Memory Care in Assisted Living has proliferated in recent years in response to the market demographics. When you built your Assisted Living with the Memory Care, chances are that you didn’t have much competition nearby.
Today families seeking memory care have multiple choices within close proximity and occupancy rates have declined. Is Memory Care overbuilt, beyond the need for care customers? Unlikely, with increased numbers of people reaching 65 years and older and dementia numbers rising. https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/facts-figures.
To set your Memory Care program apart from your competitor down the street, a new perspective is necessary along with innovative programming. I work with senior living operators to assess and develop their Memory Care product and strategize to keep them in front of their competition. Memory Care is a complex endeavor and customers have a lot of choices these days.
When I assess a Memory Care program, I’m looking for whether it is fresh and offers meaningful experiences for their residents or is it a cookie-cutter imitation of what every other operator is offering? The residents living with dementia are often frail, averaging over 85 years old and have multiple chronic conditions, in addition to their dementia. This is a high-risk population to provide care for.
Can you confidently say:
- the care for your frail residents is top-quality or are there risky health conditions going unmonitored?
- does the engagement programming offer purpose and meaning to the residents or are they playing bingo and batting the ball around?
- Do you have programming in place that enhances the lives of your residents and supports their cognitive abilities or are your residents mindlessly watching TV?
- when your prospective clients tour your Memory Care community, do they see vibrancy and life, or do they see a row of residents lined up in wheelchairs?
If you’re not confident about these quality indicators, no wonder your census isn’t where you would like it! Customers are more knowledgeable and sophisticated than ever. Phrases such as “person-centered care” are overused and meaningless if the customer can’t experience it when they visit your community.
Contact Memory Care Support, LLC to assess your Memory Care program and work with your team to create an environment that is purpose-driven and resident focused.
