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Connect with Heather Ratliff to help reach your wellness goals in 2024!

If you have any specific questions or topics you'd like me to cover in my upcoming posts for the 'Childcare in Luxury Hospitality – Industry Insight Edition,' feel free to message me, and I'll be happy to share my thoughts.

🌿 Celebrate National Wellness Month with Good for PA! 🌿 August is National Wellness Month, and there’s no better way to boost your well-being than by getting involved with your local community and enjoying the great outdoors. Participating in events, volunteering, and connecting with your local parks and recreation centers offer so many benefits for your mind, body, and spirit. Here’s why getting involved is Good for PA and good for YOU: 😀Physical Health: Stay active by joining community events like hikes, sports leagues, and fitness classes in your local parks. 😀Mental Wellness: Spending time outdoors and engaging with your community reduces stress, improves mood, and fosters a sense of belonging. 😀Social Connections: Volunteering and attending local events help you build new friendships and strengthen your ties to the community. 😀Environmental Impact: Support your local parks by participating in clean-up events and conservation efforts, helping to preserve these green spaces for everyone to enjoy. 😀Personal Growth: Gain new skills and experiences by volunteering, participating in workshops, and exploring new activities in your community. Take a step toward a healthier, happier you by getting involved with your local parks and rec centers. View your local websites to learn more and make sure you follow them on all their social media. Together, we can make a positive impact on our well-being and our communities. 🌳 #NationalWellnessMonth #GoodForPA #CommunityWellness #ParksAndRec #GetInvolved

🔍✨ Industry Insight: What to Expect When Touring with a CarePatrol Team Member ✨🔍 Considering a new senior living community can be overwhelming, but with CarePatrol by your side, the journey becomes smoother and more informed. Here's what you can expect when you tour a quality community with one of our experienced team members: 1. Personalized Guidance: We start by understanding your unique needs and preferences. This allows us to tailor the tour experience to ensure the community aligns with your lifestyle and care requirements. 2. Comprehensive Overview: Our team provides a detailed walk-through of the community, highlighting key features, amenities, and services. From dining options to social activities, you'll get a thorough understanding of daily life in the community. 3. Safety & Quality Checks: We prioritize safety and quality of care. Expect us to ask insightful questions about staff training, emergency protocols, and overall resident well-being to ensure the highest standards are met. 4. Open Conversations: We encourage open dialogue during the tour. Feel free to ask any questions you have, and we’ll provide honest, transparent answers. We're here to address all your concerns. 5. Resident Interactions: You'll have the chance to meet current residents and hear their firsthand experiences. This provides valuable insights into the community culture and resident satisfaction. 6. Clear Next Steps: After the tour, we help you understand the next steps, whether it’s further research, another visit, or starting the application process. We’re here to support you every step of the way. Touring with CarePatrol means you’re not just seeing a potential new home – you’re gaining a trusted partner in your search for the best senior living option. #CarePatrol #SeniorLiving #QualityCare #SeniorLivingTour #CommunityFirst #SeniorCareJourney

This week has been World Wellbeing Week so we want to share how spending time in outdoor spaces and incorporating nature into our daily lives can benefit our mental and physical health. So how can we ensure that getting into nature is part of our wellbeing routines? Here are some tips: • Grow or pick food – plant vegetables in your garden or herbs on your windowsill and watch biodiversity at work. • Bring nature indoors – get yourself a house plant, listen to nature sounds or watch a documentary. • Do outdoor activities – take a walk, go stargazing or even geocaching! • Help the environment – go litter-picking, plant seeds or build an animal shelter. • Take notice of nature – what can you see, feel, touch? Make a note of it and try not to focus on distractions. • Connect with animals – watch out for wildlife, go for a dog walk or do a nature survey. We recognise that not everyone can access green spaces, however nature is all around us. Take notice of the birds in the sky, or the clouds floating above you. Take time away from your screen to glance out of the window and check the weather. No matter how big or how small, this Wellbeing Week immerse yourself in nature and see if you can feel the difference.

Experience Stockholm Hassle-Free with VivBon Senior Assistant! Planning a trip to Stockholm and seeking extra support due to a disability? VivBon Senior Assistant is here to make your hotel stay comfortable, safe, and memorable. Here’s why VivBon is your top choice in Stockholm: Care & Customization: For us, every individual is unique. With VivBon, you get an assistant experienced and trained in supporting seniors with disabilities. We tailor everything to your needs, from room selection to city activities. Safety First: With a knowledgeable assistant by your side, you can feel secure as you explore the city, move within the hotel, or simply relax in your room. We’re there to assist and ensure everything is accessible and safe for you. Local Knowledge with Extra Care: Our assistants aren’t just experts on Stockholm, but also on providing support where it’s needed most. We guide you to the most accessible places, recommend restaurants with the right facilities, and ensure your stay is a positive experience. Personal Companionship: Travel can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially with specific needs. VivBon’s Senior Assistant offers both practical help and valuable companionship, allowing you to enjoy every moment with full confidence. VivBon understands that traveling with a disability requires extra attention and care. Let us be your support in Stockholm, ensuring you experience the beauty and culture of the city without any barriers. Book now and discover Stockholm your way, with security and comfort at the forefront!

US PHYSICIANS ARE TRUE WORKAHOLICS AND this is a uniquely American phenomenon.  Here's how I know this to be true. I have trained over 40,000 doctors to date, in the USA and Australia England and Canada. I will often stand at the front of a meeting room where several hundred doctors are gathered for a Medical Staff Meeting and ASK: **How many of you have a two-week vacation on your calendar right now? ** 👉 Less than 5% of the hands will go up in an American audience.  The rest of the audience just frowns, looks down at their toes and shakes their head slowly back and forth. 👉 Outside of the USA all the hands go up  and they shrug their shoulders and look at me LIKE I'M CRAZY to ask the question. It's a stark difference and just one more way the USA is a uniquely unhealthy healthcare system. A solid two-week, work-free vacation is a key component of a healthy physician's personal wellness strategy. Just ask any doctor who has developed this habit. For most, it is the ONLY TIME they can completely relax and let go But ONLY IF they DO NOT take calls or check messages or emails while out of town. We have even developed checkout checklists and specific dialog to let your staff and partners know YOU ARE OFF LINE WHEN ON VACATION Details from the Study: Researchers mailed surveys to 3671 members of the American Medical Association from 2020 to 2021, and 1162 (31.7%) responded. Another 6348 (7.1%) responded to an email survey sent to 90,000 physicians. An analysis suggested the respondents were representative of all US practicing physicians. Among 3024 respondents who responded to a subsurvey about vacations, about 40% took more than 15 days of vacation over the past year, about 40% took 6-15 days, and about 20% took 5 or fewer days. Fewer than half of physicians said their electronic health record (EHR) inboxes were fully covered by others while they were away. About 70% said they worked while on vacation, with nearly 15% working an hour or more each day. Emergency physicians were the least likely and anesthesiologists were the most likely to take at least 15 days of vacation per year, according to the study. https://lnkd.in/gE7xDEVC

After over twenty years working in heritage, art, culture and tourism, it’s fascinating to be immersed in another context Observations of working practices in a high intensity hospital ward - highly collaborative: everyone knows their own roles and their roles are clearly defined but everyone helps each other out - everyone is always learning and always teaching, from the domestic staff to nurses and doctors, every discipline has a culture of placements, shadowing and passing on knowledge, as well as regular training and development - it’s a high intensity stressful working environment with patients experiencing high levels of distress, seemingly diffused in part by a low intensity, highly positive working culture in the team, characterised by supporting each other to take breaks, and helping each other out when needed - everyone is always awareness raising and fundraising for the work of the ward - staff have to have a balance of empathy and practicality, to be able to do what needs to be done as sensitively as possible even when it may cause distress - the team need a high capacity to flex and respond to circumstances as they develop, each case is different and you don’t know what each shift will bring - there is a culture of relentless positivity and encouragement, even in very difficult circumstances. As the parent of a patient it’s a largely positive experience to be alongside these health professionals, and I have even more respect than ever for their work ethic and commitment. I have experienced two challenges as a result of this working culture 1) with such a highly fluid, flexible and collaborative environment it can be difficult to get definitive information, or have it delivered in linear form, rather it gets discovered and pieced together over time. 2) relentless positivity makes it difficult to express when I am finding things hard, although when I have done so the high levels of empathy elicit a supportive response. Overall there are some similarities with teams I have worked in, not the least the fact it is also majority female workers but also the high levels of collaboration needed for example to deliver visitor experiences on a busy day, but also some clear differences. #workingculture #worklife

🚀 Training Update! 🚀 I recently had the incredible opportunity to transfer to Mayfair Care Center for three weeks to assist with their annual survey. This experience was eye-opening and full of learning moments. Every building has its unique characteristics, and Mayfair was no different. Here’s what I got to experience: 🏥 Exposure to a different building – Every healthcare facility has its own set of strengths and areas for growth. At Mayfair Care Center, I had the opportunity to dive into a new environment and observe how different operational strategies impact both staff efficiency and resident care. This exposure allowed me to gain a broader perspective on what it takes to run a successful facility, and I’m excited to bring these insights back to Great Neck. 🚬 Managing a smoking facility – One of the unique challenges at Mayfair was managing a smoking facility. This was entirely new for me, as it’s not something we deal with at Great Neck. Understanding the policies, safety protocols, and resident needs associated with a smoking area was a valuable learning experience. It required balancing resident rights with health and safety concerns, providing a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in resident care. 🌍 Working with a different demographic – Mayfair’s resident population presented a different demographic than I’m accustomed to. This diversity in resident backgrounds, health conditions, and care needs expanded my understanding of how to tailor care plans and communication strategies to better serve a wide range of individuals. It was an enriching experience that emphasized the importance of cultural competence and adaptability in healthcare. 🤝 Building relationships with new staff members – Collaborating with a new team was one of the highlights of my time at Mayfair. Every team brings its dynamics, expertise, and approaches to problem-solving. Working alongside these fresh, talented professionals allowed me to exchange ideas, learn new techniques, and foster relationships that I hope will continue beyond this experience. 🧩 Understanding new operations – No two buildings operate in the same way, and adapting to Mayfair’s systems and processes was both a challenge and an opportunity for growth. From the daily routines to the administrative workflows, I gained a comprehensive understanding of how different operational choices impact the overall efficiency and care quality. Learning under Richard Sherman during my time at Mayfair was an absolute pleasure. I’m excited to take all the knowledge and experiences I’ve gained from him and implement them back at The Grand Healthcare System at Great Neck. #Healthcare #NursingHome #ProfessionalGrowth #LearningExperience #Teamwork #HealthcareLeadership #ResidentCare #FacilityManagement #HealthcareInnovation #TeamDevelopment #OperationalExcellence #ContinuousImprovement

Luxury retreats in Singapore offer new moms a blend of Asian postnatal customs and top-tier amenities, with prices soaring up to US$125,000 a month. These high-end confinement centers provide round-the-clock care, including lactation consultants and chefs, alongside indulgent services like massages and music therapy. The trend, driven by affluent clients seeking superior postpartum support, has sparked explosive growth, with the market projected to reach US$18.8 billion by 2029. "While a confinement nanny from Malaysia will set a family back around S$4,500 for 28 days, the cost of staying at a dedicated center could easily be more than quadruple that amount," says Zhang Jie Joey, founder of Singjoy Pte Ltd. My Queen, a center in the Oasia Resort Sentosa, now has five to six babies a month, up from just one when it opened in 2022, said founder Mei Ling Teo, who foresees growing demand for postpartum care centers. "We serve our customers just like queens," says Danny Xiang, founder and CEO of PrimeCare International 贝康国际, a luxury maternity and baby care facilities operator. Since its Singapore launch in October, PrimeCare International has had around 25 customers, according to Xiang, who previously worked at UBS Group AG in Hong Kong covering healthcare. #HealthCare #Wellness #Fitness I Bloomberg News I Yoojung Lee I David Ramli