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By guest author Tory Thompson with Providence ElderPlace.  What is Providence ElderPlace PACE, and what is the PACE program? Providence ElderPlace is part of the national PACE: Program of All-inclusive Care for Elders. PACE is both a health insurance and the health care provider. We serve seniors 55 and over who are Medicaid Long-Term Care services eligible (or who want to pay privately). Services go beyond traditional health insurance. For example, ElderPlace PACE includes specialty care, behavioral health care, dental, vision, hearing, and foot care. All of a person’s medications, medical supplies and medical equipment, labs, physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy are included. PACE insurance has no premium, co-pay or deductible for the senior. How does ElderPlace support residents living in adult care homes? This is done in a variety of ways. First, ElderPlace PACE provides transportation with PACE vans and consistent drivers to all of the resident’s medical appointments. Having a consistent driver allows the driver to learn each resident's preferences and needs. The drivers are considered an important part of the participant's care team. Alternately, virtual visits are available, as well as home visits by a community care licensed nurse. Next, our medical teams specialize in geriatric care, and the residents can also receive palliative care for chronic conditions all the way through the end of their life. In addition, we have master's-level social workers, behavioral health experts and chaplains to support all aspects of a resident's health. It is also important to note: residents on ElderPlace PACE do not have to pay into the state and can keep more personal money each month. What are some of the key ways ElderPlace supports the adult care home providers to help them maintain a better work-life balance?
"ElderPlace helps me manage my residents’ care needs, so I have more time for my family." What are other adult care home providers saying about working with ElderPlace? Providence Elderplace has a long-standing, 30+ year relationship with adult foster care home providers. Some of the feedback we’ve received speaks to how the program can truly be life-changing. Here is some of the feedback we received from providers: “Staff are fast in responding to issues and supplies come on schedule.” “When my residents need more care, ElderPlace works with me to keep them at home and out of the emergency room.” “With ElderPlace I feel like I have a team of professionals backing me up.” “ElderPlace helps me manage my residents’ care needs, so I have more time for my family.” How do care home providers connect with ElderPlace? The Providence ElderPlace PACE service area is Multnomah County, parts of Clackamas county, Washington County, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. To learn about contracting with ElderPlace please call: 503-215-6556. To refer a resident for ElderPlace PACE services call: 503-215-6556. To report a vacancy and get free referrals, send a weekly email to: [email protected]
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We want to continue to highlight the work of our amazing adult foster care home providers in Oregon. Matt Gannon spent some time talking with Provider Cherie Bray, owner of Country Comfort Adult Foster Home in Lane County. Please read below to learn more about Cherie.  How long have you worked in the adult care home business?  I've worked in the business since July of 2015. I was a career hairstylist and was looking for something new, so I enrolled in Lane Community College's Women in Transitions (LCC WIT) Program. My co-worker from the salon later referred me to a caregiver job at Country Comfort Adult Foster Home in Veneta, Oregon. Country Comfort was established in 1999 and is a class 2 home. I ended up taking the caregiving job and after thirty days I knew this was exactly what I wanted to be doing, so I quit my other career. For the next three years, I was groomed and mentored by the provider of the adult foster home. I then became a co-licensee of Country Comfort in February of 2018. Then, in May of 2018, I took over the business completely when the previous provider retired. For about the first ninety days, I was the only caregiver and worked full-time doing everything to completely wrap my arms around the responsibility I took on, and to get my bearings. Opportunities for staffing support presented itself, and once I had that support and partnership, I was really underway. What do you believe makes adult foster care homes special? The adult foster home model is designed to enable people to live independently in a family home environment, but it is much more than that. Too many people become isolated in later life. The adult foster home gives them more of an opportunity for new connections, sustaining old connections, and supporting traditions and life experiences. We don’t want people to feel isolated at the end of their lives, and so we give them a place to feel like this transition and the experience of us all being together in the home is another positive chapter in their life. My journey from career hairstylist to caregiver opened a path to service for me that is so much more profound... What do you love most about the work you do? This career came to me as my youngest child was going to college, so I was going through the empty nesting stage which is a big change. The adult foster home allows me to continue to care for others. Being the provider of the home has afforded me so much healing in my own life through caring for others, and it distracts me from any of my own issues. This healing began to happen immediately when I took my first job and began serving others in this special way, and it continues to do so. My journey from career hairstylist to caregiver opened a path to service for me that is so much more profound than just helping someone look pretty. There was a woman living in the home early on in my caregiving career, Mrs. H., who was nonverbal and a full assist with ADLs (activities of daily living). We meet people in this stage at times, and you of course never knew them before they required the level of support you must give, even though they’ve lived a very full life up until you become a part of their life. Something special happened. I realized she would respond to my touch, and if I gently put my arms around her, she would then begin to lean into me and want me to hold her. I realized I made a difference to her with this act alone, in this world - in her world, I made a difference through my presence and through my touch. She was also the first resident I cared for who passed away. I realize still to this day, what I do as a provider, I do for her and the gift she gave me. It is successful work when you are being told that your presence and what you do makes a difference in their lives - this is what it is all about for me. What do you believe makes someone’s work successful? Positively impacting the lives of others; providing a safe home for the residents and protecting them in some of the darkest days they've ever had. It is successful work when you are being told that your presence and what you do makes a difference in their lives - this is what it is all about for me. Since taking over as sole provider, I’ve also incorporated hospice care through a community partnership. This partnership has allowed me to also be there for my residents until the very end. It makes me feel triumphant in my work of service knowing I was able to serve them the whole way home. Anything else you’d like us to know about you? I do not do this work alone. My best friend is my live-in substitute caregiver. My daughter and her husband are my backup caregivers. With the pandemic, getting staff has been the greatest challenge I have ever faced in this line of work. My husband does all of our finances and shopping so we don’t have to worry about more exposure issues. Without them, the team, I could never do this at the level I do. The residents' families also become family to us. There are residents who’ve passed away, and their families still remain in touch with us as time goes on because they value the ongoing connection. It helps them feel closer to their loved ones, I believe. Being an adult foster home provider has given me the extended family I’ve always wanted. I make sure everyone hears from me just how important they are to me. This is key. We invest in everyone's self care in different ways because it matters to us that everyone has the balance in life to be happy and not rundown. And, I know you cannot give what you haven't got, so it starts with me. Visit Country Comfort Adult Foster Home on Facebook.
By guest author Julie Ouellette, Owner NW Senior Resources   Julie Ouellette NW Senior Resources has been around since late 2007. It was started by Nancy Raske. I went to work for Nancy about 3 years before she retired and then I purchased the company in late 2015. Kay Loeffl joined me in 2016. It has been our goal to maintain and expand upon the high ethics that Nancy started the business with. I have been in the Senior Housing Industry since 1999. I began my career as a marketing director, I then took a regional marketing position, I helped open a home care agency and I went into regional operations for a mid-sized senior housing company.  Kay Loeffl I believe my years of experience have served me well on the placement side of the industry. Since I was a long-term care community sales and marketing director and a former administrator, I know how important it is to find the appropriate options for clients. We also understand why one care home might work for a specific client and another care home won’t. We believe it is our job to advocate for our clients as well as to advocate for you, the provider. We believe it is our job to advocate for our clients as well as to advocate for you, the provider. Working with a Placement Professional Referral Agencies or Senior Housing Advisors can be helpful in many ways to adult care home providers. Our first step is to pre-qualify the client so we make sure it is an appropriate referral. We do our best to determine which homes can meet specific care needs. Some of our intake questions might include the following:
If someone is an insulin-dependent diabetic, we look for homes that are willing to assist with the insulin shots. We ask the client or family what is important to them in a new home. For example, if someone hopes for a home with children or pets in it, that is what we look for. We also ask about the financial ability of our clients. If they only have a year's worth of private pay funds, we look for locations that are willing to work with those terms. Senior Housing Advisors are a great resource for families to start their search. We have several referral sources that send folks our way. Hospitals, communities, skilled nursing facilities, past clients, and more, regularly send us folks in need of assistance. We help educate families on the many positive aspects of care homes. We help them understand what a safe and positive environment it can be for their loved ones. I often say that care home residents become members of the household's family. Many people don’t understand how care homes operate. We explain this and sometimes have to dispel incorrect notions. We share how we have had our own family members in care homes and we’re always grateful for the tender loving care our family members received. We often point out that care homes have the best staffing ratios in the industry. We share how we have had our own family members in care homes and we’re always grateful for the tender loving care our family members received. Because we all get multiple calls each month from folks seeking help, we are able to bring valuable referrals to you. We know how busy you are so by doing the prequalification work, we only bring tours that should be viable potential residents. We review provider records with DHS. If a provider has a clean record, we will readily refer to them. If there are questions about violations on a record, we may call the provider to see if there is a reasonable explanation for it. We hope you understand when we call about violations, we aren’t pointing fingers, we simply want to hear your perspective on things. We coach our clients on how to interpret violations as well. Posting Your Vacancies We enjoy being a member of the Oregon Senior Referral Agency Association (OSRAA). It has its benefits. OSRAA provides training programs for our members. We receive education on disease processes such as dementia or Parkinson’s. We have had speakers discussing funding programs, ethics, changes in laws or rules and regulations, and more. It is an expectation for OSRAA members to meet certain standards to be a member. We also all work really well together. In fact, When one of our members has a tough client, we might email the whole group asking for suggestions based on a brief description of the individual’s needs. These emails or phone calls between members happen weekly if not daily. This collaboration again allows us to bring these individuals to the homes that are best suited to meet those needs. If you wish to let us know about your openings, please go to OSRAA.com and post your vacancies. This reaches all OSRAA members. We can easily access the information anytime we wish. We also get an automatic email every Tuesday showing any vacancies that have been posted that week. It isn’t necessary to post vacancies more than once per week but you are certainly welcome to. Many of us look at the weekly email when looking for clients. We often call the homes that have reported vacancies first - before calling others. We know you all work incredibly hard to take care of the residents in your homes. We appreciate what you do more than we can say. We enjoy meeting adult care homeowners and staff, and I think we learn from one another every day. We enjoy having good relationships with providers. We know you all work incredibly hard to take care of the residents in your homes. We appreciate what you do more than we can say.
Authored by Matt Gannon  Imagine if you will, a man. He is age 83 and has been living in a care home for the last several months. Let’s call this man Stanley*. Stanley is living with Alzheimer’s disease. It has reached the later stage, to the point where Stanley can no longer perform actions in sequence, whether it is getting dressed, brushing his teeth, or putting together the necessary steps of having a successful trip to the bathroom, as he is 100% incontinent. Stanley will even use a razor to try and brush his teeth and the shaving cream may take place of the toothpaste if someone isn’t there to prevent it. Stanley is mobile without the use of any type of walking device. He is a very classy guy and very polite, but he has lost the ability to clearly express himself, verbally. That is to say, he can no longer stream full sentences together, so instead, he relies on short replies to what others say: “yes," "no," or "you becha,” or a nod or shake of the head one way or the other. There are also times when he will smile at certain things but say nothing. Stanley’s family is very supportive and visits him daily. I am one of his caregivers. In His Element  One day while I was about to clean the kitchen area after serving Sunday lunch, I found Stanley standing at the sink. Before him was a large number of dishes needing attention and were waiting for me. I always have one side of the sink filled with fresh hot soapy water, and of course, a trusted scrub brush and clean towels for drying. Stanley at the sink unbuttoned and rolled up his black and red striped dress shirt sleeves, and after a few seconds of assessing the situation, he started to dig into the washing, rinsing, and stacking process with the mugs. He was determined and in his element, cranking out clean, steaming dishes left and right. Stunned, I joined him at his side and wiped them all clean to put them away. This process continued for at least fifteen minutes and Stanley didn’t miss a beat. In fact, when washing the many coffee mugs he used a technique I was sure he had done countless times before for many years while performing the ever-so joyful act of dishwashing. For each mug, Stanley repeatedly took the mug in his hand, dipped it in the hot steaming soap water, and then filled the mug nearly all the way from the running water in the opposite sink. Stanley then covered the top of the cup with one hand, while placing his other hand underneath, and he shook the water inside back and forth for a thorough cleaning, poured out the water, then refilled once more, repeating the shaking technique, poured the water out once again, then rinsing away any left-over soap residue (not shaking this time) and handing the clean cup over to me. And he repeated the same process until all the mugs were thoroughly rinsed and cleaned. A Driving Force Within What did this experience teach me about Stanley? As I stood witness to this man who just that morning needed all of my help to get himself out of his urine-soaked bed, in and out of the shower, groomed and dressed, I understood that “something” was a driving force within him and it came from both his mind and his body working together as one - with his environment in the moment. I know what muscle memory is and I understand about people living with dementia having lucid moments, but Stanley’s participation in the dishwashing lasted nearly half an hour and I realized he was doing something he knew how to do from a lifetime of experience, the same way he had so many times before, his way, with his technique to get the job done. As I look back, I believe this was a manifestation of consciousness; the consciousness that does not separate between mind and the body, or the person and Alzheimer’s disease, but instead allowed this man for a bit of time to do what would seem impossible given his supposed level of impairment. And, yes, the time to complete the chore in this fluid way is brief in the fullness of a complete day, and then he is in need of assistance and direction once again because he just cannot connect the dots to any new activity, but this moment and experience in time were real, and Stanley did it. I think Stanley experienced what perhaps some artists refer to as “the mind in the hand,” some mysterious force that creates a type of auto-pilot within one’s self. Sort of like driving for 20 minutes and stopping at a red light to think…gosh, I don’t really recall driving to this point, but I somehow did it. It wasn’t Stanley’s mind alone that was trying to get the task done by repetitiously cleaning mugs, soup cups, and plates, but rather his mind and his body connected to the moment in time and to the environment he was in…to himself – and to the meditation of dishwashing. Stanley was Stanley, a man living with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease, and for the sake of getting dirty dishes well done, within himself he realized the chore at hand. Stanley chose to engage and do those dishes, knowing this is something that has to be done, and understanding this is how. Stanley and many others since have taught and reminded me how consciousness matters in dementia care, and in order to truly see the person I am serving, this cannot be left out of the discussion or the person-centered care approach to dementia care. Dementia will take away all kinds of abilities and can alter and distort reality in drastic ways, but consciousness does not go away due to dementia. Dementia will take away all kinds of abilities and can alter and distort reality in drastic ways, but consciousness does not go away due to dementia. While life can become increasingly cloudy and dark at times for people who are living with dementia, and where time and space may not be fully realized, a conscious alignment to the environment, to others, and to one’s self is still a possible part of their individual dementia experience. I have learned to always factor this truth into my dementia care practice, and as a result, I believe the care relationships I’ve had with the people I’ve served have been only strengthened and fully realized. *name and details have been changed
Article originally published March 2019. Updated December 2021.  When I was an elder abuse investigator several years ago, I investigated a challenging case. Miriam*, who was 87, had eloped from her adult care home the previous day. She had managed to leave out the one door that was not alarmed. She had fairly advanced Alzheimer’s disease, and though her memory and judgement were both strongly affected, she was physically able to maneuver with little issue. This is often the case with individuals who have Alzheimer’s disease. My stomach sank, though, as I continued reading the report. Miriam was still missing. I investigated and hoped for a good outcome, but unfortunately there was no positive outcome for Miriam in this case. I found out a few days later that local law enforcement found Miriam deceased, not far from her care home. This story highlights an extreme outcome of wandering and elopement. Fortunately, most cases end with the resident safely back at home. Still, this story reinforces the importance of not becoming complacent. This situation could have happened to any care home provider. It’s an unfortunate story that illustrates the importance of managing wandering and preventing elopement in adult care homes. Wandering vs. Elopement The terms wandering and elopement are often used interchangeably; however, they are not exactly the same. Wandering is pacing or aimless walking. This generally takes place inside the home or facility, though it can also take place outside. These are the individuals you see who pace up and down the hallway, seemingly without direction. Elopement, on the other hand, is the unplanned exiting of the home or facility. It commonly includes “exit-seeking behavior.” This exit-seeking behavior and elopement from the home puts residents at great risk of harm, as Miriam's story tragically illustrated. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 60% of people living with dementia will wander at least once. Who is at Risk? According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 60% of people living with dementia will wander at least once. Additionally, according to adult foster home surveys conducted by the Portland State University Institute on Aging, 45% of residents in adult foster homes in Oregon have some type of dementia. Who is most at risk?
Assessing for Elopement Risk What can you do to recognize and reduce the risk of elopement? Your screening process is the first step. It is important to conduct a thorough screening to find out if your potential resident is at risk for elopement and if you have elopement prevention options in place. During your screening interviews, ask if the individual has ever displayed exit-seeking behavior or wandered outside the home or facility. Additionally, if the individual is currently in a facility, review their narratives, care plan, and any incident reports to find out if there is a concern about wandering and/or elopement. Also, be sure to assess for elopement risk both during screening or after the resident has moved to the care home when their condition has changed. It is important to understand, even if you’ve conducted a thorough screening, or the resident has no prior history of wandering or elopement, they could still elope from your home after admission. In these instances, it's vital to put interventions in place and care plan to reduce further risk of elopement. 9 Tips for Keeping Residents Safe How do you keep residents with wandering or exit-seeking behaviors safe? Below are several tips and evidence-informed interventions for keeping residents safe. This is not an exhaustive list, as each resident’s needs and situation are unique, but it is a place to start. Tip 1: Care plan around wandering Recognize and document when a resident is most likely to be at risk, and what possibly triggers their wandering or elopement. Increase the level of observation. Tip 2: Meet the holistic needs of the resident If a resident is confused about where he or she is and insists he or she needs to “go home,” or “go to work,” use non-pharmacological interventions to address his or her underlying feelings and needs. Could she be bored? Might he be lonely? Tip 3: Keep residents active during the day Provide person-centered, meaningful activities and tailor the activities to the cognitive abilities of the resident. Tip 4: Install door alarms on exterior doors of the home Make sure to install alarms on all exterior doors and keep them turned on at all times. Tip 5: Consider using an ID bracelet An example of an ID bracelet is the Alzheimer’s Association Medic Alert + Safe Return® bracelet. Tip 6: Enroll the individual in a local safe return program Ask the resident's legal representative to contact your local sheriff's office or police precinct to find out if they have a registry for individuals at risk, like the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Help Me Home Program. Tip 7: Make changes in the home environment Paint exterior doors a similar color as the wall or consider a mural. Make the home environment comfortable, as well. Tip 8: Provide a space for residents to wander safely inside or outside Residents can wander safely with advanced planning. If a resident wants to walk outside, plan for a caregiver to go with him or her. Tip 9: Include the resident's care team Involve the resident's family and/or legal representative and others to help problem-solve around concerning, exit-seeking behavior. You don't have to do this alone. Awareness, Prevention & Intervention Sometimes you can do everything within your power to keep residents safe, and things will still happen. It is important, then, to recognize the point at which an adult care home may no longer be the safest placement for a resident with exit-seeking behavior who is an elopement risk. Fortunately, what happened to Miriam is a rare outcome in situations when a resident elopes from the home. With awareness, prevention, and intervention, you can keep residents who wander safe. *name and details have been changed
We want to continue to highlight the work of our amazing adult foster care home providers in Oregon. Matt Gannon spent some time talking with Provider Hana Legesse, owner of Furlong Way Adult Foster Home in Beaverton, Oregon. She is both an Aging & People with Disabilities (APD) and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) provider. Please read below to learn more about Hana. How long have you worked in the adult care home business?  When I was in high school I assisted the teachers in the special education class, and I discovered I truly loved working directly with people where I could make a difference. This stuck with me. When I graduated high school I became a private in-home caregiver where my skills to care for others really took shape. While serving my clients as a private caregiver, oftentimes they would transition from their home to other levels of care, and I would continue to work with them through their transitions. It was during this time I was exposed to what caring for a lot of people in a large place looked like and it felt very busy, to say the least. Between 2014, and 2015 I made a switch from private in-home care to adult foster home care, in both APD and I/DD homes. In 2019, I became a licensed APD care home provider and began Furlong Way Adult Foster Home in Beaverton. Earlier in 2021, I became Co-licensee of a DD-licensed Home in Beaverton. What do you believe makes adult foster care homes special? Care homes are built for companionship. Each day comes with flexibility, creativity, and one-on-one time together in many important ways, allowing the residents’ daily wishes, desires, and needs to be fully met. How the day unfolds is up to what the residents feel like doing or not doing that day. We can adapt to whatever the residents are feeling or needing and also have the time to throw in creative ideas or improvise and adapt to what is best for them at each moment of their day. This is a special way of providing care, and it is special to the residents who benefit from the one-on-one attention. We do virtually everything together, as a home and as a team, and we all are considerate of each other in what we decide to do. Companionship is key to making a difference as a caregiver, and caring for residents in a care home allows your relationships to have real depth, which I feel is special. Companionship is key to making a difference as a caregiver, and caring for residents in a care home allows your relationships to have real depth, which I feel is special. What do you love most about the work you do? This question reminds me again of being in high school and working with a teenager who was in the special education program. This student was living with Down syndrome and could not read. We worked together and tried different creative ways to approach reading, and after working with her for long enough it finally worked! She loved reading and was always wanting to do more and more, and she felt so good about herself. I love working on creative solutions to meet the needs of others, and when it works - the joy you feel is simply amazing. This is exactly what I get to do now with our homes. I also love being a part of resident care and their meaningful activities. We make sure our residents have the opportunity to participate in what matters most to them, and if that means taking a ride in the car with me to the store or going to the beauty salon together, we tailor it to what they like most and we get to do it with them. I love how I get to repeatedly have the same feeling of making a difference in our homes I felt when working in the special education classroom where it all began. What do you believe makes someone’s work successful? What makes someone's work successful is pushing through, even when things seem the hardest and not giving up. Also, staying motivated because you know what you are working toward and the difference it makes for you and all of the people around you. You also must remain positive because there will be times when you face difficult problems and obstacles along the way, but you cannot give up. Believe me, there are mornings I do not want to wake up early to go to the gym, but I push through anyway knowing it is best for me and for those who depend on me so I have the strength and energy I need to be my best. This is how you will find success. You must believe in hard work and how it pays off. You must continue to work hard, do the right thing, have integrity and understand the reason why you are doing what you do; believe in your "why" and believe in yourself. Be your own best friend and push through! You must continue to work hard, do the right thing, have integrity and understand the reason why you are doing what you do; believe in your "why" and believe in yourself. Anything else you’d like us to know about you? Our residents and team really do all enjoy being together and making decisions that best support each other. It's a very harmonious and friendly atmosphere. We are great at teamwork. We are not afraid to get out of our comfort zones to do what it takes to meet the residents’ needs and to support the entire team. We all have individual strengths, and because we recognize this and can work to those strengths, everyone achieves more. We have such a variety of skill sets and experience levels on the team and so we put all of the knowledge to good use in support of each other. I still have staff who began with me on day one. I depend on them for so much, and I recognize how they depend on me too. I invest in them by offering competitive wages, bonuses, vacation days, gifts for self-care, just to name a few. We also celebrate their birthdays and recognize and honor each of their own cultural and religious happenings throughout the year. I cannot be successful and our residents cannot be fulfilled without my team, and I make it a priority to know what they want or need to be successful. We all have each other’s back, which makes all of the difference because no one can have a successful home all on their own.
We want to continue to highlight the work of our amazing adult foster care home providers in Oregon. Matt Gannon spent some time talking with Provider Holly Green, owner of High Lakes Care Homes in Central Oregon. Please read below to learn more about Nurse Holly. How long have you worked in the adult care home business?  We were fortunate to open our first home in Sisters, Oregon in 2019. I studied for my nursing degree at Mt. Hood Community College, which then lead me to work as an ICU Nurse in Portland at the Vibra Specialty Hospital. I later worked as a Nurse Manager in skilled nursing rehabilitation. I also spent time as the director of nursing for a memory care community in Bend. My nursing career began with falling in love with the elderly. Having been in positions to get to know and care for many elderly patients/residents, this made me realize how much I appreciate serving elders; however, I also realized I couldn’t totally give the best care to each of them like I wanted and how I believed they deserved. Sad but true, but when there are too many people in one place needing quality care and you cannot commit to real one-on-one time, you are always left feeling you wished you could have done more. I was then mentored by another licensed care home provider about how nice it is to care for people in care homes, so I became intrigued. We eventually pursued an adult foster care home in Central Oregon and seized the opportunity to make it ours. That decision has allowed our care team to serve people in the one-on-one way I’ve wanted all along. We opened our second home in Bend, Oregon in February 2021. Both of our homes are licensed as level 3 adult foster care homes. What do you believe makes adult foster care homes special? Providers are able to specialize by having a one-on-one all-around service of care. We don’t have to only focus the work on tasks alone, we also are a part of the meaningful activities for our residents, the food they like, the people in their lives who are important to them, and we create individualized care plans specifically for their best interests, in their home-based environment. This makes their experience of care more fulfilling. What do you love most about the work you do? What I love most is when you are consistent with care, and really get to know each of the residents for who they are, you are then in a position to give to them the time they require - it is so rewarding. When we first opened, we had five residents who were all on hospice. With enough time and consistent good care from our team, each resident no longer needed hospice and was discharged. This was a real example of how giving the necessary time to patients or residents, wherever you may work, can really benefit everyone involved. The choice we made to become care home providers has allowed me to be a nurse in the way I always hoped for, where people become more than patients or residents: they become more like family. ...when you are consistent with care, and really get to know each of the residents for who they are, you are then in a position to give to them the time they require - it is so rewarding. What do you believe makes someone’s work successful? Self-care - by being a model of self-care to my team so they know I understand how vital it is and how important it is to me to support their own self-care. If a caregiver is burnt out, everyone loses and it is not fair to them or anyone else. When a caregiver feels they are being taken care of, they can reach their full potential. If they feel taken advantage of, you cannot expect them to perform at a higher level. We decided our starting wages will always be at the top or above the going rate for caregivers. In order to do so, we had to position ourselves to be a highly-rated and respected adult foster care home people want to live in (with an ongoing resident waitlist). We also tell residents and their families from the beginning that all care costs are at a flat rate. There are no extra add-on charges after move-in. We find they appreciate it more this way because it assists in their comfort level and understanding of what a good and fair price is and will remain to be over the course of time. This erases the unpredictability of costs. Anything else you’d like us to know about you? I have learned how having a super supportive partner, family and friends makes all of the difference, and how none of this would be possible without the backing and assistance of my husband who cares for our children and our overall home in such a supportive way. By intentionally building a small village of family and friends who understand the sacrifice our work demands, I can be successful, which ultimately means our team and residents, our entire family, we are all successful, together. By intentionally building a small village of family and friends who understand the sacrifice our work demands, I can be successful, which ultimately means our team and residents, our entire family, we are all successful, together.
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About Oregon Care Home ConsultingOregon Care Home Consulting & Training is the compass that helps current and future APD adult foster care home licensees successfully navigate the licensing process and have a successful adult foster care home business. ORCHC provides coaching, consultation, training, and ongoing support. This ultimately saves time, reduces stress, and improves compliance, which allows AFH/ACH licensees to focus more time on providing excellent care to seniors and individuals with disabilities.
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Oregon Care Home Consulting LLC 1500 NW Bethany Blvd., Ste. 200 Beaverton, OR 97006 |
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Disclaimer: Oregon Care Home Consulting LLC is not affiliated with the State of Oregon or Multnomah County Adult Care Home Program (ACHP). We are not State licensors, therefore we are unable to require compliance or guarantee your adult care home is in full compliance with current state and/or federal requirements. State and/or County licensors make the final determination of compliance. Additionally, we are unable to offer legal or medical advice, and no guidance provided by Oregon Care Home Consulting LLC should be construed as legal or medical advice. Always consult an attorney or doctor, when necessary.
HOME | ABOUT | TRAINING | SERVICES | CONTACT | PRIVACY NOTICE | TERMS
Disclaimer: Oregon Care Home Consulting LLC is not affiliated with the State of Oregon or Multnomah County Adult Care Home Program (ACHP). We are not State licensors, therefore we are unable to require compliance or guarantee your adult care home is in full compliance with current state and/or federal requirements. State and/or County licensors make the final determination of compliance. Additionally, we are unable to offer legal or medical advice, and no guidance provided by Oregon Care Home Consulting LLC should be construed as legal or medical advice. Always consult an attorney or doctor, when necessary.
HOME | ABOUT | TRAINING | SERVICES | CONTACT | PRIVACY NOTICE | TERMS
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