Tag: Assisted Living

Whether regarding skilled care, skilled nursing, or memory care, especially during the pandemic myths have persisted about senior living. This segment focuses on family members who care for a senior loved one. It's important to understand your role to make sure they have the best quality of life possible.

Kelley in this segment focuses on quality of life: what to expect in a senior living or assisted living community. It's not what you might think, and there are a lot of preconceived ideas about skilled care. Nothing's perfect, but if you're a caregiver and it's affecting you to where you can't do it any more, or you're in a situation where their needs are over your head, you're not serving them by keeping them at home.

In this segment Kelley explains that the general public's impression of senior living is based on folklore. People think their mom will move in and be isolated, as when you changed schools as a kid. But that's not giving the communities enough credit. A lot of communities have ambassadors that introduce your mom  to new people. That's why you fill out a social assessment – for instance if she's from Norway they might sit her with someone from Norway. A lot of communities put their residents first, with activities, and have a way of making sure the residents are entertained throughout the day.

Whether regarding skilled care, skilled nursing, or memory care, especially during the pandemic myths have persisted about senior living. In this hour, Kelley talks about myths heard all the time about senior care. We remember great-grandma or great-grandpa being in nursing homes, which weren't pleasant places. They don't exist any more — skilled nursing has taken over, and it doesn't look the same as it did even five or ten years ago. If you don't know anybody in assisted living, if you've never been to an assisted living facility, you don't know what actually happens. Skilled nursing now is more like a rehab center that need 24-hour care not appropriate for a hospital setting. People don't realize that things like therapy dog visits and music therapy are available, providing a quality of life — they don't even know that it exists.

Jill Martinez, director of community relations for CarePartners Living, discusses Alzheimer's disease and CarePartners cottages.

Jill Martinez, director of community relations for CarePartners Living, discusses their Seattle-area North End communities.

Cheryl Guenther and Terri Wilson at Koelsch Senior Living Communities talk more about their organization.

Cheryl Guenther and Terri Wilson talk about Koelsch Senior Living Communities, the presenting sponsor for Discovery 2020 in the Linwood Convention Center on April...

Kelley Smith at CarePartners Living discusses Alzheimer's and Dementia care in Washington state. They provide support groups for family caregivers, a safe place where they can talk about caregiving. We also do family nights and respites, even for early onset seniors. If we do an assessment and they're not a good fit for us, we'll refer them to the right service.

Kelley Smith at CarePartners Living talks about medication management. It's a big deal because as we age we can get forgetful. There are a hundred reasons why we're on certain medications. If you take too much or too little, the medication could either cause damage or be ineffective. Certain medications for seizures, blood pressure, diabetes or pain have to be taken regularly or they don't work.