This years the foliage on the Matthew Henson trails by Cascadia Courts assisted living facility were more beautiful than the previous 2 years.  Partly due to the now matured trees which span the path.  One of the most scenic views of the trail is attached for your view.  This historic trail is just steps from our assisted living facility.  Last weekend I had the awesome experience of walking two miles on the trail with a 90 year old resident who has a passion for walking.  She was stronger than I expected and very offended by my offer to hold her hand on the way back.  The beauty of the trials lends for a relaxing view on the front porch and side patio of the facility and residents as well as staff often gaze through the window at the lovely tall trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities Franka Tirado, Cascadia Courts 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities:  

 

1. Management Methodology: the ways in which management/owners operate the facility is telling.  Observe their attention to detail and how they intereact with their staff.  Don't be impressed by what is said but how it is said.  Is there an open door policy whereby staff and family can comfortably in approach unannounced?  How are complaints and compliments handled?  What level of response do you get when one is submitted and how timely?  Both are critical to a good work environment and a safe and caring resident environment.   

 

2. Staff Style:  Assisted living facilities have staff from diverse backgrounds.  There should be a good sense of cultural appreciation from management teams to regular staff.  A content staff exudes signs such as easy rapport with other staff members, residents, family members, managers and visitors.  If staff with-holds critial information for fear or repraisal - be very wary as this may indicate an intimidating leadership style and is not conducive to a good care environment.  Transparency is the key.  A well trained staff will be comfortable in readily disclosing sensitive information to management in a timely fashion and be rewarded for doing so.  

 

3. Resident Regard:  You should expect your loved one to be treated with a high level of regard.  Well regarded residents indicate a caring culture which is exemplified by the management and owners.  This is a good sign and is not easily masked.  Look for how problemmatic residents are handled.  There should be a rehearsed approach to problem resolution by team members frin the residents' perspective.  Are residents' individual needs addressed individually?  Large facilities struggle with handling personalized/individualized care to residents as staff ratios are often high and unrealistic. 

 Signs of good Assisted Living facilities Franka Tirado, Cascadia Courts 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities:  

 

1. Management Methodology: the ways in which management/owners operate the facility is telling.  Observe their attention to detail and how they intereact with their staff.  Don't be impressed by what is said but how it is said.  Is there an open door policy whereby staff and family can comfortably in approach unannounced?  How are complaints and compliments handled?  What level of response do you get when one is submitted and how timely?  Both are critical to a good work environment and a safe and caring resident environment.   

 

2. Staff Style:  Assisted living facilities have staff from diverse backgrounds.  There should be a good sense of cultural appreciation from management teams to regular staff.  A content staff exudes signs such as easy rapport with other staff members, residents, family members, managers and visitors.  If staff with-holds critial information for fear or repraisal - be very wary as this may indicate an intimidating leadership style and is not conducive to a good care environment.  Transparency is the key.  A well trained staff will be comfortable in readily disclosing sensitive information to management in a timely fashion and be rewarded for doing so.  

 

3. Resident Regard:  You should expect your loved one to be treated with a high level of regard.  Well regarded residents indicate a caring culture which is exemplified by the management and owners.  This is a good sign and is not easily masked.  Look for how problemmatic residents are handled.  There should be a rehearsed approach to problem resolution by team members frin the residents' perspective.  Are residents' individual needs addressed individually?  Large facilities struggle with handling personalized/individualized care to residents as staff ratios are often high and unrealistic. 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities Franka Tirado, Cascadia Courts 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities:  

 

1. Management Methodology: the ways in which management/owners operate the facility is telling.  Observe their attention to detail and how they intereact with their staff.  Don't be impressed by what is said but how it is said.  Is there an open door policy whereby staff and family can comfortably in approach unannounced?  How are complaints and compliments handled?  What level of response do you get when one is submitted and how timely?  Both are critical to a good work environment and a safe and caring resident environment.   

 

2. Staff Style:  Assisted living facilities have staff from diverse backgrounds.  There should be a good sense of cultural appreciation from management teams to regular staff.  A content staff exudes signs such as easy rapport with other staff members, residents, family members, managers and visitors.  If staff with-holds critial information for fear or repraisal - be very wary as this may indicate an intimidating leadership style and is not conducive to a good care environment.  Transparency is the key.  A well trained staff will be comfortable in readily disclosing sensitive information to management in a timely fashion and be rewarded for doing so.  

 

3. Resident Regard:  You should expect your loved one to be treated with a high level of regard.  Well regarded residents indicate a caring culture which is exemplified by the management and owners.  This is a good sign and is not easily masked.  Look for how problemmatic residents are handled.  There should be a rehearsed approach to problem resolution by team members frin the residents' perspective.  Are residents' individual needs addressed individually?  Large facilities struggle with handling personalized/individualized care to residents as staff ratios are often high and unrealistic. 

 

 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities: 

 

1. Management Methodology: the ways in which management/owners operate the facility is telling.  Observe their attention to detail and how they intereact with their staff.  Don't be impressed by what is said but how it is said.  Is there an open door policy whereby staff and family can comfortably in approach unannounced?  How are complaints and compliments handled?  What level of response do you get when one is submitted and how timely?  Both are critical to a good work environment and a safe and caring resident environment.  

 

2. Staff Style:  Assisted living facilities have staff from diverse backgrounds.  There should be a good sense of cultural appreciation from management teams to regular staff.  A content staff exudes signs such as easy rapport with other staff members, residents, family members, managers and visitors.  If staff with-holds critial information for fear or repraisal - be very wary as this may indicate an intimidating leadership style and is not conducive to a good care environment.  Transparency is the key.  A well trained staff will be comfortable in readily disclosing sensitive information to management in a timely fashion and be rewarded for doing so. 

 

3. Resident Regard:  You should expect your loved one to be treated with a high level of regard.  Well regarded residents indicate a caring culture which is exemplified by the management and owners.  This is a good sign and is not easily masked.  Look for how problemmatic residents are handled.  There should be a rehearsed approach to problem resolution by team members frin the residents' perspective.  Are residents' individual needs addressed individually?  Large facilities struggle with handling personalized/individualized care to residents as staff ratios are often high and unrealistic. 

 

By - Franka Tirado, MS, LHRM

 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) determined that hospitals and nursing homes should be transparent so the public could obtain critical information on how they perform in various areas.  The Institute for Health Care Improvement (IHI), the Agency for Health Care Research (AHRQ), and National Quality Forum (NQF) all report that the standardization of quality improvement measures for various health care procedures focuses practitioners on improvement.  The evidence-based measures that are proposed by these organizations have lead to marked improvements for the hospitals and nursing homes that have implemented them. Organizations are rated and those needing improvement are easily highlighted and targeted by CMS and State surveyors along with other monitoring and accrediting bodies.  The same approach may now be needed for the assised living industry as it continues to expand byond the boundaries of local surveyors.  For example, in Maryland the Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) under the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) readily admits that it is challenged in establishing  an improved model for determining the quality of assisted living facilites due to limited resources.  Local providers are outraged by the State's attempt at transparency - which consists of a list of deficiencies against your facility and no note of the facility's improvement.  Furthermore, providers images are tarnished by this and consumers are unable to correctly interpret this information.  

 

Recommendations:1.  Establish quality improvement standards for the assisted living industry in the State of Maryland. 2.  Ensure that the standards are fairly applied according to the facility's bed-size. 3.  Weigh the facility's performance and apply a hard score that helps the public accurately interpret how the facility performed on individual measures as well as overall. 4.   Create categories of performance such as; Administration, Clinical Care and Environmental measures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of good Assisted Living facilities:

 

1. Management Methodology: the ways in which management/owners operate the facility is telling.  Observe their attention to detail and how they intereact with their staff.  Don't be impressed by what is said but how it is said.  Is there an open door policy whereby staff and family can comfortably in approach unannounced?  How are complaints and compliments handled?  What level of response do you get when one is submitted and how timely?  Both are critical to a good work environment and a safe and caring resident environment. 

 

2. Staff Style:  Assisted living facilities have staff from diverse backgrounds.  There should be a good sense of cultural appreciation from management teams to regular staff.  A content staff exudes signs such as easy rapport with other staff members, residents, family members, managers and visitors.  If staff with-holds critial information for fear or repraisal - be very wary as this may indicate an intimidating leadership style and is not conducive to a good care environment.  Transparency is the key.  A well trained staff will be comfortable in readily disclosing sensitive information to management in a timely fashion and be rewarded for doing so.

 

3. Resident Regard:  You should expect your loved one to be treated with a high level of regard.  Well regarded residents indicate a caring culture which is exemplified by the management and owners.  This is a good sign and is not easily masked.  Look for how problemmatic residents are handled.  There should be a rehearsed approach to problem resolution by team members frin the residents' perspective.  Are residents' individual needs addressed individually?  Large facilities struggle with handling personalized/individualized care to residents as staff ratios are often high and unrealistic.