Community Care

What features do you want in a Retirement Community? Why, and when, are you looking to move? Are you going to stay in the current City you live in, or move elsewhere to be closer to others? People ask these questions frequently as they age and start to require more assistance with personal care and medication. Choosing the right Retirement home will determine the quality of the rest of your life. Below we provide some information that we feel will help you choose the right facility.

To get the most cost effective and beneficial care, look for a home that focuses on continuity of care, complete care and emotional health.

Distinguish between the physical act of care and the emotional act of caring. While many facilities in Lincoln City or on the Oregon Coast have staff that provides care, be sure that the staff are interacting with the residents day to day. Interaction creates relationships, which in turn leads to the emotional act of effectively caring for residents. If you need help taking a shower, it feels far better to get that help from a person you know as opposed to from a stranger. Coastal Care Homes recommends that you look for facilities that share experiences between residents and staff in a residential home with a family-like environment.

Look for fixed price billing. A La Carte billing will grow exponentially as the resident's needs increase. For example, if the resident is able to do their own laundry when they first arrive, but then requires assistance, the resident will be billed for time and loads of laundry under an A La Carte package. Coastal Care Homes offers a family-style setting with inclusive pricing.

Value the personal commitment of the staff as much as any contract. While you want to make sure to carefully review a contract, do remember that Senior Care and Retirement Home care are personal products. Make sure you feel relaxed and socially at ease with the management and staff of any care facility in Lincoln City or along the Central Oregon Coast.

DON'Ts

Take promises made by a brochure or by sales staff with a grain of salt. You may never meet the sales person again after you move in. Be sure to meet the managers, individual care givers and administrators who you will deal with on a daily basis. Ask to watch them in their work. You need to see patients receiving heavy care to make sure the facility can handle more advanced needs. If staff appear to be committed, caring and interested in the best needs of their residents and families, and effectively handles residents with advanced needs, that suggests they will be interactive with you and provide excellent care for your individual needs. Some facilities will sell their care to prospective residents without mentioning that they cannot handle "heavy care" or dementia. If residents deteriorate, they get forced to move out. This is not good for the mental health of a senior receiving care. Continuity of Care, as provided and practiced by Coastal Care Homes, allows for a resident to receive increased assistance without the risk of being evicted.

Don't choose a facility based on size and amenities. That can lead to isolation when your need for assistance grows. At this time, you're not looking for an all inclusive hotel.

Don't forget to include your family, friends and visitors in your planning. Make sure your people would like to visit the facility you choose in Lincoln City or along the Central Oregon Coast. Make sure the facility you choose accommodates visitors easily and makes them feel at home and relaxed.

Don't believe that physical care is more expensive than emotional care. Emotional care takes far more time than physical care and as such is more expensive. Many A La Carte care facilities do not have staff that are willing to sit and listen to a resident, or accompany a resident to a cultural event. Fixed-price billing and family style care, as practiced by Coastal Care Homes, typically provides the best emotional care and the best value for money.

DOLLAR COST VS VALUE

Coastal Care Homes believes that dollar cost is one small part of the equation when considering the best retirement facility for your needs. What and who you are getting is most important. Make sure the care facility you choose can meet your current and future physical and emotional care needs.

Business side values vs Consumer and senior side in defining Value.Humans do not easily fit a "production line" and require caring, patience and time. However, some facilities choose to pigeon hole (10 pigeons and 9 hole principle! Check it out here.) their residents and provide them with blanket "packages" of care that do not consider or adjust to a resident's individual emotional needs.

Look for facilities that offer Assisted Living, Senior Care and Retirement Home Care for a fixed price. Coastal Care Homes is one facility in Lincoln County that can provide that level of service.

FOCUS ON CARE, CARING, AND THE INDIVIDUALS OF THE CARE TEAM. Care is the fundamental element of any Assisted Living, Senior Care or Retirement Care Facility. Assisted Living, Senior Care, and Home Care are services and it is important to meet the individual staff members who will provide those services.

LOOK FOR COMPLETE CARE AND CONTINUITY OF CARE INSTEAD OF URGENT CARE OR QUICK CARE.

We need to know our caregivers, care managers and doctors. If a resident doesn't see the same doctor every visit, the resident doesn't get the benefit of having a doctor who understands and recognizes the patient's emotional needs. A medical chart only provides so much information in care facilities. Look for facilities that assign a doctor to a particular resident.

Two examples of Retirement Communities that offer Continuity of Care and which serve as examples for all other care settings. Coastal Care Homes