Bringing Holi home: Program brings a taste of India to nursing home residents
Holi, a Hindu festival celebrated in the beginning of March, is renowned for its vibrant displays of color.
While working at AristaCare at Cedar Oaks in South Plainfield, NJ, CNA Mukund Thakar helped bring a little bit of that color to his workplace. Once a doctor in his home country of India, he witnessed the benefits of customized cultural programming firsthand in his own facility.
Now, Thakar has created a program for the multitude of Indian patients across the AristaCare system.
“[Thakar] approached the owner and said he really would like to start an Indian program,” Joselyn Cascino, director of business development at AristaCare Health Services, told McKnight’s Long-Term Care. “There are so many cultural needs with prayer, food and customs; it would really be super beneficial to create a program for this population. Our current owner, Sidney, was all for it. He loved the idea of serving a specific population and being able to give back in that way, and they started the program.”
Thakar created the Indian Nursing Home program in 2005, which he currently operates in eight nursing homes across New Jersey including at Cedar Oaks. The program connects Indian nursing home residents with cultural resources like food, movies and television, care from Indian clinicians and, of course, festival celebrations. There are also similar programs for other cultural identities offered across the AristaCare system, according to Cascino.
“[Residents] have a past, they have a culture, they have a family and we want to honor that in every way that we possibly can,” said Cascino. “We don’t only have Indian cultural programs. We have a Chinese cultural program in one of our centers. We have Latino programs in some of our centers. We also have a Polish program. “
A recent event brought a musical group, the Care Chords, to Cedar Oaks for a celebration of Holi. It was a packed house with nearly 100 residents and their families in attendance, perfect for singing along to live Bollywood music. Cascino notes that the program team always goes the extra mile to put on a great show.
“The entire Indian program team, recreation staff, CNAs, the whole gamut, stay after hours to create decorations,” said Cascino. “Much of what you see is homemade, and it’s all beautifully detailed decor. They really do an incredible job, and they do it all for their residents.”
In addition to all the joy it evokes, Cascino says that the culturally tailored programming also serves a valuable therapeutic purpose. When residents can see themselves represented in their programming, positive care outcomes will follow.
“If people are happy and they feel comfortable and safe, you’re just naturally going to get better results,” said Cascino. “People can’t heal in a rehab setting if they’re not comfortable and they don’t feel safe and they’re not getting their basic needs met. In terms of long-term care, we’ve seen people come out of their shells with some of our programming.”
