Pioneers find Eden

PALMER — At the Alaska Pioneer and Veterans Home in Palmer, a familiar sound makes its way down resident halls. The wheels on Jemella Swanson’s cleaning cart squeak a little, prompting Pumpkin to perk up.

At 12-years-old and weighing a little more than 22 pounds, Pumpkin needs some help getting on his white mat atop the cart. Swanson picks up the home’s favorite feline, like she has every day for eight years, and plops him in his spot. Pumpkin’s ready to make the rounds.

Pumpkin knows he’s about to get a ton of loving on Swanson’s cleaning circuit as she goes through the facility’s neighborhoods. He looks forward to making the rounds as much as the residents do.

Since he first arrived in 1996, then just a thin orange and white kitten, Pumpkin has been brightening the faces of the residents and staff at Pioneer and Veterans Home, adding an element of comfort.

Making the rounds

APVH is split into three levels of care, with Level 3 residents in the most need of care, many living with Alzhiemer's disease. It is here, in Sunny Loop, that Pumpkin is noticed the most.

In the Homestead neighborhood, an Alzhiemer's, dementia and related diseases (ADRD) area of the facility, Pauline Smith is sporting a bright red shirt and black velvet hat that covers her long, gray hair. She looks out the window on a sunny afternoon, caressing the ring on her finger with care.

“Hi Pauline,” Swanson chimes, wheeling Pumpkin and her cart into Sunny Loop. “Look who I brought.”

“It’s been a long time,” Pauline said, coming over to pet the lazy feline. “How wonderful.”

Two doors down, Montean Hobbs comes out of her room to see what is going on. She strokes the cat and retires to her room.

Down on Windy Way, it’s time for Dorothy Parks to get her turn with Pumpkin.

“He’s a big rambler,” Parks exclaims. “He’s got that independent look to him, doesn’t he?”

Parks said on some days she and the cats spend hours at a time with each other just talking, taking in the day.

Hill remembers when Pumpkin first came to the Home. Staff had to talk the administrator at the time into keeping him. Hill became Pumpkin’s caretaker over the years, keeping him in her well decorated room.

“He’s comforting,” Hill said. “He doesn’t talk back to you at the end of the day. When he wants to get away, he’ll sleep in the closet.”

Hill said Pumpkin had a hard time at first when she moved into her Level 2 Cordova room, but he’s adjusted to it over time.

“Misery loves company,” she laughed.

For Swanson, cabbing Pumpkin around all day on her cart has its advantages and challenges.

“The residents love him,” Swanson said. “He’ll get ornery sometimes, and when he does, he takes it out on me. You should see their eyes when Pumpkin comes through their neighborhood. It’s an amazing thing to see.”

Eden in the Valley

Jody Linsey, activities supervisor for the facility, said incorporating animals and an abundance of plant life into the retirement community is part of a growing effort to make the Alaska Pioneer and Veterans Home (APVH) feel like home. Here, staff learns to practice the Eden Alternative, a philosophy based on the core belief that aging should be a continued stage of development and growth rather than a period of decline. This philosophy includes elements residents would normally have in their own homes, like pets.

More than 70 residents live at APVH, and a third are veterans of the armed forces.

In 1999, APVH became registered as an official Eden Alternative home. The facility’s casual country charm made for a seamless transition to the Eden Alternative approach to a home environment centered on residents.

Licensed as an assisted living facility, APVH’s residents all require levels of care that vary from complete independence to those with chronic, but stable, health care needs.

Several resident neighborhoods, complete with their own dining rooms and activity areas, support the Eden philosophy of de-institutionalizing long-term care. The foundations of this approach is based on the belief that loneliness, helplessness and boredom account for most of the suffering experienced in today’s long-term care settings.

Through the implementation of the principals of Eden, APVH is working to create vibrant living and working environments for residents.

Linsey said APVH’s staff is dedicated to maximizing quality of life by providing warm, loving care and meaningful activities in a setting that promotes independence, the development of positive relationships and physical, emotional and spiritual growth.

“The Eden Philosophy is all about being home instead of an institution,” Linsey said. “The philosophy is getting rid of loneliness, helplessness and boredom, the three plagues of elders. By engaging them in everyday activities and building relationships with the animals, other people, staff and the community, we believe their stay here is more enjoyable.”

Linsey said there’s never a shortage of things to do at the Home. Bingo, bowling, shopping, clubs and other activities dot the calendars hanging around the facility, showing a broad and busy schedule. Sooner or later for many residents who have taken to APVH as their final home, depression creeps in.

Pets have been a way to battle depression and loneliness for those without loved ones around. The Eden Alternative supports adopting animals and encourages families of nursing home residents to bring their pets and children with them on their visits.

Enter Pumpkin and his “cat-erpart” Willow, a bashful, long-haired feline who prefers napping under tables over riding on cleaning carts. Together, along with two aquariums of fish and six caged doves, the pets provide a dose of cheerfulness and serenity around the Pioneer and Veteran’s Home on a daily basis.

Frank and Edna, two white doves living at APVH, are next-door neighbors to their son “Oops,” whose hatched egg was discovered after staff had supposedly removed all of the lovebirds’ offspring weeks before.

Pumpkin takes in the strokes and pets with admiration, but at the end of the day prefers the company of Dorothy Hill, a resident who has taken on the responsibility of housing Pumpkin in her room for more than 12 years.

“The benefits of caring for these animals is the smiles you get from the residents,” Linsey said. “They build a relationship with them and become a part of the animal’s life.”

The Eden Alternative is an innovative philosophy of long-term care as a human habitat where people can continue to live and learn rather an institution for the frail and elderly.

Around the Mountain View “neighborhood” at the home, instead of hallway, a 3-month-old baby sits in the arms of Beth Holland. The baby stares up at the elderly woman, smiling ear to ear, as family members carry on around them.

“She’s been holding her for an hour,” Linsey said. “Babies always bring smiles to our residents.”

Daily visits from families and friends allow for outside pets as well. One regular to the home is Tippy, an 11-inch chihuahua with a sweater on his back and a skip in his step. Tippy gets attention from staff and residents equally.