Ep. 006: Aging Well | with Robin Gonzalez
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In this episode, Amanda talks with Robin Gonzalez, Director of Resident Health Services & Nurse Navigator at Westminster in Austin, Texas, about the community’s holistic, resident-centered approach to aging services. Robin shares how her social work and nursing background is beneficial in her role as she partners with residents and families to address health and wellness needs with minimal interruption to everyday community life. Robin's role at Westminster helps to reduce the stress often associated with location services and resources as residents' mental or physical needs change.
Robin also discusses Westminster's focus on employee well-being, highlighting initiatives like the associate's "Treehouse" break room and amenity space where associates have a gaming space, library, gym with locker rooms, and a new lunch room. By prioritizing the care of both residents and staff, Westminster fosters a thriving community where everyone feels supported and valued.
Takeaways:
Holistic Resident Care: Combining social work and nursing for personalized, comprehensive support.
Community and Belonging: Programs like the Navigator Program enhance resident and family experiences during transitions.
8 Dimensions of Wellness: A broad approach to resident well-being, encompassing physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Employee Well-being: Prioritizing staff health with resources like the Tree House gym to maintain a balanced work environment.
Sustainable Success: Emphasizing the connection between staff well-being and high-quality resident care.
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Special thanks to Robin Gonzalez and Westminster!
This episode is made possible by LeadingAge Texas' Partners: LeadingAge Texas Health Plan, Inc., and Ziegler; along with LeadingAge Texas' Diamond Sponsors: Value First and Communities of Faith, RRG.
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Join the movement as we continue to elevate the conversation on aging by visiting upliftaging.org and following us on our socials @upliftaging.
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The Uplift Aging Podcast is a production of LeadingAge Texas.
Transcript - Ep. 006 (auto-generated)
Intro 00:04.64
This is Uplift Aging, the podcast that's more than a podcast. This is a challenge to embrace growing older, confront negative stereotypes, and better understand what may come with aging. I'm your host, Amanda Wiedenfeld. Together, let's uplift aging.
Amanda
This month, we are focusing on the hashtag Aging Well campaign. And this is really our way of uplifting communities that are exploring ways that people can live vibrantly, promote healthy aging practices, and creating a community that really celebrates a fulfilling and joyful life at every stage. So I'm excited to have with us today Robin Gonzalez from Westminster in Austin, Texas. And Robin, I would love for you to introduce yourself to our listeners and explain a little bit about your personal journey into aging services, your kind of fall-in story, and, more specifically, how your holistic approach to aging services and preventative care management has come to be.
Robin
Happy to be here. Yes, my name is Robin Gonzalez and I work at Westminster. I have a bachelor's in social work and a master's in nursing specifically in maternal health and public health. So my story into seniors and aging services took a little bit of a different turn. So I actually came to Westminster for interview experience. And after about an hour and a half interview, I was hired.
I thought maybe I'd be here for a year before moving on to something in maternal health or something with newborns. I'm still here. So I started out as the weekend supervisor. I worked Friday through Monday. So everything that I learned during the week, I took to caring for the residents over the weekend, relayed the information that I learned over the weekend into the next week. Everything was on the job training because I was right out of nursing school. I learned a lot about management. I used my social work degree. That really came in handy. Then I became the assistant director of nursing for skilled nursing and memory support where the focus was on resident purpose and reducing medication usage, reducing those behaviors, focusing on what resident unmet needs were. After six years of that, I moved to the independent living side. It's the level of care that I love the most. It's just exciting to me. It's not as regulated. So there are things that we can try more with the independent living residents. It is more challenging because we have way more residents than, you know, healthcare or assisted living or memory care.
So I have to get to know more residents, get to know more families. There's more needs, but it's more rewarding because I love the educating part of it. So teaching residents about what the next steps of life look like, what may come next, what does dementia look like, what does Parkinson's look like. So kind of those next steps, that's the part that I love.
And you know, I thought I'd move on, but here I am 13 years later, still here at Westminster and still loving it. And is my job overwhelming some days? Most days, yes. But I think that's what I love about it. It's a challenge every day. No two days are the same. It's just, it is so rewarding just, you know, building those relationships with the residents, with families, with co -workers with outside agencies, the partners that we have. just, couldn't imagine going into the maternal side now. I do get excited with when co -workers and do get pregnant and things like that. But I think my love for the seniors and aging services just took a turn, you know, during clinical.
When I was in nursing school, I never thought I'd be here. Now I couldn't imagine leaving. I love that story. It's so common in our field of aging services. it's the like that's why I joked calling it like a fallen story. It just seems like there's so many people who who say what you just said. Like I never imagined I would be here, but I can't imagine now being anywhere else. Right. And I think taking my background in social work and nursing, melding those together gives me a well -rounded holistic view of residents. And so I'm able to look at all sides, the warm and fuzzy, the technical side. I'm able to look at everything. Maybe a resident just needs a hug that day. Maybe they don't want to know the medical. They don't want to know what a lab means. They don't want to know what a diagnosis means. They just want to hug. They just want to know it's okay today. Maybe one day they do want the medical side. So it's balancing those out to, know, you have to know your residents, knowing what they need at that moment.
Even with families, knowing what they need at the moment. Maybe they just need a listening ear. You know, their mom is declining or their dad is declining and they just got some bad news. Maybe they don't want the medical Robin at that point. They want the social work Robin. And so I just have to balance that out when they meet in my office and figure out like at that time, what do they want? What do they need? And then let me put on my social work hat for a little bit and then maybe put on my nursing hat for a little bit and then maybe half a hat and half a hat and just kind of judge what they need at the time. And so I think this is where I was meant to land.
Amanda
Can you talk a little bit more about the ways in which you are able to foster that sense of community and belonging and support with and for families and residents, of course, also how Westminster as a community is able to foster that sort of engagement?
Robin
So, our managing company, Life Care Services, has this signature experience called the Navigator Program. And so my role as the director of Resident Health Services slash nurse navigator. So, the goal of this navigation program is to guide residents, family members, caregivers through successful health and wellness transitions to achieve the optimal level of well-being and appropriate level of care. So this whole navigation program for our independent living residents is to build relationships, evaluate their needs, solve issues, coordinate programs. residents, families, and caregivers with whatever journey and path it takes and facilitate communication. So I take all that and make sure that residents are safe and healthy in their apartments.
So we in Independent Living right now have about 462 independent living residents in combination with our life enrichment director, who's a social worker, along with our activities director, we're all working together to make sure our residents are thriving, have a purpose, are celebrated in independent living. So we take all this information and just make sure our residents are really at a place where they feel like they belong, where they feel like they can interact with each other, where they have activities that they can partake in, whether that is through wellness, for their mind, body, spirit. That's all that Westminster, we promote. We hope everywhere that you go in Westminster, whether it's out in our courtyards, within our building, within an activity, whether it's exercise, on an outside trip, we hope you are getting some type of fulfillment within your life. There's this eight dimensions of wellness that we base all of our activities on. Every year we go through these eight dimensions of wellness and make sure all of our activities hit one of those. Maybe it hits multiples of those. Making sure all of our residents have something that fulfills their life, whether spiritual, physical, volunteerism, all of that. We try to make sure everybody's got a purpose. And if we find a resident who doesn't, we try to figure out what makes them tick.
We just created a pottery studio. We have a woodworking studio. We have outdoor gardening. I mean, we have something for everyone here. And so we hope everybody's fulfilled. don't, don't think you can be bored here at Westminster. There's just so much to do all the time.
Amanda
That's so great. And it's so truly holistic, so well-rounded. I think the sort of older model of care. People think, you know, nursing home equals somewhere to go, not so much someplace to be or belong. And I know you are specific to independent living right now, but I think just highlighting the holistic approach at all levels of care in your community is lovely. I'm so glad our listeners get to hear that. It's just, it's so much more than perhaps was once experienced or once thought of when we think about a community setting like this.
Robin
Yes, we love all of our levels of care to intermingle. We do have a volunteer group for our independent living residents that volunteer in higher levels of care. So they volunteer on Sundays for church services, they volunteer for reading, sing-alongs, and activities. We have assisted living residents that come and come to classes and activities or exercise classes and independent living. So they do visit each other in several different levels of care. So we do like them to move around through our community and we want them to be able to still see their friends. They don't stop being friends just because they move different levels of care.
Amanda
I think that's so key about so many of our members of LeadingAge Texas. It's that true sense of community within the community. When I go to visit some of our members, you can feel it. You see it. It's very clear that it is a community of people. The eight dimensions of wellness you were talking about, all of those things are so obvious when you lay them out. But to have a position like yours to really focus on that for the residents is really impressive. And clearly it's working.
Robin
And residents have input. We have wellness committees. And so they let us know what they want. If a new resident moves in and they're like, you know, I used to teach this or I used to join this class, they have full say in the types of activities and the types of presentations that we have. We have a resident -led wellness committee that I'm the staff sponsor of, but it is resident -led. And they come up with the presenters and they get them here and we have different presentations. And so they lead that residents on activities committees and they pick the activities that we're going to have and so they do have say in what happens here at Westminster. We do have other residents who are still working so residents don't come here and decline they are still working jobs and still go Monday through Friday to their jobs and still travel. We have some residents that only live here six months out of the year because they travel so much so yeah they lead very active lives.
Amanda
Thank you for highlighting that it's not a cookie cutter thing that you know someone moves in makes this huge life transition decision to move into a community and then has to like fit into whatever activities or whatever is happening at the community. I love that you're highlighting that no no no. That's not even what y 'all want to see. Y 'all want them to come together to be creative and find things that work for them and for others.
Robin
And there are even resident events that are off the books that residents do together. So they may have a crafting club that they meet together or card games. And it's not even on our calendar, but they decide to meet together. And so they're making groups together all the time. And so it's not even a formal meetup. I mean, there's stuff going on here all the time.
Amanda
I mean, I have seen y 'all's activity calendar and it is wild.
Robin
It's insane. It really is insane. is.
Amanda
So yeah, to even think that there are things happening in addition to what's on the calendar. Goodness gracious.
Amanda
So if you could highlight any health or wellness programs that you have at Westminster that have been particularly successful in encouraging active and fulfilling lives for residents at Westminster, what would that be? And then what would you maybe recommend to another community who's trying to implement something like that?
Robin
I really think our exercise programs, we really do have something for everyone. We have two gyms. So we have a primary gym, which is our big gym. So it's got weights, exercise equipment. We have a fitness coordinator who manages that gym. Then we have a gym annex that's in another building. So a little bit smaller gym that has other equipment in it. And then we have a fitness studio that has exercise classes anywhere from resident led classes. That's Monday through Saturday. We don't mess up that. That class will never change.
And then we have our fitness coordinator teaches classes. We have some contracted instructors who come in and teach. We teach yoga. We have a movement disorders class. So it started out as a Parkinson's class, but then we have residents with other movement disorders. So they come together and we have an outside instructor that brings her students in to help teach. They get to work on their mobility, their balance, their strength. We have a pool and so we have aquatics classes. We just had a pool party a couple of weeks ago just to highlight our pool. We have a group of residents who on Mondays take one of our buses and they drive to different places around Austin and then go walk around Town Lake. or go to other parks and walk around. So I think our exercise programs is a really good, innovative thing that we do at Westminster, just because we have so much starting at nine o 'clock in the morning up until the afternoon. And then we have residents who swim on their own. So they're swimming at 5 a they're swimming late in the afternoon, swimming laps, doing exercises in the pool. When I'm driving into work at 7 a I see residents walking up and down.
The road in front of Westminster, we have a very active group that like to be outside and like to exercise. So I think the opportunity for exercise and being healthy is one of the big things here at Westminster. Eating healthy, we have three dining locations here at Westminster. And so we have three options for residents and they really love the healthy options here. Right now it's all about health through food and through exercise, that's a big focus right now. And I think we do a darn good job about that right now.
And just kind of to mirror that, we just opened a couple of months ago, our Treehouse, which is our employee break room. And we actually opened up a gym for our employees that has a weight room, exercise equipment, a lounge area to take care of mental and physical health for the employees, so we've got that also. So we've mirrored that for our associates as much as we do the residents.
Amanda
I'm so glad you mentioned that. The last time I was at Westminster, just a few months ago for our Leadership Collective, we got to see that on our tour, and it was so fabulous. It was very clearly an important piece of the organization to have this space for your associates. I mean, it's a lovely space who wouldn't want to be in there. I think that's so key, and so many of our members and so many in the field, I think, are moving toward this model of truly understanding the care of the associates or the staff or the employees or however you refer to your team. And it's so lovely to see it happening right now.
Robin
I think we have to take care of ourselves if we're going to take care of anybody else.
Amanda
Absolutely. And that's so great, especially you have like young staff coming in, you know, and being able to see that from the beginning of their career that like, okay, this is not just some place I come and like, give it my all, go home at the end of the day, exhausted all of this, like, this is a place I can come and it's really important to the leadership here that I take care of myself so much so that they've created the space for us to be able to do that. How awesome to be able to influence that in people coming in.
Robin
Yes, I'm so happy that Westminster has put money and resources into the employee because yeah, you do have to take care of yourself in order to take care of other people. If you wear yourself out all the time, then you can't take care of others. So it starts with taking care of your employees. You have to have good mental health, good physical health to be able to take care of those and help them with their mental health and their physical health. So I think it was a really good investment.
Amanda (19:27.712)
I'm just assuming, but I'm sure that it helps with the camaraderie within the staff as well.
Robin
Yeah, there's some healthy competition in the gym, in the weight room. -huh, -huh,
Amanda
I bet there is.
Amanda
What advice would you give to other communities or other listeners who are looking to implement practices that support healthy aging and promote that vibrant lifestyle that we're talking about? And not necessarily in a community setting, it could be just something, you know, a person could start doing today.
Robin
Yeah, I've got a couple of things. Always keep trying new things. Always. You can't get stagnant. If you keep doing the same thing over and over and over, people are going to get bored. If you do the same exercise classes all the time, it's going to get boring. You got to keep people interested.
Really get to know your residents personally. You need to know what they like, what they don't like. It's anticipating their needs. you really know your residents, it makes things easier.
Just a quick little story. There was a resident who came to me and told me that there were some clothes in one of the locker rooms at the pool. And I went in there and I was like, recognize these clothes. And so I called one of the spouses and I was like, is your husband missing this hat and this particular shirt? And she was like, yes, how'd you know that? And I was like, well, I remember seeing him every day wearing this hat and this shirt. And she came over and looked at it. She goes, yeah, that's my husband's hat and shirt. I can't believe you remember that. I'm like, it's my job to remember it.
And she was like, I'm just impressed by that. And I was like, it's just my job. mean, it's those little details. You have to know your residents. Pay attention to the details. That's one of our hospitality promises. And residents really respect that.
Know what they like, what they don't like. It's also trial and error. You're not going to get it right the first time, but keep trying. Get the right team in place. You have to have people that are willing to put in the work, that are willing to try.
Promote what you do in multiple ways. If you just put up one flyer in one place, residents aren't gonna see it, so you've gotta put it in multiple places. Do flyers, put it online. If you have a portal, put it on the portal. Do email blasts, newsletters, word of mouth, calendars, use technology. Use everything that you know of to get the word out.
Get your partners involved. So if you use outside agencies or pharmacies, have them provide door prizes. Like if you have some type of activity going on, or they can sponsor a luncheon or decorations, just have them be more visible. They can help if it's a place that maybe doesn't have a lot of funds or a lot of resources. Get your outside partners to help you.
Get your leadership involved. You can't do it alone. You really do need a good team. You can do a lot, but then you're gonna wear yourself out. So you need your leadership involved. You can brainstorm with them if you have a leadership meeting, just get everybody involved, you have to.
But I think the relationships that you build with your residents and your family is the key to everything. You may make a mistake, but if you have that relationship with your families and your residents, then they forgive you if you do make a little mistake, because they do happen. So yeah, yeah.
Amanda
They know your heart, right? They know you're in it for . . . I mean, you wouldn't be there for 13 years if you weren't bought in completely.
Robin
Yeah.
Amanda
So much relationship building. That's what I was, that was my takeaway from the moment you started answering this question. was like, that's really it, right? I feel like you just gave us amazing life advice in general, not just like for specific to, you know, the question of starting a wellness program. All of the things you said, I mean, truly, right? Like that is just relationship building, just kind of doing things scared, as they say. Get your leadership to support you, to buy in, get involved. I know y'all have a fabulous executive director there who's able to really champion you all as you're doing these things, but also the residents and families. And yeah, just really all about relationship building and knowing people, right?
Robin
And if your heart is in the right place, great things are gonna happen.
Amanda
My last question for you is do you have a moment or a story anywhere along your career that changed your perception on aging in a positive way?
Robin
When I worked in memory support, we had a resident whose spouse at the time lived in independent living. He still does. And his wife was in memory support and I was the ADON in over memory support. And we were doing a class. And I think it was a dementia and drugs class. The Eden Alternative, I think, is what we were doing. And so he came to my office with the social worker and we did this six-week course. And so we were learning about dementia. We were learning about behaviors and medications and how to handle things like that. And he sat with us for that six weeks. We met once a week. And he had homework that he had to do and we had to learn about this and learning his side of it and how he, you know, he was married to his wife and how they had this wonderful life and they had children and he was a Senator and just like this life that they had together and how dementia kind of took that part away. And now he was caring for her as now a caregiver and how he had to kind of let go and let Westminster take care of her now.
I think that kind of did it for me because he trusted us to now become her caregiver. Like, okay, I'm about to start crying. He was just so appreciative of everything that we did for her. She recently just passed away. And so this was probably like eight or nine years ago. And he still ribs me to this day. Like he's like, there's the nurse, you better behave. Like, he is just the most . . . the funniest guy and the sweetest guy. And it was that spending that time with him, and learning with him, and learning his side of everything, of how to be a caregiver for someone. While I was also learning how to be a quote-unquote caregiver for someone with dementia. think that was when I was like, I can do this. I have to do this for him.
There are some times where I kind of, you know, get down in the dumps here when things get really hard and you're like, can I do this after 13 years? Can I still do this? And then it was one of those days where I was just like, I don't know if I could do this. And he rolled by in his electric scooter and he was like, I wanna, it was right after she passed away. I wanna thank you for all you did. You know, I learned so much from you and we attended that class together. Like he still remembers what we did eight years ago together and is still just so appreciative of how I treated his wife and how I treated him that after he rolled away, I just started bawling. I was like, this is why I'm here.
So again, those relationships. And then my stepdad just was recently diagnosed with MCI. And so now I'm like, now it's hitting directly to my family. So, that was the turning point when it was like, I'm doing this.
Amanda
That's beautiful.
Robin
Honestly, this is why I'm here. Yeah.
Amanda
Thank you for sharing that.
Robin
You're welcome. Yeah.
Amanda
I'm thinking back to when we just first started talking, learning about what you thought you were going to do . . . Now, wrapping up with this story of your "why," really. That is so beautiful, Robin. Thank you so much for sharing that. And thank you truly . . . I'll echo what you said: Thank you for what you do and your team at Westminster.
Robin
Yes, we have a great team!
Amanda
Just appreciate what you all bring to our field.
Robin
I couldn't imagine doing anything else.
Amanda 28:27.624
Well, thank you, Robin, for being with us on Uplift Aging! We appreciate it so much.
Robin
Thank you for having me!
Outro 28:38.584
Thanks for tuning in to Uplift Aging, a production of Leading Age Texas. Check out this episode's show notes for more about Leading Age Texas, today's guest, and the Uplift Aging movement. Until next time, join us on socials at Uplift Aging as we continue to elevate the conversation on aging.