St. Luke's Home August Newsletter   Med-Start Program at St. Luke's Changes Lives   Rodrigo Valenzuela-Cordova (pictured above with St. Luke's CEO L'Don Sawyer), is a Tucson native and  senior at the University of Arizona. He is pre-med majoring in Public Health, and this summer, he returned to the Med-Start Health Careers program at St. Luke's as the Lead Counselor. The immersive Med-Start program, run through the College of Medicine and sponsored by the UA Office of Diversity, is a residential program that houses all student participants in a UA residence hall. It provides the students, all of whom are high school students heading into their senior years, first-hand experience with careers in health care including medicine, nursing, public health, and pharmacy. "St. Luke's Home is a living, breathing learning lab where students, like…

  St. Luke's Home July Newsletter Three Generations of Family Support for St. Luke's Home  Sadie Smith (pictured on the left with St. Luke's Elder/volunteer Lois), is not only one of St. Luke's Home newest volunteers, she also is the third generation in her family to support the Elders at St. Luke's Home. Sadie, who will enter the 10th grade in August at Basis Tucson North, first came to St. Luke's at the age of five with her Aunt Leenie (also known as Eileen Starace) and Eileen's mother, Margaret, for Wii bowling. Eileen is a member of the Board of Visitors (BOV) Committee and co-chaired the Baile and Margaret, now deceased, was also a BOV member. And that's not all. Eileen's mother-in-law, Marilyn Starace, has a long history at St. Luke's.…

St. Luke's Home June Newsletter St. Luke's Home Remembers St. Luke's Home hosted a special Memorial Day Remembrance Celebration in honor of all soldiers who have died for the nation, and with special recognition of  the many St. Luke's Elders who served. Steve Aguirre, Membership Director of American Legion Post 59, presided over a flag-raising ceremony. Also joining the event were the American Legion Riders, a motorcycle group of Veterans. In his remarks, Aguirre offered his gratitude to all the men and women who lost their lives in the war, and offered his respect to the Elders for any loved ones they lost. Aguirre also invited Elders to share their memories of family members and friends they lost to war. The remembrance also included patriotic songs, sung by all, followed by a fried chicken feast.   Med-Start Summer Program Runs…

St. Luke's Home May Newsletter Tucson Mayor Tours St. Luke's;  Meets with Elders Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild visited St. Luke's Home on April 11. CEO L'Don Sawyer led him on a tour of the community, and the Mayor met with Elders at the Town Hall Meeting.  Mayor Rothschild has a deep interest in Elder care issues. He has formed the Tucson Healthcare Sector Partnership (THSP) and one of its subcommittees is studying the Elder-care shortage issue in Tucson.  St. Luke's Elders had a number of questions for the Mayor with a focus on his plans for expanding senior housing options in Tucson. Mayor Rothschild carefully and thoughtfully answered all questions. He provided a full explanation of the range of and funding for housing options currently available. Elders were impressed with the Mayor and described him…

St. Luke's Home April Newsletter Dementia Expert Presents to Full House at St. Luke's Home Dr. Nicole Batsch, a noted dementia expert from King's College in London, member of the Alzheimer International Council and a consultant to the World Health Organization, presented to a large and fully engaged audience at St. Luke's Home on March 7. Dr. Batsch discussed the different types of memory-loss that can afflict Elders, and noted that the largest risk factor for memory-related disease is age. While there is no cure and individuals always continue to deteriorate, the goal is to improve the quality of daily life for those suffering from the disease. Diagnosis "takes six month to rule out all possibilities," according to Dr. Batsch, which include Alzheimer's, vascular dementia, Lewy Body dementia and Huntington's disease." Research dollars…

St. Luke's Home March Newsletter St. Luke's Hosts Forums on End-of-Life Planning  St.  Luke's CEO L'Don Sawyer (pictured above) triggered substantial interest in end-of life planning with her February 15th presentation at the UA Department of Psychology Annual Conference on Successful Aging. With more than 250 attendees, feedback has been strong, and St. Luke's response has been swift. The feedback reflects a fact that Sawyer noted in her presentation: While 60% of people believe that ensuring family members are not burdened with tough end-of-life decisions is "extremely important," a full 56% have not made known their end-of-life wishes. In response, St. Luke's has scheduled two public forums with plans to hold quarterly gatherings to address this vital  topic. Up first: March 20, 2 pm-3:30 pm:  Rev. Karen McDonald, M.Div., Health Education Manager, Interfaith Community Services, Conversations of a Lifetime …