Question

When looking at an assisted living facility, how does the environment of care issues affect the business management issues?

Answer 1

The assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people belonging to the retirement age group or has a disability of some sort. These facilities provide a group living environment and care for the older adult population.
A suitable care environment is necessary for the residents to feel safe and secure in the ALF. The entries below are few of the important factors which together make the environment suitable for living in ALF.

1. Residents must be treated with dignity and respect
2. They must not be any way neglected or abused
3. They must have the necessary freedom to interact with individuals inside and outside of the facility
4. The Infrastructure must support easy access to daily living activities (bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, walking, etc.)
5. They must be provided with healthy and nutritious meals keeping in mind their health concerns.
6. Housekeeping /Maintenance /Security should work in tandem to give a sense of safety.
7. All Health and wellness concerns must be attended promptly along with access to emergency medical help.

The business management must be mindful of the needs and expectations from ALF so that it can implement actions and provide a suitable care environment for the residents. Ignoring the basic factors for the environment of care can have detrimental effects.

E.g. it may seem that a senior living facility can be run in almost any building that is large enough to cope with multiple residents. However, issues such as the accessibility of different parts of the building by older/disabled people must be taken into account while taking this decision. It must also be taken care of in the design of the building that the facility must not add to the health concerns of the residents such as injuries from fall.

Furthermore, the ALF must examine thoroughly the health status of the person before accepting his/her into the facility. The consequences of accepting a resident whose health care acuity exceeds the ability of workers to competently manage it endangers the existing residents by diverting staff and other resources toward the highest acuity residents, leaving the lower acuity residents with unmet health care needs.
An additional concern with accepting high-acuity residents is that it invites oversight and regulation from outside agencies.

In another example, expecting a suitable care environment without providing the necessary training and coaching to the workers can present serious consequences to the management. The ALF caretakers must be trained not only in providing healthcare services but also in handling the social interactions with the elderly. Treating everyone with respect even in the most challenging situations can eliminate the chances of any unrest among the residents.

In this way, the business management of ALF can only succeed by providing a quality care environment to the residents.