“Our patients are people who have seen it all,” Bolduc said. “Hard times, times with no money or no food or no fuel, you name it. They’ve lived through it all. And they can tell some amazing stories, if you just sit down and listen.”

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