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Assisted Living Topics
National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease
Feb 2nd
According to ALFA, “the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease notably omitted assisted living from all but one of its strategies and recommendations.” I followed ALFA’s suggestion to read the draft and send an email to the National Alzheimer’s Project Act.
Here is the text of the email I sent to NAPA@hhs.gov
I have red the Draft Framework for the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. I am very concerned that assisted living facilities (RCFEs, board and care communities, etc.) have been left out of this National Plan. I am respectfully requesting that at least two changes be made. To wit: 1. Under Goal 2: Enhance Care Quality and Efficiency, add assisted living facilities to the list of settings where high quality of care should be provided. As it is now, the draft only lists people’s homes, doctors’ offices, hospitals and nursing homes. 2. Under Strategy 3.B The existing statement: Round the clock care needs of the person with Alzheimer’s disease often necessitates nursing home placement should be changed to: Round the clock care needs of the person with Alzheimer’s disease often necessitates placement in a nursing home or assisted living facility. Assisted living facilities (ALFs) play an important role in More >How to Evaluate an Assisted Living Community
Jan 25th
How to Evaluate an Assisted Living Community.
Last year I wrote a blog on this subject (see http://www.evergreenchalet.com/2011/04/choose-assisted-living-facility/). The content is still very much current and worth reading. However, at this time I would like to look at the topic from a different angle.
When prospective residents and/or family members come to Evergreen Chalet to check us out, quite often comments and comparisons are made about the size of the rooms, the furniture and the overall “look” of the place. Sometimes we hear about how much larger the rooms are at some of the facilities ran by big corporations, their new furniture, dining room accommodations, etc., places that of course charge almost twice as much as we are charging. It seems to me that, unfortunately, some people associate the amount of money they have to pay with the quality of care they would receive, i.e. the more money it costs, the better the care. This, of course, is almost never the case.
Clearly, these big facilities have to charge more money because it costs them a lot more to pay for these new buildings, fancy furniture, top heavy corporate administrators and many other niceties that make the place look like a very expensive More >
Searching the Internet for Assisted Living Communities.
Jan 20th
Searching the Internet for Assisted Living Communities.
It seems to me that more and more prospective residents and their families are using the Internet to search for an assisted living community. Perhaps the word is out that referral agencies are not very helpful in narrowing down the best communities that would fit the needs and wants of the consumers. (for more info on this subject please see my blog: http://www.evergreenchalet.com/2011/04/choose-placement-referral-agency/ ).
Searching the Internet is a very powerful tool if one learns how to use it properly. There are thousands of good sources that cover the mechanics of searching. Reading just a handful of these articles and following their recommendations will certainly improve the results of your search.
I am going to concentrate only on one element of the search: the key word. This is the word or words or phrases you use to describe what you are looking for. It is very important to use them properly, otherwise you end up with too much information, too little information or useless information. A rule of thumb is that we should use 3-5 words or phrases (a phrase is a combination of two or more words, ex. “assisted living facility”).
A recent article in the Senior More >
Evergreen Chalet is “Caring Star” of 2012
Jan 8th
We are very excited and happy here at Evergreen Chalet to learn that we were ranked as the “Caring Star” of 2012. The Caring Stars of 2012 for Assisted Living is based on consumer ratings and reviews posted on Caring. Com – the web’s #1 source of senior care reviews, with nearly two million visits to the website monthly. This is a great honor for us especially if we consider that we are one of only 119 assisted living communities in 24 states across US and the only one in San Diego area receiving this ranking.
Here is what Andy Cohen, co-founder and CEO of Caring.com had to say in his congratulatory letter: “Our research shows that word-of mouth recommendations from others outweigh all other factors for caregivers choosing an assisted living community for a loved one. These first-hand testimonials are consistently cited as more important than anything else, including price and location, which are second and third in impact respectively.” In its press release, Caring.com also notes that “Characteristics consumers often discuss in a five-star rating for an assisted living community include care that is personalized and provided with a genuine concern, homelike amenities and décor, a wide variety of More >
The Village Concept
Nov 17th
The Village Concept
I read Jaclyn Allmon’s posting on ALFA’s discussion group http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Will-Village-Movement-Gain-Momentum-1737157.S.80516243?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=1737157&item=80516243&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn&ut=1lh4B_NnNY5B01 commenting on an article published by Associated Press on November 12, entitled “Aging Americans Can Stay at Home With Aid of Villages” and featured on the Linkedin website: http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=908363755&gid=1737157&type=member&item=80516243&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxnews%2Ecom%2Fus%2F2011%2F11%2F12%2Faging-americans-can-stay-home-with-aid-villages%2F&urlhash=zcn8&goback=%2Egde_1737157_member_80516243
The Village is, from lack of a better term, a kind of cooperative formed by individuals or couples (from 35 to a few hundreds) funded by membership fees (averaging between $500.00 and $700.00) and run by a board of directors. Research shows that those who rely on the Village love the system. However, the village model has many limitations. One major problem is sustainability. Most villages cannot survive without donations, grants and volunteer workers.
I would like to learn more about the village model; the article is not very clear on what exactly is the Village offering to its members. So if anyone knows about some good sources of information, please direct me to them. As to Jaclyn’s posting and the comments made to it, I tend to agree with Jaclyn. The health and well-being of our seniors is too important to leave it in the hands of amateurs or volunteers, no matter how well intended they might be. Yes, we need More >
The Green House Projet
Nov 7th
The Green House Project.
In the last few days there were a number of articles and blogs about The Green House Project.
The Huffington Post quotes Dr. Bill Thomas, Green House Project Founder and Director of Innovation as follows: “Conventional long term care makes the doctors and nurses the stars of show, in the spotlight all the time. The Green House makes the elders the stars of the show…the doctors and nurses are still there, but they’re backstage, where they’re supposed to be.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/02/green-house-project-longterm-eldercare_n_1070458.html
The article also quotes Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which partners with the project saying that ”By altering the facility size, interior design, staffing patterns and service-delivery method, the Green House model provides residents better, safer and more personalized care. As a result, elders are happier and healthier. They have more enjoyment in life, remain independent longer and receive more individual attention from a caregiver each day.”
Laury Tarkan writes in the The New York Times in an article entitled A Nursing Home Shrinks Until it Feels Like Home( November 1, 2011 page D5) that “The notion that elder care should be de-institutionalized is a popular one. According to a poll released in September by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson More >
Long-Term Care Costs Rise Again
Oct 27th
Metlife Mature Market Institute does an annual survey of Nursing Homes, Assisted living facilities, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs. The 2011 survey found that costs have increased
4.4% or more. Here are some key findings:
The national average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home rose 4.4% from $229 in 2010 to $239 in 2011.
The national average monthly base rate in an assisted living community rose 5.6% from $3,293 in 2010 to $3,477 in 2011.
The national average daily rate for adult day services rose 4.5% from $67 in 2010 to $70 in 2011.
And here are the figures for San Diego.
Nursing Homes
Semi-private room: Low – $187; High – $295; Average – $224.
Private room: Low – $200; High – $395; Average: – $271.
Assisted Living Facilities
Base rate per month: Low – $2,075; High – $6,900; Average – $4,031
Home Care Costs
Home Health Aid (hourly): Low – $19; High – $22; Average – $21.
Homemaker (hourly): Low – $19; High – $22; Average – $21.
Adult Day Services
Daily cost : Low – $47; High – $88; Average – $75
On a personal note, for many of us operators of assisted living facilities in greater San Diego area, the last two years were not the best, More >
Baby Boomers Predictions
Oct 24th
I saw a posting by Skip Franzel on LinkedIn regarding an article in Forbes, written by Susan Adams. The article entitled The Prophet of the Coming Aging Boom talks about Ken Dychtwald who predicts a tidal wave he calls “the Age Wave.” “Dychtwald’s message: Baby boomers, the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, present a vast market for a potential explosion of products and services, from new dating websites to longevity insurance to new kinds of food.” You can see the posting at http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=854095514&gid=163619&type=member&item=76298892&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Ft%2Eco%2FBJNYdZeC&urlhash=ILEH&goback=%2Egde_163619_member_76298892%2Egmp_163619%2Egde_163619_member_76298892
Here is my response to the posting. Tell me what you think about the posting and my response to it.
I find Ken Dychtwald’s passion and knowledge of the senior’s buying power commendable. However, I am concerned with the possibility of over-commercializing the baby boomer issue. Even though my livelihood and the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people depends on selling to the elderly, I am worried that we might get tunnel vision and concentrate our efforts only on selling (even if our products and services are newer, better, etc.). So I was encouraged to hear that Ken Dychtwald is also concerned with the “aging’s dark side,” like the dearth of geriatricians, insufficient funding to prevent diseases, and More >
Falls Prevention Awareness Day
Sep 27th
Falls Prevention Awarness Day.
Perhaps you had a chance to participate in some of the activities prepared by various organizations around the Falls Prevention Awarness Day – September 23, 2011. If not, don’t worry, you can still take advantage of the materials presented at some of these activities. I know of one interesting presentation, and if there is someone out there who knows about others, please share it with me and I’ll pass the info on my next blog.
The presentation I participated in was put up by the National Council on Aging and it was called Falls Prevention: Debunking the Myths of Falls in Older Adults. I enjoyed the presentation and now you can to.
Just go to http://www.ncoa.org/calendar-of-events/2011-abs-webinars/falls-prevention-debunking.html
You will be able to download the presentation, listen to the recording and learn more about Falls Prevention Awarness Day. For us, in the assisted living/ residential care industry, this is a very important issue. The more we know the better we can protect our residents and ourselves.
If you are interested in this topic, you might want to read my two blogs on this subject:
http://www.evergreenchalet.com/2011/05/falls-assisted-living-facilities-part-1/
http://www.evergreenchalet.com/2011/05/falls-assisted-living-facilities-part-2/
Older Americans Act (OAA)
Sep 13th
More than 13 million older Americans are struggling every day just to pay for food, medicine, and a place to live. The good news is that Older Americans Act (OAA) programs can help. The OAA funds meals, transportation, senior centers, job training, and more. But all of these programs are at risk as Congress considers huge cuts in the federal budget. Let’s make sure Congress protects seniors in need! Ask your members of Congress to sign the Pledge to Protect and Strengthen the Older Americans Act. Read the pledge, see who has signed on, and send an email to your lawmakers now. http://bit.ly/OAApledge
The above paragraph was taken from website of the National Council on Aging (NCOA). Their One Away campaign put together a collection of 5,000 stories of struggling seniors and are asking lawmakers to sign the Pledge to Protect and Strengthen the Older Americans Act (OAA). The reauthorization of this Act is coming up soon, so now is time to ask our legislators to sign on.
