Adult Family Homes, with Daphne Davis

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following podcast is provided by pinnacles senior placements LLC and answers for elders radio, and welcome back everyone to answers for elders radio when we are here happy holidays with Daphne Davis from pinnacles senior placements. And Daphne, I’m so glad you’re with us for this hour and one of the things that, you know, we touched on last segment that I really want to explore a little bit is about adult family homes and you know, you certainly made a believer out of me, which I didn’t used to be, and I don’t know why. Probably because I didn’t know enough. And so if I didn’t know enough, I can imagine that our listeners don’t know about that. This is a very viable option for senior loved ones and I would love to have you share a little bit about adult family homes and you know and how how they’re different and unique. That would be my pleasure because they are kind of a well kept secret and if you do know about them, here in the state of Washington we’ve had adult family home since the mid S and we’ve had our ups and downs through an industry of growth and so in western Washington we’ve had some negative news about adult family homes years ago, and so your exposure might be of a negative note and I would love to be able to just share a little bit about what is the value of an adult family home and how did they function and and what can they really do? And so, making my pleasure, I I cut my teeth. That’s where I learned all about elder care. Was An adult family homes and that was in the late s and moving into early thousands, and I helped families decide what adult family home would be best for them and I was working for a particular organization that had eight adult family homes, and so I really got to learn the INS and outs, not only just the daily routine, but what are the laws that regulate adult family homes and how are they set up to work effectively and what kind of healthcare can you have? Is Their activities? Do they have outings, all the things that people may not be aware of. And so in the state of Washington we are very evolved. There are thirty three hundred adult family homes in the state of Washington and I’m as they yeah, there’s a lot. I would say there’s got to be at least a hundred two thousand arecws and lacks that regulate adult family homes, abroad, walls, anything that can be done in an in a nursing home or rehab the facility can be done in an adult family home, except for intramuscular shots and usually not any kind of trade or breathing work. That’s that’s some there’s exceptions to that. There are some homes that do that the typically, and so adult family homes usually have a maximum of six people that live in them. Recently, last year we’ve had a new law that said some homes can expand to eight people, and there’s their implementing that. This year there are some homes that have eight people in them now. So they are starting to get more of a larger adult family home, small assistant living field. So you have a community of people in an adult family home. You usually will have your own bedroom. Many Times fifty percent of the time you’ll have your own bathroom or shared with one other person, and it’s a house that has the living room, bathroom, kitchen, back yard, everything that you would have in your own home, except you have twenty four hour care. And so sometimes people are like Oh, I don’t want somebody hanging over me. No, no, you still have all the privacy that you want and you can have your interaction with people that you may want. So introverts and extra vertal like do well in this environment. I will my personal biases is that if someone needs help in advocating for themselves, asking for things, getting a little support so they don’t have a tumble to the floor, you know, just a little extra help getting out of a chair. Adult family homes can sometimes be the perfect scenario because that care can happen without a loved one even really realizing is happening. A caregivers in the room and you know, the living room and sees that, you know, Joan needs to know she’s trying to get up out of her chair but she just can’t quite do it. She’s on the third time to try and get up and all she may need is just a little help on her elbow and just be that momentum and she doesn’t even know that she was helped. It’s right. Are With dignity, with out a high risk. And Yeah, and so I really like that. The other piece that people get a little nervous about sometimes as well. How do you socialize. What if I don’t like everybody? That’s there very, very valid point and that’s where coming like pinnacle, it’s really important because we listen to what your life is like. You will be talking to their sons and daughter’s and and to their client themselves and figuring out what does your life look like? Do you like to go out and get ahead of beneath you? Do you want to putter in the garage? Do you want to just, you know, be in the kitchen and get your own cup of tea? What things are normal for you? And then we, because of our experience, help find the right fit. That’s the piece that makes adult family homes magical. I do have a strong bias here. If you’re looking for an adult family home by yourself, and this is my bias, I’ll own it. I don’t know how you could possibly find the right adult family home without the help of someone who knows the homes. It’s like having a specialized realtor. So that piece, the magical piece of having an adult family homework is matching that. Personalities matching up, philosophies of care matching up, style of the day. How flexible are they? Is this a home that likes to watch the extra innings of the mariners. Is this a home that you know listens to, you know, a live Television Church Service on Sundays? Is that important to you? Those details are what make the next chapter of life magnified and purposeful, well and and timely. I know, for seniors if they have a little bit of dementia, you know, they may not be in a situation where they have to help full blown all service care, but sometimes it’s you’ve got beginning stages of a dementia, a large community to be overwhelming, you know, having that calmness of a private, you know, smaller area to keep things like in a home environment is so valuable and certainly for for an adult family home, that is, you know, a good thing, right, is that? Is that true? That is, Oh, absolutely true sentence. I there is definitely a place for large memory care. There’s definitely a place where assisted living there someone, you know, coming out of their home and pretty independent in their their living style. Not inscrediting any of those, but it’s valuable to look at an adult family home for the dementia client, the person who’s struggling with that disease process, because of the level of flexibility and because this is this is a pretty well known philosophy of care. A behavior is an unmet need and the only way to me I met needs of someone is to know them intimately and to be around them enough to know that, you know, George is a little off today. He seems a little crabby. I wonder why and to look back and see, you know, did he have his breakfast this morning? Nope, he didn’t feel like eating breakfast. Well, maybe he’s hungry, maybe he’s need some protein. And for a character to be able to go and get you know, hey, let’s let’s have a boiled egg or his favorite thing is, you know, sausage, whatever, and to be able to get that forum, not only being able to be flexible to have whatever he needs, but the awareness that he needs it, m and that can actually see a related relations. Yes, and they getting the same characterver. Yep, that’s exactly that. I totally other thing, Yep. The other thing that happens is the familiarity. There’s something to be said for a home with dementia care. I mean it has a hallway, a short hallway, it has the smells of a home, it has the refrigerator and he maybe they just need to keep opening up that refrigerator door. That was a habit that they did and you know they don’t need to get anything out of it. But they doesn’t need to open the refrigerator door. Let them all the refrigerator door is back to a sense of grounding. Lot of do it. The other thing I think. Go ahead. Sorry. Well, the other thing that can happen in having that consistency of care is that the person who is struggling with dementia can also find purpose in the relationships that they have with the other residents. Now, I know that sounds a little bizarre because someone’s usually cognitively challenged, but there is a magical thing that happens in terms of relationship of our elders when having cognitive cognitive challenges, and they are drawn to each other. And having a sense of purpose is what really makes us keep moving forward. Getting out of our own thoughts, getting out of our own well is me and having somebody else to watch them. When you’re sitting in a living room and you’re all laughing at the same will of fortune and some people are getting know you already said be. Don’t ask for be again, and the other person’s watching them laughing at it. Before you know what, they’re all laughing. Yes, also each other. The smallest environments to be out and wonderful and once the care stuff gets to know they can anticipate like, for example, you know if mom or dad, if they’re if they’re dementia is starting to act up a little bit more in a particular day. It’s like they know enough to say, you know, I wonder if they have a uti you know, I wonder if something’s going on, because they’re dialed in, because they only have six people to take care of. It’s not like it’s a big wing of people that you know. There isn’t that sense of connection that they certainly get into an adult family home environment. Yeah, it is a different feel and and there are larger communities that can have that connection and it’s it is about the neregiver and their heart and they’re willingness to step out of themselves and and having the calling of being a caregiver. So it can happen. But I do think adult family homes are such viable options that most of us don’t even know about. I’m thrilled to be able to talk about this because I think it’s so important and and you know, we are going to talk a little bit more about this topic and our holiday season with Daphne Davis adapte before we go into our break. How do we reach you again? It’s at eight hundred and fifty five, seven thirty four, one thousand five hundred and our website, Pinnacle Senior Placementcom. Wonderful and Daphaneque will be right back right after this. The preceding podcast was provided by pinnacles senior placements LLC and answers for elders radio. To contact pinnacles senior placements, go to Pinnacle Senior Placementscom.