Williams Manor is a premier assisted living community in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania. It is within delightful Northampton County which is part of the Keystone State.
Williams Manor provides a unique and personal care experience to embrace you as a resident of a household rather than a resident of a facility. Here you don't just abide, but you live...in a welcoming and supportive community you are glad to call home...because it feels that way. Equally important, is our team approach to your 24 hour care. We realize that our well being and daily needs are met on multiple levels. This is how we live our everyday lives and this continues at Williams Manor. We surround you with a caring professional team to contribute to your social, emotional and physical needs. Our approach focuses on care for you as a whole person. We build a program that is personalized and designed to your choices and supporting essentials. Our plan's goal goes far beyond the basics, instead seeking to maximize your overall quality of life, wherever you are. An unmatched pursuit of health care standards and an emphasis on empowering our most important assets: our staff and those we care for.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the therapeutic benefits a pet can have on any person. Whether it’s a nuzzle of a snout, a lick of the wrist, a gentle purring or the sleekness of an angelfish in a tank, animals have an amazing ability to make humans feel good.
Pet therapy builds on the pre-existing human-animal bond. Interacting with a friendly pet can help many physical and mental issues. It can help reduce blood pressure and improve overall cardiovascular health. It can also release endorphins that produce a calming effect. This can help alleviate pain, reduce stress, and improve your overall psychological state.
For some people, creating artwork is a full time job and lifelong dream they’ve worked hard to fulfill. For others, art is simply a hobby they enjoy doing from time to time. Using paint, clay, pencils, etc., is a way to express themselves and create something from nothing, a satisfying experience to see through from start to finish.
Regardless of the motivation behind creating artwork, art also has long been known to have therapeutic benefits, and can be especially beneficial to older individuals. Recent studies have shown that seniors who participate in art programs tend to visit the doctor and use medications less, as well as experience less depression.
ART AS THERAPY
The benefits of art as therapy for seniors are numerous and help improve overall quality of life. Some of the ways art as therapy can benefit older individuals include:
- Promoting self-awareness and self-expression. Expressing oneself through art is a powerful, meaningful way to share our lives with others. Art also can help the memory-impaired access long-forgotten memories and increase self-esteem.
- Facilitating socialization and communication. Those who have difficulty expressing themselves or communicating with others find using visual means to be extremely helpful. Art provides another way to connect with those around you, which can help lessen feelings of loneliness and isolation.
- Improving cognitive skills and providing intellectual stimulation. Discussing art creations with others offers not only a way to communicate, but also intellectual stimulation and promotes memory health. Challenging aging individuals to create art allows them to expand their minds and look at things in a way they might not normally consider.
- Reducing boredom. Art is a recreational activity and offers a fun and fulfilling way to spend free time.
- Improving physical/motor skills. Creating artwork helps benefit coordination through small, purposeful movements, leading to less pain and even an enhanced immune system.
- Decreasing stress and depression. Tapping into the emotions needed to create artwork allows for open expression of feelings, helping to relieve stress, anxiety and confusion.
Certified art therapists are specially educated on all the ways to use art to improve quality of life for certain individuals. They will create programs using many different mediums to allow their patients the therapy they need. Utilizing things like paints, pens or markers, collage, watercolors or even clay for sculpture and flower arranging are all ways for seniors to express themselves through art. While not every art session will conjure a dramatic memory or involve an emotional breakthrough, it will still provide a fun and interesting way for seniors to relax and express themselves.
