The Best Ways to Ensure Quality of Life to your Assisted Living Community

The benefits of assisted living services extend beyond activities of daily living. These homes open the world of opportunities and greater freedom for seniors. That’s why millions of families move their loved ones to these homes when home care is no longer a viable option.

As a service provider, you are always on the lookout for ways to enhance the level of care in the facility. This can pose a unique challenge because of varying needs of the elderly. But ensuring quality of life in your assisted living community doesn’t have to be complex. A few simple steps can help you deliver the best experiences to all the residents in your home.

The Best Ways to Improve Resident Care:

Address loneliness

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A study by the Brigham Young University found that loneliness can be as deadly as obesity or smoking. Senior isolation may encourage an unhealthy lifestyle, complicate the existing condition and affect cognition. It may also lead to higher cases of elder abuse as perpetrators take advantage of their isolation to scam, steal or injure them. Other studies show that Alzheimer’s almost doubles in lonely adults and that their mental decline was faster.

Going by these studies, addressing loneliness is one of the best things you can do in your senior living facility to ensure the quality of life. Great ways of preventing loneliness include:

·      Promoting social interaction

·      Encouraging a sense of purpose

·      Showing them that they are loved

·      Integrating physical activities like stair climbing, walking, and other age-appropriate workouts to keep the older adults in a solid mental, emotional and physical shape.

Hire enough staff

Staffing is one of the most tangible and crucial elements to ensure high-quality care. Everyone is happy when a facility has an adequate staff-to-resident ratio. But when the facility is understaffed, the team gets overwhelmed and becomes unwilling to offer assistance with activities of impaired adults. They may also become abusive out of their frustration. That’s why you need to hire adequate staff. But it's equally essential to onboard trained staff with a good grasp of residential care.

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Embrace new technology

Seniors may have shied away from technology in the past, but not anymore. The baby boomer generation is now widely adopting technology to keep in touch with their loved ones, manage their finances, alert caregivers in case of an accident, etc. They are using laptops, phones, and smartwatches for daily interactions and other activities. There are many other technologies that you can embrace to ensure your assisted living residents have a better quality of life, these include:

Personalize rooms

Personalization is critical, especially in memory care homes. It helps staff know the residents, their preferences, family, and special memories of travel and a well-lived life. It is also vital in the case of residents suffering from conditions like expressive aphasia and dementia. Usually, these people can’t tell their own life stories so their possessions that represent their activities, achievements, and memories can communicate about their past.

For this reason, it is a good idea to allow residents to bring some of their unique and favorite belongings and items with them as they move into the care facility. These possessions will not only aid with care but also help the residents feel at home. In addition to this, you may want to customize the rooms to fit the needs of the residents. Since no single resident has the same need as the other, it pays to understand the needs of each one of them and modify their spaces accordingly. And don’t forget the outdoors and common spaces too. A few things you can do in this regard include:

Provide lots of fun, social opportunities

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Spending time and maintaining relationships with others is essential to a senior’s mental and emotional well-being. It can prevent depression which is common with seniors. Studies by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 7 million adults in the US, 65 years and older suffer from depression each year. And while many aspects lead to depression, isolation and inactivity tend to be the biggest contributors.

Alzheimer’s Association recommends socialization to help seniors maintain brain activity. As such, providing lots of fun and social opportunities in your facility can be a great way to improve the level of care in your homes. Here are a few recommendations for social activities.

Make tidiness a priority

One of the main reasons seniors move from home care to assisted living is to get help with laundry and housekeeping. Providing stellar personal care services is essential, but ensuring that the rooms and surrounding area are in tip-top condition is also crucial. Assisted living homes always need to be clean to create a healthy environment for residents and caregivers. Hiring professional cleaning services can be a great way to ensure your facility stays clean. A clean facility offers plenty of benefits, including:

Emphasize providing quality meals and dining experience

Dining isn’t just an essential part of a senior’s social life in an assisted living community, it’s an important pleasure for them as well. Residents enjoy nice meals in a good dining setting. They also need well-balanced meals as part of their health care. When it comes to resident care, it is the simple things that matter, like eating what they want, when they want, and where they want.

While providing meals for the elderly, it’s vital to take note of their varying health needs. For instance, seniors with heart disease need to avoid processed meals and high-fat dairy products. Instead, they should eat high-quality proteins, healthy fats, colorful veggies and fruits, and low-fat dairy products. In addition to nutrition, you want to create an appealing dining atmosphere that makes residents eager and willing to enjoy their meals.

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Best Accreditations for Senior & Assisted Living

Long term care facilities offer a range of services to those who aren’t able to live independently. Mostly, these are people aged 65+. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 to 3 million serious infections occur every year in nursing homes, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities. That’s why the importance of working with an accredited facility can never be overstated. So what is accreditation, and what are the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities to obtain?

Accreditation helps determine if a senior living home meets or exceeds minimum quality standards. When a facility is accredited by a reputable organization, you can rest easy knowing your loved one will be safe and well-cared for. Without such systems in place, it would be impossible to tell the excellent facilities apart from the average ones.

Many accreditation bodies exist in the United States. But as with any other system, these bodies are not created equally. Some are certainly better than others. When it comes to your loved one’s level of care and safety, it’s always a good idea to go with the best. It is hard to imagine your loved one going into an understaffed, or outdated facility that didn’t offer high-quality senior care. This article will highlight the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities to guide you. But before that, let’s make sure we’re on the same page.

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Knowing the best accreditations for senior care and assisted living facilities can help your business stand-out, as one of the best in your field.

Senior living licensure vs. accreditation

Senior care providers may get three recognition levels: certification, licensure, and accreditation. Licensure is a type of recognition used in most government systems. It has set rules and directs providers to abide by specific local codes. Providers need to have a license before they can operate. But they must pass some basic licensure test that covers the regulations and rules for operation to get their license. The test also includes an inspection of the facility.

Certification recognizes personal achievements. It’s a proof that a person has attained certain education level or skill set by an institution. Certificates are given to those who successfully finish a specific training or work experience. It shows that the experts can offer nursing care or medical care to older adults.

On top of meeting all the certification and licensure requirements, some providers may voluntarily choose to go through the accreditation process. The main difference between licensure, certification and accreditation is that accreditation is given only after a provider is shown to conform to a set of specific standards. Certification and licensure are, however, needed upfront before services can be performed. Accreditation helps establish whether the provider’s processes produce positive results.

The conformance to standards is typically measured by a third-party body that goes to the senior living facility to review materials and talk to family members, nursing home residents, administration boards, and the staff members. So, accreditation is the recognition by experts that a senior living home meets the highest industry standards.

With that out of the way, here are some of the best accreditation for senior and assisted living.

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Accreditation Commission for Home Care, INC. (ACHC)

ACHC is a nonprofit accreditation body that has stood as a quality and excellence symbol for over three decades. The organization has CMS approval for hospice, home health, renal dialysis, and DMEPOS accreditation. Over the years, ACHC has created the best accreditations for senior and assisted living facilities, that have positively impacted countless organizations. Its standards are built by experts and promote quality services, enhance organizational operations and ensure optimal care. ACHC:

Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Accreditation

CARF is a nonprofit that sets very high standards for care and service. It is a well-known independent accreditation body for human and health care services providers across the United States and Western Europe. CARF accredits continuing care retirement communities and related services that offer hospital, community, and home-based care. The accreditation process starts with a range of steps that include:

CARF has one of the most stringent peer-review processes, making it an admirable accreditation for senior and assisted living facilities. In fact, its standards were set over five decades ago by global partners of policymakers, service providers, and family members. These standards have been subjected to public review to verify the applicability and ensure all stakeholders contribute.

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO)

JCAHO is an independent, nonprofit body that accredits skilled nursing facilities and some continuing care retirement communities. But it does assess assisted living homes. The nonprofit tries to consistently enhance care homes by:

JCAHO is a respected body in the health care industry. It has a reputation for its high standards in grading long-term care facilities, hospitals, and service providers.

Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP)

CHAP standards are specific to the community and home-based care. They offer a practical, straightforward guide as per the facility’s specific model. The organization has deeming authority issued by the CMS to determine whether it meets their quality standards and Medicare Conditions of Participation. CHAP:

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Benefits of accreditation

Long-term care facilities use accreditation to improve their performance and display their commitment to safety and quality to external stakeholders. The latest studies show that long-term care accreditation is a risk reduction activity that minimizes the chances of adverse resident outcomes and incrementally enhances a facility’s performance. Besides, accreditation improves community confidence, supports staff education and recruitment, and offers a structure for organizing business and care processes. But most importantly, it enables facilities to set themselves apart in the market of more than different 15,000 nursing homes in the US.

 

How to Know When Assisted Living Homes are Well-Run?

Assisted living homes are a great choice for older adults who need help with some or most of their daily activities. These facilities have professionals to help with things like getting to the bathroom, housekeeping, cooking meals, laundry, and transport to appointments. They also offer round-the-clock safety and security to ensure all residents are okay. But not all homes are created equal. How can you tell when assisted living homes are well-run?

There are approximately 28,900 assisted living homes in America, but no two facilities have the same level of service as the other. Some are clearly better than others. So, it is completely understandable to worry about whether the one you've enrolled your loved one in is efficient or not. In this article, we'll tell you how to know when assisted living homes are well run, to help put your mind at ease, knowing your loved one will be well taken care of.

The residents have a better quality of life

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The decision to transition to an assisted living home is often based on a need for additional care and support with daily activities. However, finding a facility that meets the basic needs is only the first step. A well-run facility also pays more attention to the overall quality of life of every resident. It doesn't compromise on aspects that improve the quality of life. These include encouraging physical activity, inspiring social interaction, fostering independence and a sense of purpose and nurturing spirituality. While it might be hard to measure, these aspects are critical in determining if an assisted living facility is well planned.

The facility exceeds the minimum requirement

You may be pleased with the fact that an assisted living amenity provides round-the-clock staffing, grocery shopping, health care support, transportation, laundry, and housekeeping services. But these are only minimum requirements. The best-assisted living environment goes beyond the basics. As mentioned above, they offer opportunities to chase new hobbies and creativity and promote social interaction. Most importantly, they evaluate and adjust the residents’ needs from time to time.

It hires a qualified and passionate team of caregivers

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One of the best ways to tell a well-run assisted living home apart is by looking at its staff's quality. A well-run facility will invest in quality staff. It will only hire qualified personal care assistants, nurses, administrators, directors, and coordinators who are passionate about their jobs. A qualified team can maintain senior independence, provide companionship, decrease senior loneliness, offer insight and detect changes in a senior's condition.

The facility has adequate staff

A well-run home should have a reasonable staff-to-resident ratio. It should also have registered nurses on-campus, as opposed to simply on-call. Adequate nurse staffing is essential when it comes to the quality of assisted living care. Unless a facility has sufficient staff to offer high-level quality care, your senior loved one may not get the attention he or she needs and deserves. Luckily, you can easily tell when an assisted living home is understaffed. It will feel chaotic each time you visit. There will be little-to-no coordination and the staff may always seem to have bad attitudes. You may also notice that the staff only talks among themselves as opposed to mingling with residents. Or that information gets lost between shift changes. All these are red flags of bad care.

It has a low staff turnover

Staff turnover is an unfortunate reality that many senior care facilities face from time to time. But a good facility will have only a few people leaving at any given point. In most cases, you'll still find a staff that truly knows your loved one. Bad facilities tend to have high staff turnover, to the extent you may notice that no one on staff even knows who your loved one is. Unfortunately, your elderly family member won't get quality care when the staff-resident pairing is not consistent.

The facility is determined to answer all your questions

In addition to staffing, you can tell a well-run facility by looking at how well they respond to your questions and concerns. The fact that they are responsible for the older adults means they are better placed to answer questions about their care. A well-managed facility will always have the right answers for things that happen within their premise; answers that put your mind to rest. They shouldn't say things like, "Old people do this all the time" when you ask why your mom is losing weight. Or “I don't know, but I'll find out,” when you’re concerned about the state of her personal hygiene.

It tailors services to meet the needs of an individual

Although assisted living homes must be suited for a resident's specific health status – like physical therapy for individuals with walking problems or medications for chronic conditions – residents are more than just their health status. They are your family members, mothers, fathers, siblings. A truly well-run facility will consider a person's interests, physical and mental health, need for social interactions, etc. So they'll hire mental health experts and also include social clubs and other support groups. A well-run facility tailors solutions to the resident's unique needs. And since these needs might change, the facility should also have structures in place to adjust to the emotional, physical, and social needs that arise.

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They answers calls

Well-run assisted living homes will always pick up the phone. So, in most cases, your loved one won't have to wait a long time after pushing the call button. You can easily know how fast they are by putting the light on and watching out for delay. See if it happens all the time or at a specific time of day – like during mealtime or shift change. Then bring up your concern to staff and observe how they handle it. It should be concerning if your loved one has to wait for a long time before getting help. And it's even worse if they have to do things by themselves because they couldn't wait any longer.

It is keen on nurturing relationships

Most residents in assisted living homes seek long-term care. Unfortunately, this might mean spending less time with friends and family members. Well-run facilities understand how hard this can be. So, a good home will go all-out promoting social activities. They also strive to build bonds between residents and their loved ones. They not only have amazing visitation policies but vast communication options. On top of that, they include vast social activities, like gardening, exercise, art or cooking classes, bridge league, and weekly game nights. Anything that gets the seniors to interact is a big plus.

Assisted living is like home health care as it covers activities of daily living. The only difference is that the senior relocates from his or her home to a new place. Ensuring that the facility is well-run is the best way to ascertain that your loved one is as comfortable as they’d be if they were home.