Elder Ashram

Judy1

I visited the assisted living community of Elder Ashram in Oakland. Ashram means community in the Indian language, so the name just means the elder community, and there are no religious guidelines for being there. They have about 91 beds. It's very friendly and very personal. They do not separate the memory care patients from the other participants in the community. Everyone is in the same space. They don't consider memory as a disease, but more as a change. All of us are forgetting some things all the time. It's more like opening up the mind to be receptive and be gentle with the changes to see what good things come out of it. That's part of their philosophy, and you can read it on their website. What's special is they have a group of psychology interns who take care of three or four people in addition to the regular care staff and medical staff, so there's this element of socialization and caring and making sure people don't feel isolated. It makes for a very vibrant, homey, and friendly situation. They have music, gardens, and they do a few special events. They also do conferences or workshops with all of their people. It's kind of like conversations about deep topics and what their understanding of the afterlife or health, and all kinds of things, in a very loving and caring way. I can't say enough good things about them. They're just really good, and the staff members are the ones who help set the tone. Mostly, they do a kind of afternoon hour when they serve turmeric golden milk, instead of coffee. It's just very nice, with very friendly and very open people. You can choose to participate or not.