Senior Health Fair Aims to Assist Senior Citizens and Caregivers

By Misty Cryer

Goodlife Senior Living and Memory Care is holding a health fair for seniors and caregivers, enabling them to connect with local resources they may find helpful. Planning is currently in progress to find local vendors of products and services beneficial to seniors.

The event will provide a variety of health and wellness resources, including free health screenings, expert wellness tips, local health and senior care vendors, and nutrition and fitness guidance, along with fun activities like free basic manicures, giveaways, and raffles.

The fair will be held in one of the two Goodlife assisted living homes at 1015 Teak Lane from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 27.

Tira Van Natta, Administrator with Goodlife Senior Living and Memory Care, is coordinating the fair. She can be reached by phone at 575-686-9563.

“We’re looking at bringing in the senior citizens of the community, and we are trying to get vendors that service the seniors to give them information about programs that they may not be aware of that may be beneficial to them,” said Van Natta.

So far, vendors that have confirmed attendance include J&J Home Health, North Mesa Senior Center, Walmart Eye Center, Enhabit Home Health and Hospice Services, LifeHouse, and National Notary, said Van Natta. About National Notary, she said, “It is a lady who only caters to the seniors—for free—if they need anything notarized. She will come to them.”

Van Natta said she is still soliciting more vendors. She encourages them to stop by and let her know what they have to offer for the seniors. “What we’re going to do is we’re going to have the vendors bring their own tables and set up different stations throughout the house. It’s open to the public, but we are looking to generate more of the seniors and their caregivers,” she said.

“We’re going to have refreshments, and I’m going to have some ladies do free, simple manicures,” said Van Natta. While she is still building a list of what will be going on, she said they will have a raffle and door prizes.

“We are a senior living and memory care facility. We are more of a home base facility,” said Van Natta about Goodlife Senior Living and Memory Care. She said the facility provides care for seniors with memory issues along with seniors who just need extra help with the day-to-day routines. There are two homes locally that are able to house 16 residents in each home, she said.

The facility does 24-hour care along with respite care. Van Natta said daycare service is available if caregivers want to drop off a loved one to get out and do a few errands, “We take them for the day as well.”

Stephanie Molina, Regional Manager for Goodlife Senior Living and Memory Care, added that respite care also includes overnight stays or stays for a certain number of nights.

Services the facilities provide, according to Van Natta, include bathing, dressing, mobility and bathroom assistance, housekeeping, oral care, and medication reminders and assistance, along with redirection and reminders.

“We provide home-cooked meals, not frozen, actually home-made from scratch. Our cooks follow a recipe that’s sent out,” said Van Natta.

Activities Goodlife provides for seniors are vast. “The staple is Bi

ngo,” said Van Natta. Other activities mentioned include puzzles and games like Hungry Hippos, table tennis, checkers, card games, Jenga, and noodle ball. She said they also do morning stretches and provide exercise in class, along with offering arts and crafts, karaoke, dancing, painting, and gardening.

“We host a lot of parties and events in the house for the senior citizens that live here, plus we invite the public as well as families to attend,” said Van Natta.

Advance arrangements are necessary to prepare the staff to provide services to clients during their stay, said Van Natta.

Molina said interested parties can contact them for information, explaining that a physician’s assessment lets them know what medication needs to be passed, a little bit about their history, and how the facility needs to service clients during their stay.

“We would like the community to come and check us out,” said Molina. She said their facilities are more of a home environment when compared to a nursing home.

“We have facilities in the states of New Mexico, Texas, and Utah,” said Molina. In addition to the two homes in Carlsbad, other New Mexico facilities are located in Lovington, Portales, Ruidoso, Artesia, and Los Lunas. Texas locations include El Paso, Amarillo, and Snyder. “We have three in Utah,” said Molina, adding there are two in Price, Utah.