Not a Jailhouse: Unveiling the Best in Assisted Living

Helping a loved one transition to Assisted Living can feel overwhelming. But fear not! This episode with Kerri Wells is your roadmap to understanding this world and making the best choice for your family.  

 Here are some golden nuggets to keep in your pocket: 

1. Ask the Right Questions: Don't be shy! We'll guide you through essential questions about staffing, turnover rates, surveys, training, activities programs, and staff-resident interactions when exploring assisted living options.
2. Level Up Your Knowledge: Assisted living isn't one-size-fits-all. We'll break down the different levels of care and how they affect costs. 
3. Safety First: Peace of mind is priceless. Discover what to look for in security systems and overall facility design.  Hints: well-lit areas, call light systems, and secure doors when assessing the safety and security of a facility.
4. The Power of Community: Social interaction fuels happiness! We'll explore how assisted living communities can foster vibrant connections. 
5. Open Communication is Key: Let's talk openly and honestly. Address any grievances or concerns promptly, document interactions, and follow up on complaints to ensure a positive living environment.

Ready to take action? Schedule a tour of a local assisted living facility and see the incredible care firsthand. Remember, your loved ones deserve the best, and the right community can transform their quality of life. 

Transcript

Kerri: 0:00

So if you really want to know about community, I think it's important that you could look at those surveys. I would encourage them to also. If you found something in those surveys to ask the community to maybe understand why that ended up on a survey, because not everything is, accurate at the same time. There is a story behind some stuff.

John: 0:29

Hi, I'm John,

Erin: 0:30

and I'm Erin. You're listening to connect and power. The podcast that proves age is no barrier to growth and enlightenment

John: 0:38

tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into bite sized enjoyable episodes that will leave you feeling informed, entertained, and ready to conquer the world

Erin: 0:51

Our guest today is executive director, Kerri Wells from spring gardens assisted living in Meridian. Born and raised in Parma, Idaho. She enjoyed playing sports. Basketball was definitely her favorite. Kerri's passion for healthcare sparked early. As a senior in high school, Kerri completed health occupation courses and obtained her certified nursing assistant certificate. And began her career in healthcare right after high school in 1997. Kerry rapidly ascended through various leadership roles, cumulating in her current position where she masterfully spearheaded the launch of a brand new community. Boosting occupancy by 60% in just nine months. A proud mother of two Kerry enjoys gardening, camping, and sharpening her skills in a woman's poorly when she's not enhancing the lives of her residents. Let's give a warm welcome to our guests today. Kerri Wells.

John: 1:52

welcome Kerri Thank you so much for being here.

Kerri: 1:54

Thanks for having me.

John: 1:55

Yeah. So, so I've known you for a long time and have a huge amount of respect for you in the assisted living world. And so I just want you to share a little bit with our audience of what got you in or how you got into this industry. Where you did it start as a little girl and you thought, I want to be an administrator of an assisted living or just tell us how it all came around.

Kerri: 2:19

So actually, I think when I was little, I wanted to be a dentist, but that didn't quite pan out. So there was a course in my high school called Casa, and you could do the, occupational engineering, welding, CNA. And so there was health classes and so they were in your junior and senior year, I decided my senior year I wanted to do it. So I graduated my senior year with my CNA. And then I worked in skilled nursing for three months after I graduated high school, a long time ago. And skilled nursing wasn't really for me. And my aunt worked in assisted living in Caldwell. And so she said, you need to come here. I went and applied, talked to, you know, the LP and the health services director at the time, got hired. And I've been in assisted living ever since. So, and then I worked my way from being a CNA to multitudes of different, Positions in assisted living, and now the executive director for the company I currently work for.

John: 3:18

Wow. That's excellent. So. How long did that whole period last from when you were a CNA coming out of high school to where you have become now in your leadership role?

Kerri: 3:31

So, I was a CNA in the one community for 2 2 and a half years, and then I actually left to go to school to be a nurse, and that, didn't quite work out the way I wanted it to, so I went back to the company, and then was an office manager, and I worked for that company for 21 years, and was the ED for 8. Almost 9. And then when I resigned from there, I had the opportunity to open a building in Meridian and then I've been here for 5 years. So I have a heart for people. I think I've always cared for, my family when I was younger and it's just as translated into what I do now. I like to get to know people and then the residents and their seniors, they have a lot to offer and it's fun to be able to meet their needs and be there for them and have fun with them as well. Um,

John: 4:17

Yeah, that's great.

Erin: 4:18

Isn't it funny how life just pushes you in a direction? I've noticed you said a couple things, right? From dentist to nursing, and it just kept pulling you back. Like, you were meant for this. This is your purpose, right?

Kerri: 4:30

well, when I was a senior, I was like, I'm a caregiver. Like I never even thought to be in the, in the, operations side of things. People would say, you know, when are you going to run this building? I laughed at them like, I'm a caregiver. Like, I'll be a caregiver for maybe a nurse. Yeah, something pushed me into the office manager role and then on to, then, like, I can. Be the administrator executive director and so I went into those courses and then. Been doing that and when I talked to

Erin: 4:55

A born leader. That's awesome.

John: 4:58

And I think for our audience, what a lot of people, don't realize is a lot of positions, leadership positions, they come straight out of college, then they drop into a leadership. Position straight into the company that they work for, and they stay in that position for many, many years, not necessarily always. Are they good at it? Because, maybe they don't understand the different roles people have to go through. And I think that's what makes you such an incredible asset to the company. You now work for is if is you've worked in so many different positions leading all the way up to where you are now that When you see people struggling, you can give them advice or you understand them more what they're facing, or they can't pull one over on you either, because you've already served in that position. So you understand them, you

Erin: 5:45

know,

Kerri: 5:46

you know, my team or staff, I would never ask my staff to do something I myself would never do. And then just always encourage them to ask because I, yeah, I could as much as I can be there. I definitely would be there to help because I don't want to see anybody struggle. So,

Erin: 6:02

That's, yeah, respectable, for sure. So when you think of us, or at least when I think of assisted assisted living, it's a little intimidated coming in. I remember when we were looking for my dad at one point, it's like, there's so many facilities, so many places, people say, go here, go there. And how do I know? And so really, my question to you is, what are some of the most important questions to ask? What should families be considering when they look at assisted livings?

Kerri: 6:34

so actually, in the last couple of days, I had 1 family tour that literally asked me 32 questions. And they were very good questions and then yesterday I got on a phone call. She asked me a ton too, but I think important questions to ask. when you're going into this is living is asking, About staffing, that's an important thing, depending on, how you feel your family is. But maybe your turnover rate turnover is going to happen, but. Given the opportunity for someone in the community to kind of tell you how it works in their communities is would be helpful to someone looking versus living, ask them in the survey process. How are you surveyed maybe where those surveys are kept and allowing the company to offer and being truthful where you can find them because it's public knowledge. So if you really want to know about community, I think it's important that you could look at those surveys. I would encourage them to also. If you found something in those surveys to ask the community to maybe understand why that ended up on a survey, because not everything is, accurate at the same time. There is a story behind some stuff. So, training, what kind of training does your community offer, activities program, do you do stuff, do the residents not do much, just the activities program is good. Social enrichment and assisted living is one of the huge factors. to their help, maybe how many nurses that goes with staffing and how does the nursing services as far as the license nurse works. maybe current census, how depending maybe their loved 1 is. Thinks that a big community is too big, or maybe too small is too small. So knowing census in a community and the staff to resident ratio is a good question. and then how does 1 interact with, the community has the staff interact with. With residents, I think those are good questions to ask when you're looking for assisted living. And there's many more, but

Erin: 8:26

as far as licensing goes, is it all the same for all assisted livings or are there different levels, you based off of the level of care they provide?

Kerri: 8:36

so why is the regulations or the regulations for residential assisted living? They call them Ralph's residential assisted living facilities. Assisted living, so we all also need to abide by those regulations. However, you can do your level of care differently. You can, your staffing could be different. There's no set staffing, but you can do staffing different. you can do your care plans differently. The paperwork side of things could be differently, but at the end of the day, you have to abide by how the rules are set to help guide you. So, if we discharge somebody for something that's against the regs, they really wouldn't be able to go to another assisted living because. We couldn't meet that for the regulations, nor would another community be able to technically so

John: 9:23

Now, one thing that, I hear you saying a lot of is community. And I love that word, that, that word's really important, I feel, for all of us, whether we're living in our homes out here, or in assisted living, different type of facility. So community is that, a word specific for assisted livings or is that a grouping for, any type of care facility, whether it be assisted living, memory care, certified family home, are they all communities or is that mainly for assisted

Erin: 9:55

Yeah,

Kerri: 10:01

in my mind from. My 1st community I worked at for a long time, facility, certain words. Push more towards maybe, like a skilled nursing community. Thank you. Facility, right? Same thing with, director of nursing. it's health services director and assisted living. Administrators for skilled nursing, executive directors, typically for assisted living. And so community facility sounds so, institutional sometimes. Communities feels like home feels togetherness. For a community, and so it's for me, I think it's just embedded. Some people still use always facility. I like community, so that's why. That's how I say it.

John: 10:39

I love that. So if I was new, you know, my mom and dad just moved into town and my dad It was too much for my mom to handle and it would be much better for him to live in a community such as yours. Can you walk us through the steps of, I know it's probably important to go out and tour, but can you just walk us through the steps of how we get everything going for Say My Father?

Kerri: 11:54

So when someone comes into our community To look around I always like i'm in a dual role now So i'm doing the marketing the executive director, but I like to do is to sit to our sit So I bring the families in the resident their families or all of them. We sit in an office We sit in a common area and I like to get to know the resident and their families first What is it that you're looking for? Do you have any specific questions for me? open ended questions to allow them to answer In a full sentence versus just yes or no, yes, or I guess no answers, excuse me and then I Adapt for me. I adapt to the resident So if they throw in there something about they're talking about their love for dogs, you know, i'll I try to relate with something that I have. I have two dogs. My mom has a dog that is always over at our house, too. they like the rain. you talk about the rain. So you just, I try to adapt to what they're going and relate to them. Then after you gather the information, what is your concerns? What's going on with dad? How much assistance does dad need? or what would he like to see? Sometimes it's, Medication management or socialization or meals, or they don't want to do housekeeping anymore. And so I gather all that. Once we have that, we go look around. You gauge what they're interested in. Are they interested in 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, studio. Memory care, and then as we walk around, we're just walking and talking at the same time, still answering questions or. Just chatting along the way, building a relationship with them. And then answering any questions if they. If they don't have any concern for a bathtub, then you wouldn't really show them a spa room. They don't, but if they're concerned about safety, then you're going to describe, what you have in your community to, encourage safety and protection. the doors lock at 7 o'clock at dusk to make sure that, nobody can come in. in this community, I have now, we have safe view cameras and memory care for fall, fall reduction. there's this many staff that go around and check on the residents Q2 or, periodically throughout the day and night. So, and then, after that describing what the pricing is, if they want to know the pricing, which everybody does. So describing the pricing, have a level of care work, depending on the loved one's needs, you're going to, our nurse will do an assessment. So a nurse always has to do an assessment. Now, we'll determine the level of care and the medical needs of your father or the resident, and then, that can generate the care plan as well, and that will tell the staff what they need to do, whether it's a reminder. Maybe it's physical assist or maybe it's a standby assist and those kind of have different points. And again, different communities are gonna have different level of care systems. and then that generates the level care, which the cost associated with the level of care. We also have to have physicians orders and history and physical prior to a resident moving in. So, before they can physically come, you have to have that in your hand and the nurse reviewing it. and that also ensures that we can meet their needs. So we can't meet their needs. Then, we need to be upfront with that. Describe can offer versus what you're saying your father needs, to make sure we meet their needs.

John: 15:06

Great. That

Erin: 15:07

sense. While they're on the tour, they're asking questions. What are some things that they should also be looking for on the tour?

Kerri: 15:16

I think that they need to be looking for the energy in the building. we get that a lot in our community here is the energy is high and you can feel it and it's a positive energy. So you need to feel how a building feels when you first walk into it, depending on the community. Are you looking for newer? Are you looking for older? that's going to be a preference. I think you're looking for cleanliness. you're looking for staff interaction with the residents, you're looking for, staff, to see if people are in there, looking at the cleanliness of the residents and their appearance, right? to make sure that, making sure that, does does that look like they're kept and they're tended to, so those are some good things to look for when you're walking through the building, and just gauging, the interaction with the residents and staff are huge, and I think the energy in the building is one big one, but. You're just looking at all the stuff as you walk through the dining room is, Is it set up is there common areas that are nice? So it just depends on the preference of each individual and their families.

Erin: 16:21

I say, are the residents smiling, right? Not always the case, but in general,

Kerri: 16:26

Yeah, do the residents look happy.

Erin: 16:28

yeah.

John: 16:29

So, do assisted living facilities, do they have areas where residents can exercise and work out? is there a place where they can do some physical work if they'd

Erin: 16:41

like to?

Kerri: 16:42

So it's going to depend on communities. some communities do have an actual, gym, like a workout area. Some do not, depending on when they're built or how they're built. but we do, in our community, we do exercises in the activities room. So she does Tai Chi, she does a walkabout, so the residents go and walkabout. she does stretch bands. We have a gal that comes in and helps us with stretch bands. She does seated exercise. So those are all things that I think typically a lot of assisted livings will have their life enrichment do. In addition to if they have a gym, they could use those gyms with a bike or a treadmill, weights, again, stretch bands. And so some communities don't.

Erin: 17:23

Sounds like we need to go work out over there. Sounds like some fun.

Kerri: 17:28

Yeah, the stretch bands, they're pretty fun to watch with the stretch band.

Erin: 17:32

when it comes to security, I know you mentioned you guys lock your doors at 7 and then there's cameras. What are some other security measures that we should look for as family members as we tour and ask questions

Kerri: 17:44

I think staffing goes to the security measure. If you go into community and they say we have 50 residents and 1 staff member on at all times. that doesn't seem. enough staffing, so that could be a safety thing, right? you're probably looking at lighting outside if you come in the evening to make sure that your communities has light outside your call lights or pendants, ensuring communities have some sort of call light system, which would be part of our regulations as well. and then just your, the doors, when did the doors lock? When do they open your staffing? and then the stairwell, or, if you have stairs or an elevator, those could be safety. Things as well.

Erin: 18:23

And then do you also inform the family, Hey, if not that there'd be an earthquake here, but if there's a tornado, an earthquake, some kind of fire, these are our emergency,

Kerri: 18:33

yeah, so that'd be with training, so we have training with fire and life safety on higher and then typically annually and then we have monthly. Fire drills or emergency evacuation drills. And so we do those, where we have to evacuate the residents either outside or we bring them to the common areas. To have to be at night during the night night shift, 10 P to 6 a. And so, for me, my main instructor and myself, we pick a time between those hours and we come. And we can let the residents know for that in the night shift, just so they're not super alarmed by it. And then we do the drill and we teach as we go and the staff and the residents. This is what we'd like you to do. this is what you take. Grab a fire extinguisher. This is what race means. This is what past means that they have any questions. And we an event that we have to evacuate fully. how do we get people down the stairs from upstairs and. and then we have, if we were to evacuate fully, we actually have to have. Evacuation relocation centers that we contract with, basically, and then we can use those to go to those places. If we had, we couldn't come back to our community.

Erin: 19:45

It reminds me of elementary school, you know, it's like fire drill and it could be snowing outside and you're like, man, this

John: 19:51

stinks. It's cold. Yeah, but it's it's, gotta be really strategic though, because of course you have people using walkers wheelchairs, that are on oxygen. That, yeah, I'm sure it takes time where if you have a bunch of rugrats, you can rush them out real quick. And as long as they're all together, you can get them out pretty quick. But this is a process that takes time, I'm sure, during an emergency evacuation.

Erin: 20:12

Correct.

Kerri: 20:14

yeah, and with ours going on, it's nice because we. We're in service scene and coaching our residents to just come to this. Common space. in the front of our building, and then we can evaluate there what exactly we need to do. And then our staff go room to room after that, make sure that all the residents are where they need to be.

John: 20:35

And, when somebody comes in, they, they walk. They walk around your facility, they sit down with you, you get to know them and so forth, and they find out, Oh gosh, I really want to try this out. I really want to live here. And they've checked out the room, they've talked about rates and stuff. Then I'm assuming they sign a contract for at least a year, is that correct?

Kerri: 20:59

No, it's a month to month.

John: 21:00

Oh, it's a month to month. Okay. Okay. All right. So that led me into my next question was if they do sign a contract and for some reason they weren't happy there, they wanted to move to a different place or move home. Could they? And I'm sure you guys would like them to give you plenty of notice before moving out. Of course. But if it's month to month, it's not, they don't have to wait until they fulfilled that

Erin: 21:23

year contract.

Kerri: 21:24

Nope. It's just a month to month tenancy agreement and it's 30 day notice on either party. to give notice, so if they were here came 6 months, and then, yeah, decided to go, they got better and they went home. They would just need to put right into the community. That this is my 30 vacate my last day is. whatever date, and they can move furniture out as. as soon as they want, honestly, but rent could still be charged until. On that 30 day, or we rent the apartment to some other prospect. And then you wouldn't, we wouldn't bill the 2 parties, the new party would start the billing. The other party of the part, the billing would stop as long as there's a resident not in your community. You don't charge the level of care. So, if they're on vacation or in the hospital and stop level of care, because you're not providing that service. And then there's a couple of different reasons why a 30 day wouldn't be needed. upon a death of a resident or an emergency situation where the community. Couldn't meet the needs of the resident, or the resident wasn't fit for the. For the community, and then that could start a 15 day of this and not a 30.

Erin: 22:35

going back to financials, I know it can be confusing, right? It's okay, I'm paying this amount a month, so everything's included, but that's not always the case. And so what are some possible questions families should ask and, what are generally included in those costs?

Kerri: 22:53

and then that's what they asked, what's included in your base rent. So, base rent for us and. probably quite a few communities is your base, your utilities, except for your phone. This community, we have a phone service. So, we could be your phone service and that would be a 50 phone fee. your utilities, as I said, basic once a week housekeeping, basic once a week laundry, which is linens and personal, and that could be dependent upon a community. some might charge. It just depends on the community. You have three meals a day, snacks. Most of your activities are pretty much included in your base rent, Wi Fi, DirecTV, and then for my community, we provide, the toilet paper and tissues, and then typically, the paper towels, the liquid hand soap and gloves is what a community provides as well, for those people that need, personal care services for their level of care.

Erin: 23:49

Are there programs like sponsorships, grants, or anything to help people that might need assistance with financial needs?

Kerri: 23:57

So, really, yeah, so really for assisted living, you're looking at private pay, Medicaid, the community will accept Medicaid, and then long term care insurance, Medicare does not pay for assisted living, and those kind of are, vet the VA, but the VA is going to pay the recipient, and then they would still then pay the community, the monthly fee, it typically doesn't go through the facility any financial ways from, the VA as the payer. Sometimes communities can be a payee. Is that the right, the payee? we don't, we put that all on the power of attorney or the resident to, everything goes into their checking account, and then you would still just pay us a monthly check like you would normally if you were payroll.

Erin: 24:41

That was my other question because we like to travel and so I'm like, can I put it on my credit card and get points or do I have to pay like check or cash or cashier's check?

Kerri: 24:51

Nope. Again, this would probably depend on a community, but, we have a portal, a payment portal you could pay, So if you pay that way, you can do an e check, which would not cost you anything if you did a debit card or a credit card. You would incur a fee for that, but you could pay with your credit or debit card.

John: 25:09

Hey, we're going somewhere fun.

Kerri: 25:11

Yeah,

John: 25:12

How about, can you get into a little bit for our listeners, we've talked about assisted livings, how you set up a tour, you go around, you're sit down, get to know you, get to know some of your team and so forth, but can you help people that may not have ever heard of? Levels of care in an assisted living. Can you just explain that? And then those costs, those are extra costs on top of your base costs. So if you can just talk about how many levels of care there are and

Erin: 25:41

what those consist of.

Kerri: 25:43

so level of care is again, it's going to depend on a community. Some do points, and there's a point spread into that level of care, and then there's a cost associated with that level of care. Some communities do, a la carte. So if you want bathing, it's X amount of dollars. If you need dressing, it's X amount of dollars. If you need, transfers, it's X amount of dollars. For our community, we do level of cares. So we have, we have five and then we have a custom and then we have point spreads for each level. And so then, as I described a little bit earlier, depending on how much care you need, if you just, if you're independent, no charge, no points. If you need reminders. There's going to be a certain amount of points associated with the reminders. If you need, standby assist, it's right in the middle. It's going to be a little higher points, but not all the points because you don't need, you're not dependent, completely dependent on a caregiver to do the things. And so once the nurse does the assessment, you go through what you need and what you may want from an assisted living, and you add up the points. And then those points are associated with the level of care and then the cost. Okay. And then that cost is in addition to the base rent.

Erin: 26:56

How often are assessments done?

Kerri: 27:00

So you do an initial for our community. We do we like to get to know them in the 1st, 30 days. And that's what we described. Sometimes families and residents aren't quite sure. All of the needs, and so we assess a little bit higher on our worst day, and then we get to know each other in the first 30 days. So, within the first 30 days, if we find, okay, we're doing a lot more, we need to reevaluate and talk to family and the resident. If we're doing less, when you talk to family and the resident, and then we'll adjust the level of care accordingly. And then for the regulations, it's annually or change of condition. And so if someone's stable and nothing changes for that year, you don't have to redo a care plan or level of care for the year. but change of conditions would arise and you would do a new level of care and then start that annual over and then, the nurses are required to do a quarterly nursing assessment. a head to toe, are their meds right? looking at their skin, doing their vitals, and making suggestions on any changes that need to be made

Erin: 28:00

As far as coming to visit, say, if I want to visit a family member, can I come anytime you're open or does it need to be scheduled?

Kerri: 28:09

for us anytime. now that we're post COVID, that was a different world. But, Yeah. I invite and encourage residents and families to come when, again, the doors may be locked, so you might have to push the doorbell or communicate or call. But if you want to visit anytime, this is their residence home, and their family would be able to visit them at their home at any time, so

John: 28:31

Yeah.

Kerri: 28:32

are open.

John: 28:33

So when it comes to levels of care and stuff, I know that those incur charges. Can families, if you communicate as an administrator, your nurse does, or somebody communicates with the family, can the family help assist with some of those things to avoid those extra charges? Or during an assessment, if that's just charges that need to be done, period, they're going to need to pay that

Erin: 28:57

level of care.

Kerri: 28:59

some yes, some no. if the family wanted to not have points for showers, they could come shower. family cannot come in and assist with medications, though. So, some yes, some no. No, typically, medications have to be bubble packed, The VA is different. They technically, the VA does not people pack, but most communities, I would think, we, we send them out to be bubble pack because that's just best practice. 2, but the families, if they don't, if it's not a spouse that lives with the resident in the community, families can't assist with the medication. But certain things they could, they wanted to do their laundry, even though that's on our base rent. if they want to do the laundry, they could, they want to debate them. they could. So, some yes, some no.

John: 29:46

So when it comes to families that may have a loved one living in your community but they live out of state can they just say you know what I've got the money I just wanted I want to pay for everything all levels of care so you guys will assist them on everything can they just put money into an account so that if they do need that type of care it's provided or is it pretty much just do you know drain

Erin: 30:13

assessment time.

Kerri: 30:15

It's really that, if you start having money, two, extra money given for the, and you put it in an account, then the aging just adds up, that doesn't really jive very well, so, typically not, it's the month, so we adjust that way accordingly.

John: 30:32

Okay.

Kerri: 30:32

For level of cares or the rent

Erin: 30:35

How about pets? Can I bring my dog or my cat? Are there

Kerri: 30:40

again, this would, yes, it depends on the community again, for our community. If you would like a pet, the resident, and possibly the family would have to meet the pet's needs, on a day to day, are, walking at the resin would have to walk it, that type of thing. our staff care for the residents, but there's not that much time sometimes to care for the pet.

Erin: 31:02

But when I move in I can decorate the way I want to like I can put up personal pictures Curtains just like it's my own place. Can I paint walls?

Kerri: 31:11

yes, So the rooms are typically they are there. They're empty and we encourage definitely your own belongings. That's your familiar. Already your family pictures, we encourage them. You can put the hang the pictures. As you like, we like to hang the TV if we're going to hang the TV, but pictures, we encourage the residents or families to go ahead and make it their home. That is. That is their home. That is, Where they're going to live, where they go day to day, and you want it to feel like that, that they're comfortable in that,

John: 31:42

How about, Transportation.

Erin: 31:43

That was gonna be mine

John: 31:45

we're on the same thought process So, so yeah, just talking about transportation. What do you guys offer for transportation needs like via, you know, the importance of doctor's appointments, et cetera, or activities that are away from the facility Or grocery shopping. snacks.

Erin: 32:02

What do you guys offer as far as transportation?

Kerri: 32:05

so our community offers, we do doctor's appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays, that would be also, included in your base rent, and then if it's an off day, if our van was available on an off day, then, they would incur an additional transportation fee, and then, if, We couldn't take them and we could help arrange for like an outside agency, transportation department to come take them on Mondays for us Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We're always on the bus or the van going somewhere. So, on Mondays, we go on an outing somewhere Wednesdays. They typically go to shopping. You go to Walmart typically, and then on Fridays, they may go on another drive, or they may go to the museum or the park or lucky peak or. The zoo on a Friday outing.

John: 32:51

And that's included in the base rate. Okay.

Kerri: 32:54

Yep.

John: 32:54

Oh, wow. Great. Great. That's awesome. Oh, yeah. We're

Kerri: 32:59

keeping them social. Yeah, keeping them out there and engaged and active and social

Erin: 33:05

Can they catch an Uber if they wanted to Yeah.

Kerri: 33:08

that if they want to they have they do. Yeah, some arrange their own transportation with different transportation companies. I've had residents Uber taxi.

John: 33:18

Awesome. So it just depends on, of course, as you sit down and you develop their plan of care, as far as them living there. some of them might be a flight risk, I'm sure, and you don't want them Ubering out of the facility and, get that phone call. Where's dad? I have no idea. He took some I've jumped in some car and he's out of here. So how do you face some of those

Erin: 33:41

restrictions

John: 33:42

restrictions and challenges? Because I'm sure like if I'm living in a place and my two buddies are bailing to go someplace, but maybe I shouldn't be going someplace because my memory is going or something like that. how do you deal with it? Help support my needs when I'm getting frustrated because my two buddies are heading to the Boise State game and I can't

Erin: 34:04

go. how do you guys handle that?

Kerri: 34:06

just really some good conversation. You might have to bring a nurse or another staff member that can that relates to them or talk to them. I may have to call the family. It just depends. maybe they can go. So you just Get everything prepared and speak to the buddies on the stuff, but it would definitely depend on the resident. It would be a, their cognition, whether or not they are safe. And if the friends would be able to manage them. So, it's just typically a conversation and probably some good documentation and care planning. To ensure that with the family, I've had that happen. We had a couple residents that want to go somewhere and I'm like. Is that really safe? So I had them call the family and the families were totally fine with it. Let them go. So they, I think they took a transportation bus and went to the village.

John: 34:51

Nice.

Erin: 34:53

Well, I appreciate this conversation because really you think of assisted living, it's like, I need help and I'm stuck. I can't go anywhere. I'm on your timeline. But it's like, as long as we're sound of mind and capable, we really live a normal life. We could leave, we could go out and do stuff. You're not stuck.

Kerri: 35:13

and some people still drive. so I've had a couple tours where they have believed we were independent living. So independent living's not, they're not governed like assisted living's are. So for us, you can be as independent as you want. Do you like, and we may be able to negotiate to where you don't even have a level of care charge. Because you're that independent, but typically someone that moves into assist living needs some sort. Of assistance, and each level of care, the reason you would have a level of care too, because. Of some of the rules that govern assist living, we have to do the care planning. if they're self made, we have to do self met assessment. so those actually that requires somebody to do something for you. Therefore, you have a level of care. So occasionally we can negotiate like that is absolutely the only thing we do and we can negotiate no level of care and they're totally independent And yeah, they can come and go But we encourage as much as independence as you can. So even if they're a standby assist Maybe they only need help with getting their bottoms on but they can do their top So, or they can't button so we'll put your top on but you can put your socks on so we want them to be independent to keep that independence and Not if they don't have to have a staff do every last thing for them. We want that because They've lost a lot when they come into assisted living. They might have come from a 2, 000 square foot home, they may have been driving, they might have had their spouse, they've did their own meds, they did their own finances, and everything is slowly being taken away when you don't go into a community where someone else is caring for you. And so that can cause, other stuff. So, definitely want to keep them independent and engaged and social.

Erin: 36:50

Do you guys offer religious services there or have people from the outside come in?

Kerri: 36:56

So we have, chaplains that come in and sing. We have a Bible study that gets together. I think like a chaplain, maybe from a home health or hospice comes in and guides a Bible study or residents have sometimes guided a social hour. She does our life enrichment, does a meditation type hour, dims the light, turns on light music. They may do some stretch or the Tai Chi. At the, or the social or the spiritual, and then Sundays, you could get some non denominational churches to come in and give services.

John: 37:28

All right. On the flip side of churches and stuff, do you guys have a happy hour where people can have a cocktail if they want

Erin: 37:36

or a glass of wine or a beer? Is that allowed in your facility? Yeah.

Kerri: 37:41

haven't done that in a while. For me, I just have had some situations where it would not benefit a few other residents to have that dangling in the atmosphere. And so we haven't done it, but we've had, wine and beer at Christmas parties, Thanksgiving parties. Occasionally we'll bring it out on certain events, but you can, some communities do a Friday happy hour. so, and then just depends on the doctor, you might have the doctor. Give the order that's okay to have, something with certain medications. We have some orders that they can have a glass of wine at bedtime, or they'll tell you can have a, certain amount of liquor at X amount of times or three kind of like a medication

John: 38:20

Yeah.

Kerri: 38:21

times a day. You can have a glass a shot of something. So, yeah,

John: 38:25

alcohol.

Kerri: 38:26

yeah. And again, they again, but they have rights too. So, even if. If the doctor everything, but he says, no, but they really want something, you would just have to communicate the risks. And, that could be associated with it and document,

John: 38:41

One question. I think one of the last questions I have, is when it comes to, Sometimes as people's cognitive, awareness changes, they start becoming forgetful or frustrated or angry. They might come up and say something about maybe a caregiver, or they start complaining about this or complaining about that. And then of course, their family comes by to visit and they say, Oh yeah, Margie, my caregiver just slapped me or whatever. And

Erin: 39:13

so How

John: 39:15

you handle navigating through grievances, when you have the challenge of that, where maybe it's not necessarily true. Maybe there is some

Erin: 39:26

truth to it. So how do you handle those situations?

Kerri: 39:30

you take them all seriously, from the get go, you investigate them, you ask questions, you go interview, go investigate the surroundings in which they said it. if they were to accuse, you know, like of a slap, you're going to involve adult protection, you could involve the ombudsman, of course the families could have to involve the police if need be with certain situations, but you do want to, you got to look into every, everything they say, even though you might think it's not, maybe there is cameras where you can review a camera because a person says that they went into my room again. Well, if there's a camera facing that room, you can go reassure that person that I looked at the camera and nobody went in that direction from the time frame that you said that someone went in there and then do again, you're going to document and you're going to do some follow up documentation to the resident or the family or whoever gave the grievance. So that's a kind of that's a requirement of each community and the executive director was to follow up on a complaint. Follow up with the written documentation.

John: 40:32

Now I have another weird question. I might even embarrassed I'm even thinking about this or asking this, if you have a couple and, One of them needs to live in assisted living and the husband or the wife wants to come in and visit The significant

Erin: 40:49

other hold on just a sec. So pretty much he wants to know. How am I going to live without my Erin? Can she come live with

John: 40:56

I think there's a lot of truth to that, but even going to it, you know, intimacy. can they still, can a spouse come in to visit their loved one in a facility, as as long as both parties are willing and able, right? Can they come in as long

Erin: 41:12

as they close their door and have intimate relations? I mean, how does that, that's a good question.

John: 41:18

Okay.

Kerri: 41:22

are fine lines, but, if both are cognizant and they want to, then, that's their home, and we should always knock before entering in any apartments. That's, like, a requirement. You know, to make whomever inside know that we're on the outside. We'd like to come in. so they can and they want and they're cognizant enough to do it. We couldn't stop them. it changes the dynamics if it's, not a married couple, maybe just 2 residents that found love and community. that's some navigating. I'm in the memory care, That's even bigger navigating and lots of documentation and behaviors and redirection and communicating, communicating, communicating.

Erin: 42:06

So before John asked my favorite question, I have to say to you and our listeners, not only did I learn about assisted livings and really that they're not prisons, but my gosh, what you guys, go through the patience, the kindness, you're, you have to have a big heart to be in this job because you really. are going through a lot, to keep your residents safe and make sure no harm is done. You know, from the emergency preparedness, the security to make sure your food's done to the conversation we just had now in memory care. So thank you

John: 42:43

for what you do in the smile you seem to have doing this job. Well, the structure to of, allowing people to live the life that they can continue living, which is very fulfilling and That they get to meet other people. They get to participate in a lot of different activities. They get a still Travel around town. They have their meals cooked. They have their laundry done. There's so much that's very advantageous to what you guys have to offer. And so I think that a lot of people fear that, right? they look at, gosh, I'm living at home. I get to do everything I

Erin: 43:17

want, and yeah, I still have to do my own laundry I have to cook my own meals, This is like vacation.

John: 43:22

yeah, yeah, it's like a resort, you know, so, so I, I've learned quite a bit too. I've. I love what you guys do as a team. And, I think it takes a heart to be a caregiver and really be there to support and love on these people when the family's not around. And so that takes a lot of trust. That takes a lot of,

Erin: 43:42

wonderful stuff you guys have to offer, So, So please be nice to your staff.

Kerri: 43:47

Oh, yeah, staff. are huge. for us, me and our staff, they're awesome. We have a great, great staff. Residents compliment them all the time, from the caring part that they do and the engagement and the banters that they can give back to each other. they do a really good job and there's no way anybody can do any of what we do without. The team and a team. so it's that's important to have those people. On your ship,

Erin: 44:15

You were speaking of banter and it reminded me of a lady I filled in over at Brookdale for a caregiving shift. And I can't remember her name, but she's candy's sweet, candy's dandy, but liquor's quicker. And I'll never forget that. Yeah.

Kerri: 44:29

oh, Yeah. you've had you get some residents that. They

John: 44:33

Yeah.

Kerri: 44:36

funny. Some are.

Erin: 44:38

okay,

John: 44:39

I remember I volunteered, To, help facilitate some Texas Hold'em poker in a facility that you ran. And, it was an incredible experience. only guys were allowed in there at four for the, that specific, poker time. but it was, I understood why, because the guys felt like they were open to talk about the things guys talk about, and they didn't have to filter it, and it was so incredibly entertaining, because they said the funniest things. I mean, it was, one of the most enjoyable

Erin: 45:11

Texas homemaker

John: 45:11

Hold'em poker

Erin: 45:12

events that I've ever participated in, so. what you're asking,

John: 45:16

Kerry, is if you need another volunteer

Erin: 45:18

that, you're available.

John: 45:19

Yeah, I would

Erin: 45:20

I'd definitely be interested in that,

John: 45:21

so.

Kerri: 45:22

Yeah, and John, he's helped a lot and that's communities use home health and hospice and other agencies. we didn't actually hit on that in this, so that's something that we utilize. for our residents and outside agency to come in to do those type of things. Wound care. O. T. P. T. S. T. and then hospice. So. For the most part, there are regulations in our assist living regs that might prevent an assist living from taking someone, but there are reasons why there's not in the resident. Literally, that's their, this is their home from when they move in to when, they transition. I mean, that's helpful for hospice to live out their last days, any comfortable and a loving setting in our, in a community. there's many assist livings in the Valley. and everybody has a niche for this, that, or the other, but I think we're all in it for the same reasons, to care for our seniors,

John: 46:13

Well, gosh, thank you so much for everything you do and for hanging in there. I've known you for a long time, and I know that being in your position is not always easy. You know, when you're when you have staff calling in and. Maybe a bunch of them are sick. I for one know that you're out there on the floor or you're in the kitchen helping cook those meals. And so a lot of people don't understand this in leadership roles, even though you're in that leadership role, you're still a team player and

Erin: 46:42

that you go out there and you assist with

John: 46:44

everything that needs assistance.

Erin: 46:46

Not afraid to get her hands dirty.

John: 46:47

no, she isn't. Yeah. Yeah, I'll ask you a question. I can't believe she's going to let me ask this question. So as you know, Aaron and I love to travel and we love going on adventures. And so this is really away from. What we've been talking about. But anytime we talk to a guest, we want to know what's on their adventure list. Is there a place they've always wanted to travel or maybe a place they have traveled that they'd love to share and encourage people to explore? so so what about

Erin: 47:19

you? Is there something on your bucket list or adventure list?

Kerri: 47:23

probably a few, but we actually had to go, we're going to go to Hawaii on spring break with the kids, but I've been to Hawaii a couple of times. I would like to go to Costa Rica, that would be super fun to do. For my honeymoon, my husband and I, we went to Italy and we got to travel around to a few places in Italy. We'd love to do that again with the kids and go back and do that. So,

Erin: 47:47

Awesome. We're in Italy.

Kerri: 47:49

we stayed, his aunt had, And then cousin had a little sabbatical, they had a little hotel or apartment that we stayed in most of the time, but then we took day trips. So we went to Bologna Florence. We flew into Rome. We went to Venice, and then actually went to Croatia to, we took a snap to Croatia. So we just took the train to multiple places and stayed a couple days here and there. We were down there for 21 days. So it was incredible. So we'd like to go do that again But take the kids and maybe venture out to a few different other locations

Erin: 48:26

Some good pasta and pizza.

Kerri: 48:28

Oh, I mean my husband's just like the best food like ever. You know can't compare it anywhere fresh seafood fresh Yeah,

Erin: 48:37

This is our problem is, you know, I was fortunate to grow up around the world and Italy was just a few hours away. And man, when

John: 48:45

John likes

Erin: 48:46

cook me something or do something,

John: 48:47

He stopped It never measures up. It never measures up. it's amazing. Sorry. it was it was okay. it was good. But, uh, I've had pizza

Erin: 48:56

in Italy or I've had this in Thailand or I've had and I'm like,

John: 49:00

forget it.

Kerri: 49:01

right but pizza and pizza in italy is a full pizza to yourself not even cut up so we would actually be like oh can we have that cut up and we're gonna share it and they look at you like What it's a knife and a fork with a pizza in Italy

John: 49:15

Yeah.

Erin: 49:17

but

Kerri: 49:17

So we were cracking up so No, it was hilarious. So it's just yeah, it was an incredible time, for our honeymoon there So i'd love to go back there. But yeah, would be somewhere i'd like to go.

John: 49:26

yeah. I definitely advise, When you do plan another trip with the kids, make sure it's at least three weeks because so many times we get stuck with these little one week vacations or two week vacations, and we try to cram so much into that period of time. And by the time we come back to work, when we get back, we're so exhausted because it wasn't relaxing because we were trying to fit so much in. So when you can get above three weeks,

Erin: 49:52

if you can, it's always,

Kerri: 49:54

You do always you do always need a vacation from a vacation.

John: 49:58

for sure. For sure.

Kerri: 49:59

staycation from the vacation

Erin: 50:02

thank you for your time today. It's been awesome. I knew it would be.

Kerri: 50:05

guys are awesome. Thank you

John: 50:07

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect Empower. We want to express our gratitude to you for being part of our community, and we hope today's episode has provided you with valuable insights and inspiration to enhance your life and that of a loved one.

Erin: 50:22

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John: 50:43

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Erin: 50:58

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John: 51:18

I'm John.

Erin: 51:19

I'm Erin. Until next Wednesday.