Landed in Las Vegas with Nicole Hanna

By Brenda Damian

The Henderson community welcomed Executive director Nicole Hanna at Vineyard Henderson located almost two years ago. The center is a senior living community that specializes in cognitive impairment conditions that include Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and other related Dementias.

In a place that gives many people the opportunity to strike a hand at good luck, it was the city that struck out on some good luck when Nicole Hanna decided to move to the state. Nicole Hanna described how she landed in Nevada saying, “It was luck of the draw. I heard a song, I picked a spot on the map and lo and behold, three months later I was here. I had no idea what I would be walking into. I was just so excited. And then once I got here, I’ve been so blessed. I’ve met amazing partners like The Parent Team, I’ve had great professionals that have character and integrity, passion and it has just ignited everything I’m about and really pushes me to keep going”.

Nicole has worked in the health care industry for 25 years. She began in nursing and skilled nursing and opened a business for 13 years after her nursing career that focused on clinical cases, post rehabilitation and ftness. From there, she went into senior living communities and has been doing so for over 20 years.

Nicole began opening living communities in 2015 and when she moved to Nevada, she had the incredible opportunity to open a community whose sole focus is on Alzheimer’s and dementia that is near ready and set to open this summer in 2020, said Nicole.

Building the Community Through Partnership

Since arriving to the state, Nicole Hanna has been pleased and impressed with the support and partnership of other local leaders and describes her experience saying, “I am so honored. I’ve just really feel like I’ve met the top 10% in this state. I’ve aligned myself with amazing, powerful individuals that just shine with passion and integrity. And that’s really what I’m looking for and uniting all of us together. We’re able to raise the bar for everything that we do. It’s been awesome to watch this take place over the last couple of years”.

A look at the numbers

The growing numbers shed a light to how serious it is to bring awareness to this disease and the urgency in educating the community and doing things such as expanding like Nicole Hanna is doing saying, “Looking at the stats through the world health organization, we currently have around 50 million individuals diagnosed with dementia globally over the next 30 years. That’s expected to triple. This is something that’s happening astronomically globally. We’re seeing that with younger individuals, but folks that are over 65, are growing through the roof. It’s hard to believe how quickly this is growing. Nearly 2 million being diagnosed with this disease. So we’re just trying to get a grip on it. Most importantly, my focus is trying to educate because dementia is something that’s a bit taboo. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to understand it because it’s something we don’t want to deal with. But we’re reaching a point, and not only in Vegas, but on a global level, we need to arm ourselves with knowledge and education because this is something, we can’t ignore. What we’re looking at globally is also the economic strain. Right now, we’re looking at over $800 billion a year to support the side efects, the symptoms and treating this disease from clinicians, specialties, medications, and everything in between. We’re going to see this hit us in a harder manner. With that number tripling in the next 30 years, looking at 800 billion, tripling. There will be a signifcant economic factor that we’re going to have to face.”

Early symptoms of Dementia

Dementia is an illness that is difcult to detect because the signs are subtle. One day the person may be alert and normal and the next forgetful and experience a change in mood. However, early detection may be open the pathway to getting treatments and understanding how this disease afects the person. While it’s hard to accept and scary to face, gaining an understanding will make it easier to help the person being impacted. Nicole said, “It’s when we start looking at what’s normal aging and what’s not. So, when we start doing things that are not typical. For instance, if I was an accountant and every month, I wrote the check, I paid the bill and I had a system. If suddenly, I was still opening the bill but I forgot to write the check. Eventually, I’ll start seeing these bills come in that are unpaid. This is not typical and that’s a red fag for me. For someone that is a driver, they’ve driven their whole life. They did it as a profession. Now putting the key in is a little bit diferent. Remembering where they’re going, the sequence of the gas or the brake.

Getting the Word out

When it comes to bringing awareness to this topic that people avoid, education is an avenue that Nicole Hanna has found helps with getting the word out. In fact, speaking on the subject is something Nicole loves saying, “I absolutely love teaching! Dementia is one of my primary topics. I have several that I’ve picked up over the years and just became passionate about when I got here to Nevada. I feel like there’s a number of things that we’re working with. One, we have some ways that we can elevate the services we provide when it comes to this disease, but also showing how to engage, how to properly connect with an individual, showing quality, educating the family. There’s a big picture involved in this disease. I feel that educating is number one, doing a virtual dementia tour, it takes 15 minutes. It gives you a frsthand experience of what it’s like to have middle to end stage dementia. I ofer support groups, so our support groups are led a little bit diferently, but that’s anywhere from basic dementia, cognitive impairment therapy that’s needed support for the families. For my staf, for the caregivers. It’s an overall approach that we must involve everyone and then spread

Most importantly, my focus is trying to educate because dementia is something that’s a bit taboo. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to understand it because it’s something we don’t want to deal with.

Nicole Hanna “ “

ing that out to the schools, the churches, the restaurants, really raising the bar so that it’s not something we’re fearful of. It’s something that as a community, we understand the signs and symptoms. And from there, we’re able to walk hand in hand, provide a better and more congenial environment to understand this disease. And together if we can do that, then we can

make an impact not only for Nevada but across the nation.”

Servant Heart

It is remarkable when we have people in our society that truly want to help people and have a cause they are passionate about. Leaders like Nicole Hanna that carry genuine care and a passion to help, give the community hope that people do care. What drives her passion is her servant leadership style. Nicole said, “I feel God has just blessed me in so many ways and allows me to take all of my life experiences and use that as a tool to give back. So my heart is truly servant. I believe in what I do, and I believe in impacting other people’s lives to the best of my ability. If God’s given me an opportunity to overcome a struggle, I use that as a, as a power. And I try to give a voice to things that nobody wants to talk about. There’s a number of things we’re facing as a nation, not only as women, as survivors, as individuals with diferent diseases, and so many folks don’t talk about the things that we want to hush. I like to be that voice. I like to bring power and insight to things that are difcult and challenging because again, when we understand something and we can make it real together, we can overcome that, and we can the raise the bar in so many ways. And that’s really my heart. I just, I believe in what I’m doing. I absolutely love helping people and I love having the strength to bring power to topics that people are just shying away from.” LV

Contact: Phone: 702-766-4132 Email: info@vineyardhenderson.com Address: Vineyard Henderson 2895 West Horizon Ridge Parkway, Henderson, NV 89052