assisted living facility | Distance Learning Systems (DLSI)

The Assisted Living Facility

As your parent or loved one get old, it becomes undeniably difficult to care for them knowing that you already have your own family to take care also. You might be considering getting help at home from professional health care providers. However, this might be a very expensive option for you. Another option will be bringing them to assisted living centers.

There are many assisted living facilities in the United States who provides the best geriatric nursing care. Most of these institutions have employed professionals like practical nurses and registered nurses. It is an advantage for old people who have no one to take care of them full time. Assisted living centers guarantee that your loved ones will be taken care of.

It may be a very stressful experience to place your parent or loved ones in a home care facility. This will sometimes put you in a dilemma whether or not it is the best decision. However, before choosing the right assisted living facility for you, check on your options:

Choosing the right assisted living center for you.

There are many assisted living facilities in the United States. It is important to consider the facilities that are nearest you. Your loved ones will appreciate it more if you can still find the time to visit them. It is best that you choose a facility that will be accessible to you.

Another important matter to consider is the facility of the institution. Knowing that the center has facilities to provide the care that your loved ones need will certainly give you the assurance that they are in good hands.

Above all, and the most important matter to consider are the people who work in the nursing home facility. You will feel more at ease and worry-free when you know that the people who you trusted your loved one to, gives them the best care that they need. Choose an assisted living center that gives a certain atmosphere that is comfortable, friendly, and caring. Look at the staff of these centers and try to evaluate if you can confidently entrust your loved one to them.

Assisted Living Community

There are a lot of assisted living community out there which caters different types of patients like elderly, disabled, chronically ill, and less independent residents. They usually hire a Personal Care Assistant (PCA) or Resident Assistant which assist in activities of daily living (ADLs) which comprise using the toilet, bathing and washing, dressing, cooking and serving food. They also make sure that the recreational and other activities of the patient are also catered.

The fastest growing sector in the health care profession is the health and personal care aides. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the personal care aide jobs will grow by a huge leap of 70.5 percent until 2020. The professional caregivers and personal care aides don’t necessarily require experience or medical skills. They have flexible part-time and full-time schedules. There will be a comprehensive training that will be provided by the community or company.

Assisted-Living-vs-Nursing-Homes

There are different resident assistants in assisted living facilities. They are classified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as home health and personal care aides. In 2012, the average salary for personal care aides was $20,820 per year. The Nursing aides made $25,620, medical assistants have $30,550 and physical therapist assistants earned $52,320. The top paying cities for personal care aides work in metropolitan areas of Taunton, Mass., Binghamton, N.Y., and Haverhill and N. Andover, Mass, Ocean City, N.J. area and Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

The pay is small but the anticipated level of education is low too. The Personal care aides working in assisted living only need high school diploma. Several facilities necessitate post-secondary education in care giving skills. Most may require extra training and offer on-the-job training.

The Personal care aide workload is physically challenging. The profession requires the PCA to perform a number of physical tasks, like lifting, and transporting residents. So it needs a physically fit person to be a PCA. The patient must also have a huge patience specially when dealing with older adults that usually have tantrums and mood swings.

The PCA must also help clients with mobility limits to get out of bed, bathe, dress, and groom. Provide basic health services like recording pulse rate, temperature, and respiration rate. They must also conduct the required exercises. Assist with medications administration and provide light housekeeping.

In a survey conducted in 2010 in all Residential Care Facilities spearheaded by Center for Disease Control found that 82% of personal care aides perform housekeeping duties in addition to helping with activities of daily living like dressing and assistance with medications.

Assisted Living Centers Reform Bill

AB 1554 would force Community Care Licensing to begin investigation of problems including abuse, neglect, or serious harm to assisted living centers residents within 24 hours and to complete this most important investigation within 30 days. Assembly member Nancy Skinner’s regulation to change the state’s defective program used to examine problems of neglect and abuse within California’s 7,500 mature care homes was approved this week by the Set up Human Services Panel on a single, bipartisan elect.

Responding to the scandal at Valley Springs Manor in Castro Valley, where 19 senior citizens were abandoned by the home care owner and reports stating problems in management and administration regarding California’s residential care features for the seniors, Skinner introduced AB 1554 to enhance the investigation and complaint procedure. The bill is part of a package of changes subsidized by the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. “No longer will problems of abuse and neglect be taken under the rug. The terrible occurrence at the Castro Valley care service was avoidable,” Skinner, of Berkeley, said. “We know now that more powerful measures are needed to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable.”

Media reviews have exposed problems in the Community Care Licensing (CCL) issue investigation program exposing a design of superficial investigation, poor interaction with complainants and weak administration. At the hearing, Eric Boice, of Colfax, recounted how the issue and investigation procedure failed his mom, a former primary school instructor clinically identified as having Alzheimer’s. Boice said his mom passed away in 2009 as a result of the abuse and neglect she received while at an assisted living service in Auburn, California. “The investigation procedure was a joke,” Boice said. “We had proof and content information supporting our claims of abuse, yet the state organization did not demand any more information nor did they get in touch with our lawyer. My family’s experience is a sad commentary on our region’s capability to secure residents in assisted living centers.”

Common Medication Errors in Assisted Living Centers

Medication errors, such as providing the wrong prescription, providing the wrong dose and unable to identify negative side effects, are some of the most common healthcare errors. While they can occur in any healthcare setting, a new review shows that they are particularly frequent in assisted living centers. The review, prepared by U-T Watch dog and the CHCF Center for Health Reporting at the University of Southern California, discovered at least 80 instances where assisted living centers ignored serious health problems, applied wrong medications, or otherwise did not provide proper medical care. Even more concerning, the research exposed 27 fatalities from injuries and neglect at centers located in San Diego County.

According to UT-San Diego, “Regulators discovered four patient medication errors during a visit to a home in Oceanside, such as one case in which a citizen was given four times the recommended amount. The home was penalized $150, the maximum allowed by state law.” In another occurrence, a La Jolla patient required treatment in the E. R. after being given a medicine intended for another citizen. The short-term caseworker providing the drug recognized the recipient by his first name only.

For San Diego medical malpractice lawyers, the review is worrying, particularly given that sufferers in assisted living centers are some of the most fragile. For tips to protect you and your loved ones from this type of carelessness, there are plenty of articles that can be found in the internet. You can also consult a physician regarding this matter. If you or someone you love has experienced from healthcare neglect, don’t think twice to contact a medical malpractice attorney for a free assessment.

Aging with Dignity and Assisted Living Centers

Recent studies suggest that more elderly people are hoping to forgo assisted living centers and assisted-living facilities in favor of living out their days in the comfort of their own home. A 2010 AARP survey found that nearly 90 percent of elderly people older than 65 want to “age in place,” or to live in their own home and community safely, independently and comfortably. While aging in place may be more achievable for healthy, active elderly people, elderly people with health issues are just as deserving of the independence and dignity that residing at home provides.

That’s where home health care comes into play. In-home health care solutions can serve as a less expensive and more personalized alternative to residential care features for elderly people. Learning about home health care solutions can help in making the decision if in-home solutions are suitable for you or a loved one. When people think of in-home care for elderly people, they are often thinking of two different kinds. True home health care involves the administration of healthcare services by trained doctors, said Timothy J. Colling, vice chairman of the San Marcos-based A Servant’s Heart Care Solutions. “Strictly speaking, ‘home health care’ is a term that is reserved in the law for the provision of healthcare solutions in a home setting,” Colling said. “What that comes down to (are) factors that a doctor, typically a health professional or a physician or physiotherapist, provides something invasive or technically tricky, like changing a sterile wound.”

“Home care” differs from “home health care” in that the caregiver’s focus is on helping their client with “activities and everyday living,” or ADLs. Because the home caregiver serves as more of a companion than an in-home health professional, he or she is not required to have the same training and certifications as a home health care counterpart. Many home proper care agencies provide both kinds of senior care, while others provide one of the other. But, it still stands that for elderly people with serious conditions, assisted living centers are still the go-to place for them.

Owning Nursing Homes

92% of county-owned nursing homes outside New York City lost money in 2010 and are struggling to survive, a report uncovered. Counties have been looking to leave the nursing-home business as expenses rise and as they face fiscal demands from flat tax earnings to pay for government operations. The report from the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research said 33 areas own nursing homes, down from 40 in 1997. Eight, including Rockland County, are in the process of selling their features and five plan to put them on the block.

The New York State Health Foundation, a private Albany-based group, requested the research. “In the past few years, six areas have marketed or closed their houses, with mixed results ranging from improvements in proper care expressing closing of one poorly performing house,” said Donald Pryor, the study’s author, said in a statement. “Other areas have kept their houses but are dealing with an increasingly rugged landscape.” Counties traditionally considered running an elderly care service as a way to take care of its elderly, particularly those who are poor. Yet at a time of cost constraints, counties are finding the mission affected as more private houses are built.

Westchester County marketed its elderly care service to the Westchester County Nursing Center and the service was closed in 2009. Dutchess County sold its elderly care service in 1998. Monroe County has struggled with growing expenses of its nursing home and in Albany County; there has been a delivered debate about whether to sell its service. Broome and Chemung counties also own nursing homes. The troubles are expected to grow as the population ages, the research discovered. In the upstate areas with assisted living features, there will be 180,000 more residents older than 75 by 2030. The research said wages grew at all assisted living features 37 % since 2001 and were up 45 % at county houses.

While county houses are about 8 % of all assisted living features in the state, they represent about 11 % of all the beds in the state because they are among the state’s largest facilities. Many of the patients rely on State Medicaid programs, yet the payments haven’t kept up with the expenses by as much as $100 a day, the review said. State Medicaid programs represented 71 % of county-owned homes’ revenue in 20130, in comparison to 55 % for other houses. County assisted living features reported a lack of $201 million in 2010, double the decrease in comparison to 2005, the review said.

Assisted Living Centers Difficulties

You will find loads of things to research when it comes to finding the right assisted living center. It’s not too much to ask for family members to give their support in the task; it could be good for their spirits. It’s important for the community’s supervisors to keep that in the front of their thoughts when trying to determine where to spend their efforts and energy. Otherwise, it’s merely a place where bodies and minds waste slowly away. Of course, there are a lot of strong reasons to consider an assisted living center. A good assisted living center will encourage your family members to keep their personae active, let alone the convenience of having direct access to directed health care and therapy.

However, a look at the other side of any assisted living center can put individuals on guard. There’s always the likelihood that there are individuals who do not care for older loved ones as well as they should. This aspect is often the center of lawsuits and a damaged reputation. When you do go through the search, the needs of your older loved ones need to be specifically considered in relation to a large sampling of facilities, so that any problems can be identified and moved past.

One more piece that should be regarded is how a personal price range will impact that decision. Regular assisted living centers certainly are not cheap and bracketing out options is reliant on the financial situation. Understanding what will be provided is just another way to guarantee less stress for everybody. Making the effort to check everything out is definitely the best use of your energy and effort in this situation. After all, it’s certainly worth the persistence for everyone who has ever thought about the care of aging family members and where they live.

Whenever thinking about assisted living centers, there happen to be a number of problems that must not be neglected. The ability for the right center to be a pleasant and fun is paramount in allowing your loved ones enjoy the fantastic years. The other side of that will be a place entirely without goodness and convenience and should definitely be avoided. Still, a primary look at the price range is most definitely the best way to go about things.

Assisted Living Centers Oversight

The US Senate approved a bill that is designed to stiffen management of Florida’s nearly 3,000 Assisted Living Centers approved by a 38-0 vote. “It’s a work that we’ve all put a lot of attempt on,” said Sen. Eleanor Sobel, sponsor of HB 646. The Bill was prompted by a 2011 Miami Herald research that exposed years of misuse, neglect and even loss of life of ALF citizens, said Sobel, D-Hollywood. “Legislation failed in the 2012 session,” Sobel said during the bill’s second reading. “We have a more focused strategy this year. We are trying to better implement present rules. I know this bill considerably enhances the lives of over 80,000 citizens in ALFs in Florida.”

The bill, she said, would consist of these measures:

Change the fine structure for assisted living centers and make charges more foreseeable and fair. Fines would be specified rather than making the amount up to the Agency for Health Care Administration or AHCA, which manages the state’s ALFs. Bigger features would pay larger charges than small ALFs.

Clarify when AHCA must revoke a certificate or place a moratorium on a problem ALF.

Require a research of AHCA’s examinations to figure out if different personnel continually implement licensure requirements to help make sure the administration of the same requirements.

Require that houses with at least one mental health patient acquire a specialized certificate for restricted psychological health insurance coverage make and make certain the service has a plan for a resident’s psychological health care. The present need is three psychological health patients.

Ensure all ALFs offer a two-hour pre-service training for new service workers.

Supporters compliment a need for AHCA to develop an ALF ranking system by Nov. 1. Physicians would also be needed to make a customer guide website with a supervised opinion area to be available by Jan. 1. The community would be able to add feedback which would “capture the energy of competitors to enhance the quality of care and solutions in ALFs.” The invoice would also require ALFs to notify new citizens that it is unlawful to get back against citizens who make a complaint to a long-term care ombudsman, deal with examinations and charges.

Nursing Homes Cost

The cost of living at nursing homes has soared to a new high of more than $80,000 per year. Over the past five years, the average yearly price of private nursing homes has jumped 24% from $67,527 to $83,950, according to Genworth’s 2013 Cost of Care Survey, based on data from nearly 15,000 long-term health care providers. From 2012 to 2013 alone, the price climbed 4%. A combination of factors is pushing expenses greater, said Bob Bua, V. P. of Genworth. Expenses like insurance, food, building maintenance and labor expenses are all going up and being passed along to customers as a result. “Nursing home employees hardly ever get pay decreases, food hardly ever costs less, rent hardly ever goes down, it’s an ever-increasing cycle,” Bua said.

It’s not much cheaper for a semi-private room at a nursing home, where space is shared with at least one other person. This brings up at an average $75,405 per year, up 23% from five years ago. A less expensive alternative to nursing homes are assisted living facilities because they don’t offer the same level of care, but these are also seeing significant price increases from year-to-year. The average yearly price of care in an assisted living service is $41,400, up nearly 5% from last year and 23% greater than five years ago, Genworth discovered.

The price of at-home care, such as home health aides or homemakers, is rising at a much slower pace. Hiring a homemaker, who typically assists elderly people with cleaning, cooking and transportation, currently costs an average $41,756 per year, up just 1% from last year and a mere 4% increase from five years ago. Home health aides, who provide more hands-on care like bathing and grooming, cost $44,479 per year, up 5% from five years ago. At-home care is also the most attractive option for many elderly people. A separate Genworth study discovered that 78% of respondents would prefer to receive care in their own houses rather than go to a nursing home or assisted living service.

Realities in Assisted Living Centers

Assisted living centers are places where people, who are less than independent but not in need of full time care, are provided with guidance or support in the activities of daily life. It is a proper care option typically employed by the elderly who do not require the 24-hour health care typical of an elderly care facility. It gives seniors help in housing, support services and health care, on a needed basis. The setting is similar to a person’s own home; however, assistance is provided in the form of meals, housekeeping, entertainment and other lifestyle support. The senior gets the security of having assistance when needed and residing in a structured environment, while maintaining an overall stage of independence. Options include staying in a separate apartment or condominium type residing quarters, or if more assistance is required, staying in a dormitory. The stage of interaction with staff varies, depending on the stage of need.

One of the major drawbacks for those seeking assisted living is the cost. The median monthly cost for assisted living is $2,575. While this may be comparable to assisted living centers prices, covering the expenses is much more difficult. Medicare A and B, the traditional sources of funding for a senior’s care, do not offer comprehensive protection for long term, ongoing care in an assisted living center. Medicare A, which pays for hospital coverage for seniors, may provide partial coverage for care in an assisted living center for rehabilitation following hospitalization, but will only last up to 100 days. Coverage will decrease throughout the 100 days. Medicare B, which covers physician care, will not provide any coverage for assisted living expenses separate from treatment by a doctor. Private insurance is the most effective way to pay for assisted living care.

Medicaid, a state and federal program which provides health care for low income individuals, may cover some assisted living expenses. However, the availability of State Medicaid programs coverage will vary by state, and likely will be decreasing coverage rather than expanding in the coming years. In contrast, traditional assisted living centers are covered by Insurance coverage if the senior stays in Insurance covered certified house after a qualified hospital stay (at least three days).