As one of our clients said, the difference in care residents receive is not only about their medical care, but also about their lifestyle care. We believe that it is vital for all assisted living managers to ensure that their facilities utilize assisted living care plans to engage and motivate not only the residents, but the aides as well.
Turn over for aides is high, especially in assisted living facilities that have memory care residents. The hours can be grueling, the work heartbreaking and backbreaking, and the sense that you are making a real difference minimal. This turn over is not only bad for business in terms of dollars and cents, but also in terms of resident experience. As people age they experience a heightened sense of vulnerability and a constant parade of stranger aides, never the same ones more than a few times, is disruptive at the least to residents and can seriously erode their quality of life and sense of comfort and care.
This is why we believe in the power of assisted living care plans. Specific, individual care plans can help residents get the consistent attention they need and deserve and keep aides feeling connected and impactful in their roles. The result? Less turn over, greater occupancy.
When describing what had made a real difference for her father in one of our assisted living clients, one woman said “the second and equally important factor [in the quality of his experience] is the lack of turn over with key staff members as well as the aides who have the most direct contact with the residents. This is an extremely important factor that is largely overlooked and typically undervalued in most health care settings.”
One of the models we use to foster these plans and create greater engagement among residents and aides is the iCan approach, which allows caregivers to understand a person not only as someone who suffers from illness, but also as someone who inhabits healthy parts and personality that remains even though it seems to be hidden by illness. This therapeutic, multifaceted interdisciplinary approach to activities which blends affordable multimedia technology with the latest in activity design principals in dementia care is an effective method of meeting each resident’s needs for friendship, respect, confidence and creativity. The goal is to provide specialized stimulation creating structure and support by highlighting capabilities, which builds confidence in a failure-free, success-oriented environment.
Contact us to learn more about our care plan services.