Retirement Living with Kathleen Beers

*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.

This is a special presentation of answers for elders with carriage and welcome back to answers for elders radio everyone, on this beautiful Saturday. I am here with a lady by the name of Kathleen Beers and a another lady, Sarath on Stet, and another lady, Wendy Davis. That’s right, we have three lovely ladies here from Patriots Glenn, part of Carriage. Welcome to the program everyone. Thank you, you. Hello. Hi, you know, it’s so fun to have three people in the studio because you all come from different levels of expertise and and today I’m glad that we’re here to talk about retirement living. I know that it’s summertime and a lot of families right now are packing up their families, you know, their family home, mom and dad maybe making a major transition. This is kind of the time of year, isn’t it? Ladies, absolutely yes, they are. And and you know, often times, I know Kathleen, you’ve been kind of a mainstay at Patriots Glen for a long time, and Patriots Glenn is in Belle view and when doy you or her successor, which is really kind of fun. So it’s nice to have you being evolved. So, as people are looking for a new place to live for their parent, what are some of the questions that they usually ask about when they’re seeking out of retirement community? I think that they want to understand, when they’re looking for retirement community, on what level of care that retirement community can provide for their loved one. You want to find the right fit because every time you move a loved one there is a decline in that person. So you want to make sure it’s a good fit so you’re not not having to move them again. Right, right. And then, obviously every family’s need is different. I’m sure you know you’ve got family dynamics, you have financial considerations, obviously, and every family is different in that realm. And then I’m sure you’re also dealing with, you know, the actual care plan itself. With Sarath, you work with except on that end. Is that correct? Yes, that’s the correct and so what I do is, when I do the assessment, I find out the care needs of that resident, HMM, and then we price it accordingly to what they need. That’s perfect. So so basically, as a result, every program for a retirement living is custom lie for families, and so you have to understand number one. It’s really a good idea so when you come to a retirement living community that you understand what the care plans should be by their doctor. I’m assuming to be able to give people like Kathleen and windy and Saratha the right information when you come and see the communities. That’s correct. Yeah, so so when when you look at obviously there’s different options and senior living. What who would like to share with me about the different types? Well, Wendy. Well, for us we have a memory care unit and that is a secure area for folks who have dementure or Alzheimer’s. We have the assisted living area, which it’s everything from medication management to helping with dressing, grooming, showering, escorts the R am. But there and then then there’s also the option for independent living. We don’t have that, but that’s another option right families to consider. So there’s three options. There’s also adult family homes, which is a whole separate option. Sure, so the families really need to sit down and talk with their primary care physicians and other caregivers to find out what’s the best for mom or Dad. Right an adult family home. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s usually a private home that will have maybe five or six types of residents and they and and often times the needs are fairly similar. The CARE is fairly similar. They may be specialized in certain areas, whether it’s dementia or, you know, assisted living with mobility and things like that. So you know, there are different types of options and you know there’s never before been more options, which is really great. And then on the if, even if seniors are staying at home, one of the things I love about carriage is you guys also have what’s called the Home Health Department, where you can actually go out to a seniors home maybe if they’re if they’re, you know, recuperating from a surgical procedure or something like that. So you really have a full spectrum of types of services, which is Great. So tell me a little bit about you know, what would be the warning signs? Obviously families are around mom and dad now, during family reunions and different kinds of events that families might do. What are some of the things that you should probably check in with your parents about? Well, I think a big thing is are they eating properly. I mean all you need to do is open up the refrigerator and see a lot of typically spoiled food that’s in the refrigerator. And another thing too, is possibly fall risk. We see a lot of that where there a start, they’re declining, their starting to fall a lot. So they’re possibly going to the hospital, then on too skilled nursing and then hopefully coming to us right, but it’s and then the another big red flag to is if they’re still driving. Are they safe to drive? Right? It’s it might be time to take the car keys away from mom or dad. Yeah, and that’s hard. That’s a whole other aspect to because as a senior starts to lose, you know, their mobility, lose their eyesight, things start to fail, there’s that fear factor of the unknown with that senior and I always talk to families about the fact that this is a very vulnerable time and a lot of time seniors will dig their heels in saying I’m not going anywhere, not because they don’t realize that the change needs to be made, but it’s that fear of the unknown. To make sure that they understand more completely where they’re going and that you, as are adult child, can really establish that foundation of trust with your parent so that there is that ease into that transition into retirement living. For sure, and you know, Susan, one way to ease them into that retirement living is to maybe suggest a short stay. It’s called a respiens day and love that. It’s thirty days or less, where all they need to do is come in, bring their clothing, their toiletries, we provide everything else. A furnished apartment and every almost every respite stay we’ve done at Patriots Glen they have moved in because it’s not scary after they’ve had an opportunity to experience a retirement community and they just blossom. They make friends, they enjoy eating with other right enjoying activities in the community. So it’s a win win for the family and for us. So we are talking to Sarath on Stet, Kathleen Beers and Wendy Davis, all from Patriots Glen in Belleview. We’re exactly as Patriots Glen located. We are located in the Lake Hills neighborhood of Bellevue. Were just we’re so convenient for so many families. We’re right off interstate ninety on a hundred forty eight street, just down from Bellevue College and robins would part. Oh, very nice, very nice. That is very convenient location for sure, and there’s also, you know, a lot of amenities close. You’re not too far from overlake hospital, you’re not too far from different types of medical facilities and things like that, because we all know mom and dad at this age need to be somewhat connected with their medical care. And we’re only three miles from our skilled nursing mission, which is part of our cup and me. Yes, mission healthcare. We’ve had bethdeems from your organization on the radio and so she’s shared with us about mission healthcare. So one of the things that I think is so amazing about retirement living, as a lot of families today have, you know, grandmother and grandfather live and all of a sudden one of them passes away and they don’t have that daily contactor, that daily interaction with their loved one. And you know, I think in many cases this is a very important time to look at a new living option, you know, if they’re receptive or at least start to open that door, because it’s the social aspect that I think we forget about, you know, we forget that maybe mom or dad, you know, they’re more comfortable just sitting in front of their TV set. I would say that that’s probably not the most constructive thing in the world to have your parent be doing. And at the same time, obviously you guys can provide activities, and so wendy would tell me a little bit about some of the activities that you do it patriots, Glen, they the most important is to keep them active, and so we have Tai Chi and that helps. It sounds so fun, but for seniors it’s all about balance right. It really builds strength and helps them. Balance is huge. That is that help prevention? Absolutely, absolutely. And then, of course, really, Saraf you, being a health and wellness director, the the mindset of you know, social aspect is so important with mind, with memory and with the ability to keep active in your communication so that you don’t fall into symptoms of dimension and Alzheimer’s. Could you share a little bit about that? Well, let’s go back to just eating. That’s very important and sometimes you don’t really know how much that person is eating if you’re just visiting them every once in a while. And so in this community, in assist a living. It’s three meals and if they want an extra meal, let’s say you’re diabetic, you know definitely can order that and it’s available to you. So I feel like from the social aspect, eating is so important and when you’re in a community, we need more or better. Absolutely, and you’re having fun, you’re sitting around the table and you’re making friends and there’s that dynamic of, you know, building a social outlet, which is, I think, so critical at this time of their lives, for sure. And there’s also just the aspect of coming from their room to the dining room. Yeah, that’s getting them out and about. When they’re at home they’re only seeing their family, they’re just walking from their bedroom. deciption. It is. It’s a whole it’s a whole awakening for them to be in a bigger setting and I one of the things that I can absolutely say is is that they’re wonderful thing about retirement living communities today is they’re not the food that you have in places like this is amazing because it’s almost like there, their chefs try to outdo each other, you know, no matter where you live or anything like that. Then I know that that you know you go to a great organization like carriage or Patriots Glen, you’re going to have an amazing meals and amazing type of different types of opportunities to share in activities. So how do we reach you? You can call us on the phone. Our phone number, our direct line, is four to five, three and seven, three, one hundred and six one. And what is your website? Our website is www dots glencom. Kathleen, Sarah and Wendy, thank you for being on the program thank you you for having us. This has been a special presentation of answers for elders with carriage. More information for carriage go to CARRIAGECOM. That’s SAR agecom.