Denise Likar – VP Independence at Home SCAN Health

In 1977, the Senior Care Action Network, now known as SCAN was formed. Experts in medicine, gerontology, psychology and social services were brought together to deliver on a mission to keep seniors healthy and independent through a variety of divisions and services and various community benefit programs including SCAN Health Plan and Independence at Home. We’re pleased to share an interview with one of our many dedicated friends at SCAN, specifically Denise Likar, vice president of the Independence at Home division.

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BlueSea: As a trusted source to connect seniors with resources and assistance needed to remain in their communities, can you talk specifically about the Independence at Home division you oversee?

Denise Likar: Absolutely! It’s something very near and dear to my heart and I’ve been with Scan for 18 years, and all 18 of my years have been in within Independence at Home. Independence at Home is kind of like the founding organization. We’re like a Social Services Agency, if you will, that is part of Scan Health Plan. We’re focused out in the community at large to help seniors and their caregivers navigate the system of care, navigate the safety net services that are out there so that seniors can remain at home. Sometimes seniors engage with us for help on how to navigate their health plan and resources, which can be very complicated. Sometimes, someone knows they need help with something but they don’t know the right program to ask for. So we’ll help navigate that help to link people to those resources. But also, sometimes there are gaps in care out there. And so Scan has worked through those gaps through their Independence at Home division.

We also have an in home behavioral health program, medication safety program. And we also have a volunteer program where we will pair volunteers with seniors in order to have companionship and to combat social anxiety. So all of our services are strategically designed based on gaps in care we’ve seen out in the community, but encompassing all of it is, somebody can just call us on the phone, say, I don’t know where to go. And we’re going to help you, we’re going to help you either get to the right place, or get you to the right resource or get you in the right program, that we have an order to help you be able to stay in the community.

BlueSea: That’s great! And sometimes, you may connect them with BlueSea Care for home care services?

Denise Likar: Absolutely. Even for our art to wellness program because we also have a very popular painting program for seniors. So that’s awesome!

BlueSea: What are some of the challenges of the new aging economy?

Denise Likar: Sure. So one of the things that happened in last, the last couple of years here in California in the budget cycle, is the state has really assessed the demographics. So the largest growing population in California is the 65 and over segment, and they are outpacing the younger populations. So you’ve got that impact on the state, meaning we have more seniors here, we have to have an understanding of that. And we have to have the right services for them. With changes in modern medicine and technology, people are living longer, they’re healthier, and quite frankly, working longer. The old days of 65 as retirement age are gone and many of our seniors are staying in the workforce. So with all of this, we have to not only be able to have the ability to understand their needs and provide programs that meet their needs, we also have to understand them as contributors in the workforce.

We also have to have a workforce that understands seniors to support those seniors who aren’t working and need their help. So all of that feeds into the economy of the state and the local needs in many of our communities.

One thing Scan is doing to try to contribute positively to this is we have a scholarship program with Cal State Long Beach where we are providing 10 scholarships per academic year for students who are choosing to go into work related to gerontology. So maybe they’re going to be a nurse, but they want to focus on working with older adults. We want to make sure they get properly trained. Maybe they’re a social worker that wants to focus on older adults or a physical therapist. These areas apply for this scholarship. And we’re promoting that people need to know that there’s a deeper understanding needed so that our seniors can continue to thrive,

BlueSea: That’s wonderful. So how many scholarships have you awarded?

Denise Likar: So we’ve given out a total of 20. And we’re now working on plans for next year’s slate. So it’s an annual process partnership with Cal State Long Beach and it’s been fabulous. But we know that in an economy that has to be able to understand, accept and work with older adults, you need the right people in the right places that understand that and understand how to work with them.

BlueSea: How do you help ensure thriving throughout, especially now during this pandemic?

Denise Likar: 2020 has been a wild year for everybody and the twists and turns. And if you’re a planner like me, who likes to think you know, six feet ahead, man, it’s been hard. And so I know it’s been hard on people like us. It’s been hard on families, but it’s been hard on our older adults. And so, you know, we’ve always are encouraging our older adults to find their perpetual purpose.

A lot of people don’t have a plan post retirement. They have not thought about how they are going to spend their time. Work brings us a lot of things and socialization is one of them. And then the pandemic was a little bit of a real curve-ball especially with stay at home orders. People, especially our older adults being told you’re at high risk, you shouldn’t be going to extra places, you shouldn’t be getting together in large groups and our senior centers are closing down. You know, I think it’s really pushing us to really get connected to technology like this type of platform to be able to engage with people.

Having a plan for post-retirement is one thing, but I think the bottom line is we’ve learned with this pandemic, it’s connectivity. How do we connect with people in our lives? Some people have more people than others have in their lives. So how do we connect them to agencies like yours, like ours, like senior centers that have gone virtually online in order for them to continue to engage to prevent isolation and loneliness? Something like this really can have such negative effects on our health and our well-being. So we want to help people realize their own purpose, and especially connectivity and being able to engage.

There’s still what I’ll call a digital divide. And certain segments of our seniors, if they do have grandchildren or children who understand the technology and can get it for them, they can sometimes move along a little faster in their adoption of it. There’s a large segment of our seniors out there who have outlived family members or are alone for whatever reason. And so we’re really trying to connect them to these platforms as well and help them get access to technology.

With the governor’s order to close that digital divide for older adults, we’re trying to help with that through some of our programs. I’m hoping that statewide we’ll see more efforts to help people who don’t understand how to get connected, get connected so they can engage in classes like yours or services like ours, in order to be able to remain healthy at home.

BlueSea: That’s great! We were surprised about the quick shift to telehealth and virtual gatherings. Overnight, our Painting with Mom classes went from in-person to virtual. And we thought that virtual was going to be a problem. But we actually now have a really great following of seniors participating in our painting classes every week. One of the topics Scan helps to address is depression and anxiety in seniors and their caregivers. Can you please share how you help to address these and other challenges?

Denise Likar: Absolutely. So we, we created our own behavioral health program, due to gaps in care that we saw out in the community. The one thing about being in the community with boots on the ground is we can see what’s missing. Behavioral health is a weakness in health care in terms of access, affordability, delivery, and it varies from plan to plan. It varies in Medicare, it varies if you’re on Medicare, what types of services you can and can’t access.

What we identified is we have a lot of seniors who can’t access those traditional services. Maybe the barrier is their physical condition prevents them from being able to travel to a location to see somebody, maybe they have been offered telephonic, but that really doesn’t work for them. Or maybe it’s not delivered in their language, their native language, the language that they prefer to speak in.

We created our program called “Insights” to fill the gaps for those seniors. We use validated therapeutic modalities. We have licensed clinicians that will work with caregivers who have so much going on in their lives, they don’t have time to take care of themselves, let alone get to a clinic or a site between eight and five, let’s say. So we need to bring services to the community to really help them address those barriers that are causing their anxiety and depression.

We help them connect with their providers about their needs so that they can improve and move along the continuum to increase their quality of life. We provide those services in home. We also provide them telephonically. And we have moved into more of the virtual world with video sessions as well, trying to help connect with those individuals and help empower them and guide them through a process to improve.

BlueSea: Is there a favorite quote or saying that motivates you in your work?

Denise Likar: So something that’s always stuck with me goes way back to when I was choosing my career path. It is the old adage of the starfish and the person walking down the beach and finds a bunch of starfish. There’s no possible way they can save them all. But when they throw back one starfish at a time, they make a difference. So although I want to change the world to make it a better place for everybody, I have to pace myself and understand that sometimes it’s one person at a time, one group at a time.

We can systematically weave that together to have a larger impact on the communities we serve. So one starfish at a time, two at a time, we’re able to help people be safe, healthy and independent, and who doesn’t want to be at home and have their own choice of where they age and grow old. I take that with me to everything I do as we plan and try to figure out a path forward and then hopefully can spread those ripple effects from that. And we can all work together on bringing those starfish back to the ocean.

BlueSea: Anything else you’d like to add?

Denise Likar: I think what’s really important to understand is, it’s confusing enough out there without a pandemic on where to go and where do I get help? I think organizations like yours and ours are so important to be there and be open. And I think what the pandemic has taught us all is to be nimble and find a different way to do things. Because this has lasted probably longer than we all anticipated so I think the safety net that we are a part of is so important. Our seniors and our caregivers need to understand that you don’t have to be hanging by a thread to ask us for help. You could just have a small thing going on in your life that you’re confused about. We’re here to help with that.

One thing I would add is how important in these times it is for organizations like yours and ours to be working together to support our seniors being able to remain healthy and living in the community, especially with a pandemic. We’ve all been challenged to find new ways to engage and work together.

Back in March, we probably didn’t think this would last as long as it has. But here we are still are in this altered state until we can find a path forward. But agencies like yours, ours and other others that support seniors have all been working really hard to be there, no matter what the need is. And I think our seniors and our caregivers need to realize is, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to wait until things are bad to ask for help or even ask questions.

You know, we’re all here to help navigate. We’re all here and no question is a dumb question. We’re here to serve. We’re here to help. We want everybody to thrive and be successful in the community. And so I love opportunities like this to collaborate, and be able to put that message together for people to say, “Hey, no matter what it is, we’re here to support you. And if we can’t support you, we’re going to get you to somebody else who can. We’re not going to leave you high and dry.

BlueSea: What is the number for Scan’s Independence at Home?

Denise Likar: The number is 1-866-563-7380

We recently interviewed one of our most inspiring guests Annie Ruth. She was born and raised in Southern California and has achieved so much in her lifetime from graduating from USC with honors, where she was a member of the Delta Gamma Sorority to completing her MBA from Pepperdine University. She is a computer forensics consultant on investigations, assisting the business sector. Plus, dear to our hearts at BlueSea, Annie is a world-renowned artist, and one of the founders of the Art of Rancho Program and a member of Mouth & Foot Painting Artists.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

For over 50 years, Meals on Wheels Orange County, has been the largest nonprofit senior nutrition and supportive service provider in Orange County, serving nearly one million meals to over 10,000 at-risk older adults annually. Their programs and services reduce hunger and improve wellness for older adults so that they may live independently in the homes and communities they love. For our Coping to Care podcast, we were honored to interview our friends Meals on Wheels Orange County President & CEO Holly Hagler and Susan Papiri, Director, Corporate & Community Engagement.

They know the need for good nutrition for seniors, especially those with chronic conditions, is very crucial to good health. So we asked them to share about the work and coordination that goes into this at Meals on Wheels Orange County.

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According to Holly, one of the things they really focus on is food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as limited or uncertain access to adequate food for wellness. And what a lot of people may not realize is that nearly 30% of low income older adults in their community suffer from food insecurity. That’s almost a third. And that has doubled since 2012. So they look at both providing food and solid nutrition, regardless of income.

It has been found that roughly half of all older adults, regardless of income, are malnourished when they are hospitalized, and that could be from inability to make good healthy meals, or whatever their disease condition is. So the other thing that is important is ensuring that they are providing the balanced nutrition that helps promote wellness. One of the reasons this is so critical is that about 50% of all diseases that older adults have, are directly connected to lack of appropriate nutrition intake. And 60% of food insecure older adults have congestive heart failure, and 50% more are likely to have diabetes, and so on.

So one of the things that they do is serve meals on wheels delivered to older adults at home who are not able to shop or make their own meals. Or they also serve hot meals at senior centers or, during COVID, frozen meals that are being picked up. But everything is overseen by a registered dietician and they must meet national standards for the meals that they make. So they look at sodium and have low sodium meals. They look at what the calorie count is, they look at the nutritional value in terms of vitamins and minerals that are in each meal, and they have to meet these really rigid national standards and ensure there’s sufficient protein so that seniors remain strong. As many know, loss of muscle tissue is a real major issue for older adults that can cause weakening. Having the right balance of protein and carbohydrates is really important. So they design that into all of their meals. And they also have diabetic friendly meals.

Meals are usually delivered by a friendly volunteer driver who takes a few minutes to have a little conversation, ask how the senior is doing today, and they build a relationship. They provide both the meals as well as social connections. And then when they go to the senior centers, it’s not about just getting a meal, it’s about sitting at a table and socializing with people in the community. So they always say, “It’s meals and more.”

Meals on Wheels provides proper nourishment for older adults. In addition, they help ensure their wellness, purpose and dignity. They offer Case Management, Adult Day Services, Friendly Visitors, and Care Coordination. They have a case manager assigned to each older adult, and when they are in taking them into the program, they go out and actually visit with them in the home and connect them with other resources because, a lot of times, they may not have access to good transportation, or they may need connections with health insurance companies, or medical. And so they make sure that they’re connecting them with those kinds of resources as well as their case management.

In addition to that, they have a limited amount of homecare funding that they can provide to maybe help them clean their home or personal care. So those are smaller services. But again, it’s for the most frail who are homebound and alone who really need that extra support. They also provide Adult Day health care services which are medically supervised daycare. And this is for very frail, older adults who usually have seven or eight health issues, are on multiple medications, then they get their blood pressure checked there, may have mobility challenges, and may be using a walker or a wheelchair.

They have activities, physical therapy, and occupational therapy that they do at their center, and socialization is always important. Then they take them home at the end of the day. So it helps them remain with their families, while staying healthy for as long as possible, until they need to have more around the clock kind of living situations and care coordination similar to what BlueSea Care provides.

Susan shared about the Friendly Visitor program which is set up to make sure that seniors aren’t suffering physiologically from extended isolation and loneliness. She said that the startling statistic that some of us may not have heard about is extended loneliness can cause a physiological deprivation that is equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So a Friendly Visitor comes in and spends an hour a week with one of their home-bound seniors, just speaking to them about their past or playing cards or doing a puzzle or whatever it is that they both are interested in can help immensely. It’s kind of the senior Match Game. They do have people who call and want to help but can’t deliver meals during the week. So the Friendly Visitor program may work better for them so they match them with someone with complementary interests, they get together and figure out when a good time for both of them to meet. Now, with the recent pandemic, they’ve had to get creative, and they’ve made it more of a telephonic thing. They’re hoping to get back to in person visits as soon as it’s safe. But it’s so important to have that contact, whether it’s telephonic or in person, so that they can stave off all of those other issues that can happen when they are lonely and isolated.

According to a Becker’s Hospital Review, most seniors may have just one contact a week. Susan says that especially now, they have come up with innovative ways to deal with isolation. So their case managers and CNAs all got together and started making phone calls and their activities person put together activity kits. For those whose loved ones couldn’t be home, they’ve been checking in on them and taking them meals. So they’ve been finding ways to make it work again.

Holly says they’ve had to pilot new things and fail forward, give other things a shot, then celebrate the successes. They learn from the setbacks and working closely with people creating an innovative environment. COVID blew the cover off the ball for everybody in terms of innovating and doing things differently. Meals and Wheels Orange County is now serving six times more meals than they would normally serve in a month. And if you would have told them back in February, that within a matter of weeks they would be doing that, they would have said, “No way! That’s not even possible!”

Like Meals on Wheels, BlueSea Care has also had to be innovative. We were doing our Art-to-Wellness Painting With Mom classes at the Seal Beach Fire Department and the Michael Landon Community Center in Malibu. And then we were also planning to do another class in Rancho Palos Verdes. But then in March, we pivoted and began virtual art classes to create socialization and reduce senior isolation. Today, BlueSea is doing virtual art classes every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. And we max out at 50. So we pretty much get a full class, and it’s a free class for seniors. So they’re having a lot of fun. Here’s the link to share with seniors: https://www.blueseacare.com/virtual-senior-art-classes/

Meals on Wheels is focused on programs that keeps seniors living at home. Holly says that’s the hallmark of what they do. She said that surveys show that 80% and even higher of older adults like to live in their own homes as long as possible. And so that’s really what they provide for them: services and support to make that possible. Cooking is huge. And when someone can no longer go to the grocery store safely, or maybe they have arthritis, and they can only lift their hands so far, and all the things and dexterity that cooking requires, or they’ve lost interest in cooking, and they just want to do whatever is convenient. So quite frankly, over 50% of adults in this country have to make a trade off each month between food and whether they’re going to pay their utilities, pay their rent, or transportation or their medications. So this is about providing both the support that people need, as well as takes away a big expense item if they’re getting the meals delivered to the home. So that is absolutely critical.

Susan says that without their case managers for their home delivered meal recipients, they wouldn’t be able to do three quarters of what they do. When they speak with the person who is asking about the meals, they also determine through an assessment, and then through continued assessments through the months, what the needs for this person are. They’re in their home, but are they safely in their home? Because that’s something that they really need to know and they really focus on. It’s about keeping them in their home as long and as safely as possible. So do they have a mattress? Do they have a microwave? Can they put this food in the microwave and heat it up? Do they have cleared space? Do they have a ramp?

Their case managers have all kinds of ways of contacting other resources, or being able to access different small grants or donations, and get these people some of the things that they need. Susan said they had a blind man, in one room of a home that he was renting a trailer home. His Friendly Visitor found that he couldn’t sleep because he could hear rodents coming in through holes in the floor at night because his mattress was on the floor. So they got a handyman to come and repair the holes, and were able to get him a bed frame and box spring to get him up off the floor making him safe, not just physically but mentally. These are the things that they do that are much more than delivering a meal.

Holly said she received a call on her cell phone one day when she was working from home. It was a woman who was calling about meal services for her elderly aunt and mother who live in Seal Beach at Leisure World who were in their 90’s. They somehow had missed the delivery of their meals. She learned that it was because the beauty parlor had opened up and they had gone to get their hair done and missed the delivery. So she arranged to get the meals re-delivered to them.

Many a time, it’s not just the seniors that they serve. Seniors may be isolated alone because they have family elsewhere. Maybe they’re in another state, maybe they’re a couple hours away, maybe they’re just an hour away. But during the week, they work and they can’t get to their loved ones. And so they touch not only the senior by delivering a nutritious meal, but also that senior’s family member.

Normally, Meals on Wheels hosts a major fundraiser and a Senior Care Hero Awards event. It’s like the Academy Awards of the senior industry. And this would have been their 10th year doing it. They have about 650 people who come to the Grove of Anaheim and they honor people all through the care continuum. People are nominated and then they’re voted on. And then, just like the Academy Awards, they find out who the recipients of the awards for each category are. But because of Covid, they couldn’t do that this year. So they decided to push that off to 2021. But for this year, they produced a documentary to shine the light on how the community and their partners all came together with staff, and everybody involved, volunteers and so forth, to help this nourishment continue through this pandemic. Holly said, “It’s astounding, truly astounding how the community came together in such really a short amount of time to make sure that seniors were not deprived of nutrition. Here’s the documentary that that tells their story: https://www.mealsonwheelsoc.org/stepuptotheplate/

In closing Holly said, “This is the time to be kind to yourself and be kind to others because so often, we’re focused on others so much that we don’t take the time for ourselves. So do both. And I think we will all live a happier life if we do that.”

Susan concludes with, “I think that we all have now had a taste of what our homebound seniors feel every day since this pandemic started. We are used to being able to go out and do what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it, how we wanted to do it, with whom we wanted to do it. And all of a sudden, we couldn’t do that. So now I would really love for us all to hold on to that feeling. It’s an uncomfortable feeling. And we’re getting a little bit out of it now. But please hold on to that because that’s how our seniors feel. And it’s important to support our seniors so that they don’t feel so cut off.”

We had the opportunity to interview BlueSea Care friend Steve Welch, CEO and founder of veteran-owned and operated Steve Welch Canine Rehabilitation. With over 40 years of animal training experience, Steve has perfected the most effective methods that really work. He and his staff train service dogs, guard dogs, family protection dogs, search and rescue dogs, therapy dogs, emotional support dogs and everything in between.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

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BlueSea Care

Welcome, Steve! So what inspired you to become an animal trainer?

Steve Welch

Well, my father was a trainer and my great grandfather was a trainer. And I took this up because I had the same love for animals they did. I just expanded on it a little more than they did. But I started out training horses and dogs with my family. I had a brother who raised miniature poodles, another brother who raised follies, my mother who raised dachshunds, and I raised German shepherds, and they didn’t know what they were doing. So I had to show them.

BlueSea Care

Wow. So you were just a natural at it.

Steve Welch

Well, yes. And I’ve learned from a lot of trainers because I would apprentice with them, and then I’d watch what they do, and I’d improve on it.

BlueSea Care

Great! I understand that you are a veteran and your employees are all veterans too. Can you share a little bit about that?

Steve Welch

Yes, I’m a Vietnam veteran and I’ve been through eight cancers over 16 years. I don’t really have employees; they’re all volunteers. And they sometimes volunteer as an entire family. Sometimes it’s just one of them. But they’ve been learning about training from me for years.

BlueSea Care

Now you’ve got different programs, and one of them is called, Trained to Obey. Can you talk a little bit about the Trained to Obey program?

Steve Welch

The Trained to Obey program involves just basic obedience for dogs so they stay in their home forever. A lot of people surrender their dogs because of a lack of training and problem solving. We do a lot of problem solving, including housebreaking, which is usually a big issue. Barking is a big issue as well as jumping or biting. And these are all things that are natural for a dog. And if you know how to fix them, it’s pretty quick. So the Trained to Obey program is basically doing the heel, sit, stay, down, come and proper manners.

BlueSea Care

That just reminds me of yesterday when I was on a walk. There was a beautiful dog. The owner said, “Oh, he’s friendly.” So I went up and tried to pet him and, within a few seconds, he started barking at me. And I thought, “Oh my gosh, is it my hat?” So I took off my hat and he barked even more, and he wanted to jump over the fence. The owner told her dog, “You lost your opportunity.”

Steve Welch

Well, you know, the problem is most people think of training last, if at all. They don’t understand that it’s not always the dog that needs the training. Most times it’s the human. If humans understood what their dog was doing wrong, like, were you petting this dog through a fence?

BlueSea Care

It was over the fence because he was hanging over the top of the fence. He was a friendly looking type of lab dog.

Steve Welch

Right. So that’s because you’re petting him over his fence. You’ve got to think like the dog thinks. That’s his territory. You tried to pet him. He became defensive.

That’s what you call territorial defensive behavior. If he had been outside of the fence, everything would have probably been fine.

BlueSea Care

You talked about Trained to Obey so now what about Trained to Protect? I know that’s for police dogs, firehouse dogs, maybe. Can you explain about Trained to Protect?

Steve Welch

Trained to Protect includes a lot of different types of dogs because we train a lot of police dogs. We do a lot of search and rescue dogs, a lot of FEMA dogs, and Trained to Protect just means that you have a dog that is like a light switch. So you have to, of course, get the obedience down on an operation. You also have to teach this dog to follow verbal commands and physical actions like if you’re under attack, the dog should protect you automatically and not bite the wrong person.

In police work, they teach the dogs nowadays to bite whoever’s on the bottom. If that happens to be the officer, he’s the one who gets bit. So our training is a little different because we have the dog bite the suspect, not the handler, no matter who’s on the bottom. We have dogs we use for guard work. We have dogs to help prevent businesses from being robbed. We have dogs for in-home invasion. We have dogs to protect people from stalkers. They go with them to work; these stalkers are everywhere. And when you have one, you don’t know when you’re safe. So, we do that kind of work. We do a lot of military sniper dogs, explosives dogs. It’s a lot of dogs that search drugs, termites, and bed bugs. They all fall under the service dog category.

BlueSea Care

Wow! That’s interesting. Now, speaking of service, you have a Trained to Service program that prepares dogs to assist people like seniors and other people with disabilities and medical conditions. Plus, you have a program for veterans with PTSD. Can you explain about all this?

Steve Welch

We adopt a lot of dogs and rescue a lot of dogs. Many are owner surrenders. One of my clients is licensed in Chicago every year to recertify his dog. He has PTSD to an extreme, where he would get violent. So we had to teach his dog to alert him by getting up against his leg and touching his leg with his foot. And that dog was a rescue dog. We found him running loose in Santiago Canyon with another dog. The other dog did not have a service dog personality. So we trained it as a pet. And it’s now in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. And this other dog is in Chicago. Her name is Bean. She opens and closes doors. She’s the color of coffee beans. She plays soccer. She does tricks, but she also protects him when he’s under threat because he’s on the road in a big truck all the time. So he has all these different oversized loads. So that dog goes from state-to-state with him because, in his situation, he’s improved with the dog alerting, he changed his life. But the on the road thing is dangerous. Because people who drive those big trucks carry a lot of cash normally, and get robbed a lot. So we do a lot with truck drivers, nurses, because nurses have a lot of assaults. So we can work with a lot of different issues.

BlueSea Care

That’s amazing! I understand that you worked with Rabih at BlueSea to create the EASY program. E: Elder, A: Assistance, S: Service dog, and Y: for You, which helps seniors avoid surrendering their pets to shelters when they’re forced to downsize and move to facilities that do not accept pets. Can you share about this?

Steve Welch

A lot of people don’t train their dogs so when they have to downsize, or they have to move to a new environment, the dogs not used to that. So what we do is we go in, you know, like if a dog moves from the country, country dogs are totally different than city dogs. And when a city dog moves to the country, it’s totally different. So the example there is we have to retrain the dog because usually when you move to the country, you get a bunch of animals. And they’re not used to that. And when they move to the city, they just have a lot of territory and ground to cover. So they escape. They’re not used to being in small, confined areas, like yards and stuff like that. So the retraining gets the dog ready. So if even if the senior can’t physically let the dog out and stuff, we build potty boxes, we teach the dog how to use a doggie door. We teach it how to come, sit, and stay. It makes it easier for the person with a disability.

BlueSea Care

Then maybe they could have somebody come and walk the dog so that the dog has his own break once in a while, if they’re especially confined to a small apartment or something like that.

Steve Welch

Everybody says walk a dog to make it tired. Give the dog a 10-minute walk but after you’re back it’s going to have just as much energy. So, what really keeps dogs calm is training them. They love to be trained. And not only does it give them a physical stress, it gives them a mental stress. And the way you see this in a dog is they yawn. When they’re under psychological stress, they yawn. That’s when you know you’re being effective because now you’re taxing their brain to improve it. And I think it’s a big fallacy that people think you have to walk a dog. You walk a dog because it’s pleasurable. You know, you want a dog to listen to you when you’re out in public, go potty when you tell him, eat when you tell him, drink when you tell him. It just makes life so much easier, and it makes the pet a better part of the family.

BlueSea Care

So now with COVID, here’s a COVID-related question. With so many people going back to work, will pets start to experience separation anxiety? They’ve been living 24-seven with their owners, and now they’ll have to relearn how to manage this kind of disruption. Is separation anxiety real among animals too? And if so, how should people approach it?

Steve Welch

Well, separation anxiety is real. We have a lot of clients right now who have dogs that they’ve rescued, so a lot of the rescue shelters are empty. Because during COVID, everybody’s been getting dogs like the neighbors all around me that never had dogs and now they have them. And what’s going on is when they spend 24/7 with the dog, they’re not training it. This sounds crazy, but dogs like to nest. So we use a shipping crate to let them nest and get their rest. And so they can be separated from the owner.

When you hang around the dog 24/7 and then you go back to work, that separation anxiety is very severe. They end up being destructive, loud, break plate glass windows, tear up the carpet, and chew through doors and walls. Because of the separation anxiety, I have customers who even get tickets for noise abatement. So the best thing they can do right now before they go to work, is to start putting the dog outside a little bit, start putting the dog in a crate a little bit, getting him used to being away from you. Let him have his downtime. Most dogs sleep 14 to 16 hours a day. So most of the destruction is done in the first 25 minutes after the person leaves. And most of the barking goes on all day long. And we’re seeing a quite a bit of that right now.

BlueSea Care

Yeah, we’ve got one down the street who barks all day when the owner leaves. And I think it’s a large puppy. So it’s just barking and crying all day.

Steve Welch

And that’s what puppies do. If you’re a baby and you are left, you cry. Everybody is always on their dog, petting them, holding them, laying with them, having them in bed with them. When you first get a dog, that’s pretty much the wrong thing to do. The first thing you want to do is establish a bond that makes the dog comfortable. That makes the dog feel like part of the family, then you don’t have to deal with the issues. But everybody gets in right away and they start hugging and cuddling. I tell people I know not to adopt a dog on a weekend. Adopt a puppy during the week when you have to go to work. That way, you establish a routine. And then when you do get the weekend off and want to sleep in, you can because the puppy is not going to be bothering you. So it’s a routine. We call it baby steps.

BlueSea Care

Definitely it’s pretty tricky. Believe me, I’ve got cats, but I’ve tried a dog before. I told the adoption agency I was gone eight to 10 hours a day, so I was not sure about a dog. They said it should be no problem and to just give him a little bone with some peanut butter when you leave and he’ll be fine. Well, my neighbors complained and said he was crying the entire day and that he sounded like someone was beating the poor thing. So that didn’t last very long. I gave him back after a few days. Back then, I just didn’t have the time to go through whatever training needed to be done, especially because he was an older dog. So what would you have done?

Steve Welch

Did he already have separation anxiety?

BlueSea Care

Yes, I believe he did. He must have been with an elderly couple who were there for him all the time. So the minute I left, he could not handle being alone.

Steve Welch

There are techniques to get rid of all those behaviors. But it’s being dedicated and we’re training you as much as we’re training the animal. And it’s teaching you how to rethink. Most people treat their dogs like humans, and that’s what causes a separation anxiety. You know, 30-40 years ago, you didn’t see very much separation anxiety, because people treated their dogs like dogs. Now they treat them like human babies.

BlueSea Care

That’s true. That’s a good point. Now, I also want to talk to you about the wonders of pet therapy, because I’ve seen it and you’ve seen it. I’ve worked at hospitals where they provide pet therapy dogs that come in and visit with the patients who cry with so much joy. And in pediatric units, they get the pets coming in, and it just kind of changes their entire outlook. So could you share a little bit about that in your experience over the years?

Steve Welch

We take our dogs to hospitals too. When our dogs go through training, that’s one of the courses we put them through, because you have to learn to be around sick people and elderly and some dogs panic when they area around somebody sick because they can smell illness. You know, it’s like a cancer dog. My own dog told me I had cancer 16 years ago. But he was trained. And he was trained for cancer. So we’d walk down the hallways in the VA. If a patient had cancer, the dog would sit and play and touch. If you didn’t have cancer, he’d pass you by.

I actually called my doctor one day and said, “Hey, you know, my dog?” He said, “Yes, everybody loves your dog!” I said, “Well, Dr. Jenkins, you know, here’s the fact of the matter, my dog told me I have cancer.” He said, “Well, Steve, we just tested you 10 days ago. But come in tomorrow morning. We’ll run the test again.” It turns out I had a very aggressive prostate cancer. Then leukemia was one of the next cancers that my dog alerted me about. I trust my dogs way more than I trust the machines, the x-rays and MRIs because dogs don’t lie. That’s one thing dogs don’t do, they don’t lie. And they kind of tell on the owner, you know, the minute I see a dog, I can tell you exactly what’s going on in the home, just by the dog’s personality, because I’ve done this for over 50 years. So when I see an animal’s behavior, I know whether it’s human caused, or if it’s a breeding problem.

There’s a little story about Rabih at BlueSea. He brought me a lab, and I told him the dog came from a backyard breeder and was way too independent to even be a pet. And so Rabih tried for six months to train the dog with no luck. And Rabih finally came to me about his son who has autism. And I said, “Rabih, I’ve got the perfect dog. As soon as you walk through that door, after this first lesson, that dog will know exactly what’s going on with your son in a matter of minutes. He’s been scent trained. He knows how to respond.” Rabih went from my facility to his home and about 20 minutes after he was there, he gave me a call. And he said, “I can’t believe this.” Having a properly trained dog is an asset and really does make life easier, especially for single moms because the dog becomes a babysitter and protector for the whole family. So it really does change your life. Whether the child is at the high end of the autism spectrum or whether he’s at the very friendly end of the spectrum like Rabih’s son who is very friendly. So we had to train the dog, not to let him walk away with strangers. So there was training after the dog went into the home. But all that pre-training gets the dog ready for the owner. So we customize each dog to each home and each operation, and to the family because they have to learn as much as the dog knows.

BlueSea Care

Wow, that’s amazing. Since we work with seniors, do you have any senior success stories?

Steve Welch

Yeah, I have a bunch of veterans. They are physically disabled and seniors. I worked with a woman with a Doberman that she had bought and it was a big, beautiful dog that had no training and was very independent. So she brings her to me and I start training with her. Now, the dog is used for total mobility support and assists her in and out of chairs to her walker. The dog goes to the VA with her. He goes with her just like when my dog goes with me to the VA. If I show up without a dog, all my doctors yell at me. They’ll say, “Why didn’t you bring your dog?” My dog hits the entry pads and opens the doors. And when I’m walking down the hallway, there’ll be a bunch of seniors sitting in a waiting area and I’ll pretend to shoot my dog and will say “bang” and she’ll do a dramatic fall. And then she’ll just lay there until I say, “Break!” Then I tell her to give me a hug and she gives me a hug. Then I tell her to wave at everybody, so she waves at everybody and I’ll tell her to “Take a bow now, we’re going to go on,” and she’ll bow. If somebody wants to see her, I take her service vest off before I let anybody else pet her and she’s really good with everyone. Everybody just adores my dogs.

BlueSea Care

What kind of dog is she?

Steve Welch

I have three Chesapeake Bay retriever males that are trained and are going to be up for adoption. And I have a female for me. Her name is Jazz. I picked up 16 of them from a breeder in North San Diego County. He’s really a good breeder. And every one of those dogs is in service training. I’m working with children and adults. Some of the retrievers are trained for night terrors, some for Autism, PTSD, dementia, Alzheimer’s, peanut allergies, and other food allergies. So, like I said, we do the foundational training, and then we can direct the dog the way we want.

BlueSea Care

That is amazing. Well, you’ve talked about a lot of things that I really didn’t know about. It’s just a mystery to me about how you train a dog to do so many things, but they are smart. And like you say, they are willing and ready for training. Do you have any final words of inspiration that you would like to share about someone who’s considering a pet or for pet therapy?

Steve Welch

Well, my advice, if you’re going to buy a dog, always do a lot of research. And do a lot of background checking because usually, dogs are about the same size, weight and looks as their parents. But you want to check for physical problems. All of our dogs go through a very detailed genetic, physical and x-ray physical before we put a lot of time and money into them, and they don’t come home and go straight into your arms. They come home and we start foundational training which is going to change your whole life with the pet. Then the pet can go with you everywhere. So, you know, my advice to people is training first, spoil later. And I do spoil my dogs pretty bad. But they listen, no matter what situation I’m in. So, with a therapy dog, it’ll change your life. It really will change people’s lives and I get to see it every day.

BlueSea Care

That’s wonderful. So train first, spoil later. That’s really good.

Steve Welch

You know, a lot of times when you see a pet, and you look at the parents and the family, the dog is pretty much what the kid children are like. If the dogs out of control, the kids are out of control. This is why they need foundational training.

BlueSea Care

So maybe if they don’t know what to do, they should just call you. Right?

Steve Welch

Yep. And I’ve got a number. It is 800-400-OBEY.

BlueSea Care

Well, thank you so much for taking the time. I know you are very busy. And I’m so glad that we got to speak with you.

Steve Welch

Thank you for inviting me. It helps to educate the public.

BlueSea Care

Yes, it certainly does. Well, thank you and have a great afternoon. Take care.

Steve Welch

Good bye…

When in times of crisis, it is essential to remain empowered mentally. We speak with Dr. Marie Matheson, an experienced doctor with a demonstrated history of working in the mental health industry. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy, group and family therapy, clinical supervision, and psychological assessments. Dr. Matheson is also a well-known artist in Malibu and worked with the resiliency program to assist with art for recovery after the fires.

Dr. Matheson shares the important things you can do to maintain your mental health for senior mental care and a state of resilience.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Dr. Matheson states that whenever there is a challenge, it is essential to have a good grounding.

Focusing on health through exercise, nutrition, meditation, and by maintaining your state of health is essential.

When there is an external problem, it is then easier to solve the issue. Relying on healthy habits and maintenance creates continuous balance.

It is important to look at the cognitive level as well as the physical level when focusing on the maintenance.

She also stated that following a passion, such as an art, is essential. Each human is creative and the arts can help us. Workshops, hobbies, or other activities can help our brainwaves to readjust during a time of stress. After a certain amount of time, it automatically brings the pressure down when stressed and balances our emotions and thought processes for a positive spiral, offering support for health and senior mental care.

When there are issues such as Covid-19, it is then easier to re-orient our life and find new interests outside of work so we can re-center.

Dr. Matheson states that depression usually begins with a loss. This depletes resources and causes one to withdraw. When one moves into this state, it is a large sign of depression. Loss of social interaction to loss of energy can be looked at to identify issues.

She states that it’s important to look at a person to see what they were going through. Using Zoom when physical interaction isn’t possible is essential for interactivity. This is also important because of the required masks that may interfere with seeing how someone is.

Seeing a person who is thinking too much of the past or being anxious about the future is easier to identify when looking at the person and seeing the body reactions relating to their expressions.

Dr. Matheson states that we are born with genetics that creates specific responses. Values and beliefs from family and environment then add to this. This conditions one to see the world a certain way and to create a subjective response and perspective.

If learning is a positive mechanism and coping, then the world works for you. If you develop a perspective that is harmful to your health, then it causes the opposite response and that’s when we need to change it.

We believe a certain reality and through therapy, it explains a different way to see the world. Finding a different way to see, or re-frame, the world creates a different reality. This comes from questioning and seeing if there is a way to see perspectives from an alternative ideal.

Reframing requires a branch to move from the old way to a new way that is healthier. The branch requires overcoming fear and practice a new perspective until it becomes a healthier reality, reinforced by positive outcomes for mental health and senior mental care.

The classic stages include 5 steps that take place.

1. Denial. This can’t happen to me and it’s not possible. This creates shock because reality is so big that it is hard to take in. We can’t accept reality so we deny it.

2. Anger. This is when someone comes into reality. This creates pain, fear, and the belief that it isn’t fair. Dr. Matheson speaks of her own experience of losing her home in 1993. She saw that the community became angry from helplessness, sadness, and not knowing what to do, so they projected on others such as the city, the fire department, and others who may or may not have been responsible for the condition.

3. Bargaining. At this stage, you will try to get back what you have lost. Someone will state that “I will do whatever you want” in order to change the conditions. While someone goes through this, it will not provide acceptance and ultimately fails.

4. Depression. When bargaining doesn’t work, it can become too overwhelming. This leads to withdrawal from society and the external environment, specifically because it is too hard to bear the burden that you are carrying. The instinct at this stage is to close oneself off instead of seeking help.

5. Coping and Acceptance. At this stage, you can change the outcome to positive or negative. There is an understanding that you can’t change what was lost but can use tools to face what you have lost. For instance, humor can help when dealing with the situation. You can then put your life together and put together the future.

Dr. Matheson relayed the story of how she coped with the loss of her home in a fire, including losing five years of research and work. She tried to cope by assisting the community and working with them. However, she found that she went back into a state of PTSD, starting with nightmares and then eventually having issues with her arm as she tried to “lift the burden” of others coping.

This led to the need to focus back on prevention and balancing to move away from the PTSD and to further cope with the trauma which occurred.

Dr. Matheson says that when people begin to withdraw from activities, this is a key sign of depression. If someone stops engaging socially or with an activity, such as art, then it is a sign that depression is beginning to take place and it’s time to seek help.

She also states that speaking and realizing what someone is saying is important. Someone will hint at their state and their struggles. For senior mental care, such as those that are dealing with dementia, it is essential to listen and pay attention. Most are aware of the issue but begin to move into fear as a response because they are no longer in control.

For instance, they may stop eating, sleeping, or lose some of the expressions that they once had. It’s important to acknowledge the signs, recognize why, and start to listen to aging parents.

For elders, accepting age, grieving, and understanding that there is a change in your world becomes a primary part of healing when at this stage.

If you are looking for Beverly Hills senior art classes, start by joining us virtually! We meet every Saturday with seniors and their families to paint with our local artists and to enjoy new versions of paintings to add to the home.

Our senior art classes are a branch of Art to Wellness®, a proprietary program for seniors and their families to support holistic needs for senior wellness. We believe in health for seniors and have developed a comprehensive program with behavioral specialists to identify the unique needs of seniors.

Art to Wellness® includes the following:

1. Reducing Senior Isolation. Our complementary Painting with Mom Classes is designed to reduce senior isolation. Research indicates that isolation causes seniors to lose their life force at a faster pace. By connecting the family and community together, it offers new health components to wellness.

2. Cognitive Health. There are therapeutic benefits to the arts, specifically relating to cognitive health and it’s capacity to provide support to those who are facing Alzheimer’s or dementia. Arts are known to support and assist in reducing issues with memory, motor-sensory applications, and other cognitive functions.

Listen to our podcast about the arts and brain health.

3. Emotional and Behavioral Support. By connecting to others in the community, seniors are able to experience emotional support from those in their surroundings. Our virtual classes are able to provide extra assistance by connecting with others and focusing on the needs of those in the community.

Learn more about our virtual senior art classes.

If you are in SoCal or in the surrounding areas, then please join us for our classes each Saturday at 10 AM. We are supporting every community with our Beverly Hills senior art classes by reaching out to every senior and having them join us for connection, community, and health.

BlueSea Care offers proprietary care to seniors and their families. Read more about our Beverly Hills senior home care.

As we come into a different phase of Covid-19, it’s up to each of us to begin moving toward a recovery phase. Seal Beach is leading the way with its new program, “Hold Fast Seal Beach.” We speak with Deb Machen about the ways you can support local businesses, such as with Seal Beach senior care, restaurants, shops, salons, and more.

Click to listen to the podcast.

Covid-19 has taken a toll on US cities, especially with businesses and the economy. Seal Beach has taken a stand to let everyone know that precautions are in place and customers can support Seal Beach businesses once again.

Deb Machen explains the program and the introduction of “Hold Fast Seal Beach.” The city has a desire to support businesses and launched a local campaign to highlight what businesses need.

Deb stated that Hold Fast was inspired because of the recognition of how much businesses have suffered and what it would require to pivot the circumstances. The nautical term, Hold Fast, was used to bear down and fight through the storm.

Hold Fast. Stay True. You will not only survive the storm but will also be stronger by making it through.

From September 1st to the 15th, all you need to do is the following:

• Visit the business
• Snap a photo
• Upload the photo to social media (Facebook or Instagram)
• Add in the tag: #HoldFastSB

Whoever wins the contest will receive $50 to a local business.

The winner will be announced on Facebook live at the local police station at 11 AM. Follow and like the Seal Beach City to see who wins!

Whenever you are ready, Seal Beach businesses are ready for you. Shop local and support businesses that are starting to recover from Covid-19.

Support BlueSea Care as we join in to be a part of the recovery of Seal Beach. We will be providing free paint by kit numbers to promote the Art to Wellness® program to support cognitive health and the reduction of senior isolation. Art to Wellness® is a part of the Seal Beach senior care services and extends to Painting with Mom, a complimentary class to the community, as well as experiencing the therapeutic benefits of the arts through our caregivers.

Feel free to stop by our office at 209 1/2 Main Street and pick up your art painting kit and ask for the Hold Fast Seal Beach gift!