Face Aging MN raises awareness of aging society
For Laura Salonek and Tracy Klenda, their jobs at
the Good Samaritan Society in Howard Lake are all
about building positive relationships with their senior
residents.
“The best part of my job is being able to visit with
residents and light up their day,” explained Klenda, a
registered nurse at Good Samaritan.
“They are still valuable members to society and
must not be forgotten,” stated Salonek, who serves as
an administrator at Good Samaritan.
Salonek and Klenda shared their journeys as
professional caregivers with Face Aging MN, a
public campaign working to raise awareness about
the issues that accompany the reality of a rapidly
aging society.
To elevate the many powerful stories of Minnesota’s
professional and family caregivers, Face Aging MN
created an interactive map that allows the public to
view stories from caregivers in every region of the
state.
From Koochiching County to Ramsey County to
Martin County, the stories of caregivers in Minnesota
deserve to be known, valued, and shared.
Explore the story map at https://faceagingmn.org/
caregiver-map/.
Every day, thousands of dedicated professional
caregivers like Salonek and Klenda work to ensure
that Minnesota seniors receive skilled, compassionate
care and services to help them experience a life well
lived.
For these women and men, caregiving is not just
a job. It’s a calling. But their stories are rarely told
– and soon, there will not be enough professional
caregivers to meet the soaring demand.
By 2025, one in four Minnesota adults will be age
65 or older. This means Minnesota will need at least
25,000 more professional caregivers over the next
decade to help support its rapidly growing senior
population. Yet, in many communities across the
state, it has been diffi cult to recruit and retain enough
qualifi ed caregivers to meet the rising need.
“Minnesota faces a senior boom and a shortage of
professional caregivers,” said Patti Cullen, president
and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota. “Addressing
the workforce challenge starts with raising awareness
about the important work of professional caregiving.
The caregiver map provides families, leaders, and
policymakers a glimpse of local caregivers in their
own communities who ensure older adults can age
well and with dignity.”
Face Aging MN seeks to demonstrate the essential
work of professional caregivers through the interactive
map – and ultimately, inspire positive change.
“Caregiving is an honored profession and the
workforce of the future,” said Gayle Kvenvold,
president and CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota. “In
Minnesota, fi nding high-quality caregivers and
creating career pathways that rewards them for their
skills, compassion, and dedication to our elders is
among the most important challenges that we need to
address. The personal stories of the caregivers who
are featured should motivate and inspire us to rise to
that challenge and do all we can to support those who
serve seniors today, and welcome new people to this
rewarding profession.”
The Face Aging MN campaign aims to show how
Minnesota’s aging population impacts all of us, and
what we can do to best serve the needs of all seniors.
Learn more at www.faceagingmn.org.
Find Laura Salonek’s story at https://faceagingmn.
org/2018/07/19/long-term-care-helps-guide-family/.
Find Tracy Klenda’s story at https://faceagingmn.
org/2018/02/16/caring-whole-person/.
Face Aging MN was launched in 2015, by the
Long-Term Care Imperative, which is composed of
members of Minnesota’s two long-term care provider
associations, Care Providers of Minnesota and
LeadingAge Minnesota.
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