Falls are one of the biggest health concerns among the aging population. According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 3 adults over the age of 65 experience a fall every year. At Aegis Living, while we recognize that we can’t prevent falls, we have taken some precautions to promote stability for our residents, and to assure that we can be there to assist if falls happen. Check with the staff at the community you are considering to confirm availability of these tools.
Motion Lights. Sensory activated lighting is installed in our memory care apartments. It automatically activates the bathroom light when a resident enters the restroom to promote safe guidance.
Alert Motion Sensors. In addition to the sensors that activate the bathroom lights, motion sensors are used to notify staff of movement activity in our memory care residents’ apartments at night. These sensors are directed in such a way as to be activated when there is resident movement so our staff can check on the resident to offer support in their activity; whether it’s to provide them with a glass of water, provide them emotional support, or address any concerns, care assistance, or medical support.
Alert Pendants. Medical alert systems come in the form of a pendant that the resident can wear to alert our staff that they need support. We also provide a wall mount alert system in the resident’s restrooms that can be easily activated for support as needed. The pendant may be equipped with another innovative feature: the AutoAlert system. This is a fall detection feature that is designed to notify our staff automatically of a fall without the dependency of a resident needing to activate the alert. This fall-detection technology has been a critical tool in allowing our staff to quickly access our resident’s condition if there is a fall and take appropriate steps to assist. Ask the community director to confirm they offer pendants for residents.
Medication Electronic Tracking System. Consistent medication compliance is one of the biggest concerns among families who move their parents to assisted living communities. Many elderly are not compliant with consistently taking their medication, putting them at increased risk for an adverse event. The staff at Aegis Living understands this and implemented an electronic tracking system that helps support medication delivery. The system is designed to enable a collaboration with the resident’s health care provider, Aegis Living clinical team, and our pharmacy partner to schedule delivery and tracking dosages to help ensure the medication regimen is followed precisely. It supports better medication compliance, which means greater health outcomes and decreases manual errors.
The benefits of electronic medication systems have been proven to lead to better health outcomes. One study published in the journal
Clinical and Translational Science looked into the effectiveness of such systems, surveying 105 clinicians who began using these systems to determine how it affected clinical processes. The surveys revealed that 71% of doctors believed that electronic medication management systems led to an improvement in patient safety. Additionally, 65% of doctors thought the new medication management system was more efficient than more traditional, manual methods.
CPR Training. In many U.S. states, social and health services departments do not require assisted living staff to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In fact, communities often have a “no CPR” policy, which mandates that staff is not allowed to attempt to resuscitate residents but instead call for emergency services and stay by the senior’s side. But at Aegis Living, staff are trained in CPR to ensure there is always someone on site who can perform CPR and best support the needs of residents in the case of unconsciousness caused by choking or another medical emergency.
Safety Committee. Safety measures are a top priority at Aegis Living, and the staff is always thinking of new ways to keep the residents happy, healthy, and secure. That’s why Aegis Living has an active safety committee that meets monthly to review the communities’ safety measures. These meetings provide an open and thought-provoking format for both line staff and management staff to share ideas, problem solve, and work to improve the measures taken to create a safe and secure sanctuary for our residents and staff.
Daily Meetings. In addition to the monthly safety committee meetings, daily meetings occur at each Aegis Living community in the form of stand-up sessions and a roster review of each senior. Our staff engages in informative discussions about the residents, identifying anyone who may need specialized attention, covering community activities for the day, and providing training on other essential topics. The goal is to ensure that the staff is doing everything to create a culture of collaborative engagement and safety and to empower the staff to support the mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing of the residents.
Education. Aegis Living believes in investing in the initial and on-going training for all staff. Training is incorporated into our day to day activity, supported by monthly training programs, and online orientation and continuing educational training using our online training platform.
Quality Assurance. Assisted living communities are regulated by each State. Aegis goes above any state requirements. We invite routine auditing in all of our communities, including inviting outside dietary consultants to review our culinary programs, reviewing compliance with all safe food handling and regulatory guidelines. We invite our contracted pharmacies to regularly audit our communities to review our medication administration program. Our dedicated Home Office clinical teams work side by side with our communities to routinely audit and train in our clinical practices. We have a Quality Assurance team dedicated to audit communities’ critical compliance in all aspects of our operation. This process allows us to work with the communities to audit practices and provide guidance or training to our teams to resolve any concerns. Any concerns that are identified are tracked and monitored for reconciliation.
