​The official first day of winter is Tuesday December 21. Melody Living Lake in the Hills senior living community health experts have created a winter wellness checklist for seniors. The checklist is designed to help keep our residents active, healthy, and moving during the winter months as things cool down.
 
Here are some ideas you can try to warm the heart of a loved one all season long! Send a winter care package.  Hot cocoa or tea is the perfect treat to stay warm and bring emotional wellness to your loved one. These items will also travel easily and have a long shelf life. You can also include a book, magazine, or photo album for your loved one to snuggle up to and enjoy with hot drink.
 
Schedule regular calls or pop-by visits with your loved ones to ensure they feel connected. Social visits in the winter months are crucial. It is more difficult for seniors to be out and about in the cold, snow, and ice. If you can make visits, you should. If you live far from your loved one, make sure to schedule regular calls. It will give both of you something to look forward to each week. 

Ho, ho, ho!  Santa and Mrs. Claus are making a stop at Melody Living Lake in the Hills Senior Living community this Christmas season. The community is welcome to come by for photos with Saint Nick!
 
The lights, ornaments and stockings are hung at our senior living community for festive appeal so residents and staff can enjoy the season all month long. Our residents and staff are feeling the spirt of the season and cannot wait to share it with our broader community. The highlight of our events calendar for December is when Mr. and Mrs. Claus travel from the North Pole to Lake in the Hills spreading cheer to all. They’ll be here on December 15th from 4:00 – 5:30 pm. Melody Living is located at 525 Harvest Gate Road, Lake in the Hills, IL.  

Residents at Melody Living Lake in the Hills Senior Living communities have vast family and professional backgrounds. However, our residents do have something in common: they value gratitude. Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to say “thanks” to a senior who has given you a helping hand in the past.
 
Perhaps your mom, dad, aunt, uncle or a longtime boss is now in their golden years. The benefits of “thanking” them for how they impacted your life are significant. The giver and the receiver of gratitude experience emotional, social and intellectual benefits. Receiving thanks can help you feel better about your circumstances, which can lead to feeling better about yourself. Experts say giving and receiving gratitude has a strong positive impact on psychological well-being, self-esteem, and depression in seniors.

Melody Living Lake in the Hills now offers our residents LSVT (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment), an evidence-based treatment for individuals in all stages of Parkinson's Disease through Paxxon, one of our care partners.
 
Melody Living Lake in the Hills onsite therapist, Hannah (need to know her last name) is now LSVT certified. She runs a weekly exercise class that focuses on Parkinson's patients. The complimentary class includes both education and exercises. Having an on-site therapy provider is extremely beneficial to the residents since they do not have to drive or seek a ride outside the com- munity to see a therapist. They can just come on down to the therapy gym!
 
LSVT was named for Lee Silverman, a woman living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), it was developed by Dr. Lorraine Ramig and has been scientifically studied for over 25 years with support from the National Institute for Deafness and other Communication Disorders within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other organizations.

Cheers! National Happy Hour Day is Friday, November 12, 2021. Melody Living Lake in the Hills Senior Living Community hosts happy hour for residents every week. The drink menu includes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The social benefits of seniors attending happy hour are overflowing.
 
There are several recent studies related to the benefits of spirits for seniors. First, a University of California San Diego School of Medicine led study claims older adults who consume alcohol moderately on a regular basis are more likely to live to the age of 85 without dementia or other cognitive impairments than non-drinkers. The findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.