A care plan is essential for a successful retirement. However, many people are unaware of what care planning is and the incredible value it provides for older adults and their family members.
That’s why the experts at Edgewood Summit put together this quick guide. Learn the basics and hear from one of our residents to find out how your mom or dad can benefit from a person-centered plan of care by becoming a resident at our senior living community.
What Is a Care Plan?
This is a document that describes a person’s health conditions, current treatments for their care, and how current treatments can help them reach their health goals.
For a resident in a senior living community, a plan of care can also include details about their interests, preferences, ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), and how often care and services are provided and who delivers them. This ensures timely, high-quality, personalized care.
A care plan may also include methods to meet mental health, spiritual, and cultural needs for each resident, in order to provide them with the best retirement possible. Plans are developed in collaboration with the resident, their family members, current doctor, and the team at their senior living community.
Why Create a Care Plan
Care planning is important because it sets clear goals on how your mom or dad can work toward a higher quality of life, and it gives you peace of mind knowing their needs will be met. A solid plan of care can even mean a better recovery from future illness or injury.
Last winter, one of our independent living residents, Dolly, had a significant fall that resulted in 12 fractured ribs. After a long hospital stay, we were happy to hear her condition was improving. However, Dolly had weak muscle tone and coordination from being hospitalized for so long.
Thankfully, Edgewood Summit provides on-site health services and incredible care plans for every resident. While Dolly wasn’t ready to return home to her apartment just yet, she was able to receive high-quality rehabilitation at the Arthur B. Hodges Center.
The team not only provided services to help her remaster skills like standing and walking; they also brought elements from her independent living residence to her room in the Arthur B. Hodges Center, and set up a small drawing and painting desk so she could continue to indulge her passion of creating artwork.
Through her care plan at Edgewood Summit, our team provided Dolly with highly personalized care so she could return to her apartment and continue her path to recovery. In fact, Dolly’s daughter noted “… with all the physical and occupational therapy [she received], Mom’s stamina and vitality seem better than before her fall.”
How to Create a Care Plan
Though creating a care plan isn’t easy, it’s not as difficult as it looks, especially when you have the guidance of a senior living community like Edgewood Summit. Here are tips from our experts to help you get started:
Build your team. Relatives, friends, financial planners, doctors, nurses, and other medical providers are all essential to a comprehensive care team. They provide a valuable network of support that improves your mom or dad’s quality of life and can prevent family caregiver burnout. Don’t forget your parents are also important members of the team, so keep listening to their wants and needs as you help them create a plan of care.
Get an assessment. Assessments for care plans gather information about how well your mom or dad can maintain an independent lifestyle. Care assessments inform caregivers at a senior living community what assistance is needed with daily activities like bathing, grooming, and getting dressed, and help them get to know your parents on a personal level in order to help them feel more at home. Most senior living communities will provide an assessment for each resident before they move in, but you can ask your parent’s physician as well.
Set goals of care. After you go over the details of their care assessment, make a list of prioritized goals for your mom or dad’s care plan. Goals can be large and small, but it’s best to start with goals that concern your parent’s safety and well-being. Examples of care plan goals include moving around more safely in their environment, eating more nutritious food, effectively managing medications, and relearning skills to maintain independence.
Put the plan into action and reevaluate. Once your mom or dad’s team is created, the assessments have been completed, and goals have been set, it’s time to put the plan of care into action. Keep in mind that a care plan should be evaluated regularly to meet their changing needs.
Discover Exceptional, Resident-Centered Care at Edgewood Summit
As the only continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Charleston, WV, residents at Edgewood Summit enjoy a vibrant lifestyle on a scenic mountaintop along with the security of on-site health services, if ever needed.
We’re celebrating the holidays at Edgewood Summit! Come meet our residents, join the festivities, and learn more about our community by scheduling a tour. If you have any questions, call us at 304-346-2323 or contact our team online. We’re happy to help!
