Knowledgeable caregivers experience less stress while excelling at their jobs
By Maria Wellisch
I’m often asked what is the biggest challenge facing the senior living industry. I believe the ability to meet the needs of older seniors will be the true test. Home healthcare gives seniors the ability to age in place at home longer, which means older adults turn to senior living at a later age than ever before. Most communities are not prepared to respond to the needs and higher level of acuity of these seniors when they enter their care, especially in large numbers.
The reality the industry faces is that eventually, no matter how fierce their desire to remain at home, many of these seniors will transition to a senior living environment. As a result, many are moving into communities in their late 80s and 90s when they require more care.
Due to this trend, the sales cycle has become longer, and the level of training and education necessary for staff is higher than ever.
Not a day goes by that I don’t get a question or receive feedback from senior living marketers, developers, owners and executive-level staff asking what practices they should implement internally. For example, how do they properly train their employees? What’s the best way to compete against home health agencies? What’s the best approach to understanding each senior’s individual needs and those of each family?
While every community operates differently, there is a universal desire to ensure that staff members are prepared and understand what it takes to care for seniors with more acute conditions. Specialized training to better understand conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is critical because it allows caregivers to work with seniors while experiencing lower levels of stress due to increased knowledge.
By making sure they are properly trained, you give employees the ability to do their jobs and do them well. This ensures that everything else has room to fall into place.
At mmLearn.org, we face the same challenges our users face every day. We see the industry-wide struggles firsthand as we assist with training programs. With a career in nursing and long-term care — as well as experience from caring for my own mother — I’ve had the opportunity to participate in many different aspects of the industry. I understand the challenges we face now and the importance of planning for what lies ahead.
How to build lasting relationships
As an industry, our residents are older than ever. The sales cycle is an intricate dance, requiring more commitment to follow up and remain connected with prospects and their families for longer periods of time.
With the current trend, the sale is often propelled to completion because of a health event. Families are then faced with the decision to move their loved one into independent living, assisted living or even memory support when home healthcare is no longer an option. When this happens, they want to make sure they have a relationship with a community that is built on trust and understanding.
When it comes to sales, patience is the key, and it’s important to remember that providing useful information is a way to connect with a senior or a family. This can easily be done by asking “How are you doing?” or pointing out that “I saw this resource and thought of your mother.” That’s a much better approach than simply asking “Are you ready to move in yet?”
A personalized approach lets seniors and their families know they are respected and cared for — that it is not just about getting someone to move in. The goal is to improve the lives of the seniors and caregivers.
The more you interact with and get to know a prospect or a family, the more you will actually be able to understand their unique needs and preferences. When you interact with a prospect and family numerous times before converting the prospect to a sale, it is critical to have compelling tools at your fingertips.
Be prepared
At a time when there is tremendous growth and substantial numbers of seniors entering the market, communities have to be ready for anything. As the average resident age creeps upward, staff members are finding themselves ill-equipped to accommodate these older seniors.
For an industry where the work is challenging and oftentimes isolating, an unqualified staff or an environment in which there is no encouragement can cause stress and lead to high employee turnover.
If an employee is stressed and ill-prepared to handle the person in his or her care, what encourages the individual to continue in that line of work? By providing opportunities for training and support through additional resources, employers can give their employees the chance to feel a sense of pride and self-assurance. Training results in increased satisfaction and happiness in an often challenging work environment.
There is a strong need for resources focused on how to care for this new wave of seniors. The older the residents, the more care they will require, even if they are in independent living. While some of these residents live independently, they may be using assistive devices such as scooters. Communities need to know how to address such issues.
Additionally, as more seniors face various forms of memory loss and dementia, it is critical to provide employees with training on how to watch for the signs and symptoms of the disease. This allows the staff to better recognize when a resident living in assisted or independent living exhibits a potential for wandering or elopement and shows early signs of memory loss.
Making a home
Regardless of a resident’s age or the level of care needed, operating a senior living community has to be much more than running a business. In order to be successful, you must have the desire to impact the lives of seniors and their families and genuinely care for their needs.
Putting together a well-trained and knowledgeable staff and interacting with residents on a personal level makes all the difference. Consideration of the residents must always come first, and creating a home should always be the priority over running a business. Our focus should be on providing residents with as much independence and dignity as possible in an environment surrounded by educated and compassionate caregivers.
I know that to achieve true success in this industry, you have to focus narrowly on the individuals in your care.
Having a team that goes above and beyond to strive for the best environment and lifestyle possible for seniors and their families is the key to success. My vision and determination is to offer quality training and guidance for all, so that everyone feels at home.
Maria Wellisch is a registered nurse and vice president of corporate education for mmLearn.org, which she founded in 2006 to improve the care of older adults through education and training.