Finding the Right Assisted Living & Memory Care Solutions

Finding the Right Assisted Living & Memory Care Solutions

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Mike Paladino: Alright, welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air, a home care Podcast. I’m Mike Paladino, a senior account executive here in the Caresmartz team

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Mike Paladino: as we age our needs and abilities can evolve.

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Mike Paladino: For some seniors living independently, it becomes challenging, you know, prompting a search for senior living options. This is where finding the right assisted living or memory care solution becomes crucial.

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Mike Paladino: These communities offer varying levels of support. Assisted living provides a safe and supportive environment with help for daily tasks like bathing and medication management. While still promoting independence.

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Mike Paladino: Memory care designed for those with dementia offers specialty specialized care focusing on cognitive simulation, stimulation, that is, safety measures to prevent wandering and staff trained to really understand dementia, related challenges.

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Mike Paladino: The significance lies in the impact on the quality of life.

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Mike Paladino: The right assisted living community allows seniors to maintain independence while receiving the necessary assistance, fostering a sense of dignity and well-being.

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Mike Paladino: It also relieves the burden on family caregivers, too.

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Mike Paladino: for those with memory issues. Memory care provides a safe and structured environment that can slow, cognitive decline.

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Mike Paladino: manage behavioral changes and offer activities tailored to their specific needs.

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Mike Paladino: This not only improves their quality of life but also provides peace of mind for loved ones. Too.

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Mike Paladino: Ultimately, you know, finding the right solution is an investment, and it ensures seniors receive the care they need while fostering a sense of purpose and well-being, allowing them to live a fulfilling life in their golden years.

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Mike Paladino: In today’s episode we have Brent Hensley on the panel, who is the owner of Assisted Living Locators which provides senior placement and referral services in the United States.

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Mike Paladino: Welcome to CareSmartz360 On Air Brent.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Hi! There! Thanks for having me.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, no, it’s a pleasure. And I do a lot of these as I kinda talked about offline, but really excited to learn more about your experiences today, and a lot of your expertise in the industry, as you know, probably more than most. It’s a tough gig, you know, working with the elderly, working with the seniors as well as they, you know transition into those later stages of life, you know, providing support for those that are going through some of those challenges, even the families, and alleviating some of the stress that comes

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Mike Paladino: with it, I think, is a very important topic. And that’s why. Me personally, I’m very excited to speak with you about it today, and I’m sure that our audience, listening in, you know, is gonna also find a lot of value in what you have to share today as well.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Great! Let’s get it. Get into it.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah. So just a couple of questions to ask you, Brent. And really, the first one I wanted to ask you more about is for families, considering, assisting, living for a loved one. What are some of the key factors to consider when evaluating different communities?

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Okay? Well, I would say, first and foremost, well, first, the caveat, unless the senior is going into an assisted living community, and they’re totally independent. They have no care needs. Then I would say, first and foremost quality of care is what you wanna focus on. Obviously, a lot of the reason that people go into assisted living is because they simply can’t live at home anymore safely. And so, having

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: a care team at the community that can provide the quality of care that the senior needs with, you know, helping with activities of daily living like you mentioned bathing, grooming, medicine management, whatever it is so I would say. Care is first and foremost.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and then location is a big one A lot of seniors have lived in the same area of their town or city for pretty much their whole lives, and so proximity to

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: their friends and family, and just the connection to that part of their community. Is a big driver in having, you know, the the location where people actually end up choosing their assisted living facility, and then

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: costs. I mean, there’s no sugar coating. It assisted. Living in the US. It is very expensive. Just to give you perspective. I happen to be in San Francisco, and so the cost of a studio here in San Francisco and assisted living community average is around $6,000 a month.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and then you’ve got care costs on top of that. So monthly costs are a huge driver and for most seniors in determining the community that they ultimately choose.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and then another one, I would say, would be I call it culture fit. So can the seniors actually see themselves living there at the prospective community and do they perceive that the seniors at that community are like them?

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: So things like.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: what’s the average age of the seniors in the community? Or or do they have similar interests that the senior might be interested in? And the most important thing. And you know, obviously, my big proponent of assisted living is

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: is the senior gonna be able to make really important social connections when they enter the community? You probably know this, but a lot of seniors live very isolated lives, especially in the aftermath of Covid, where they haven’t

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: regain those previous social connections. So the fact is, if they can go in to assist a living community, re-establish themselves, or establish themselves in the community and make those important social connections. It has a huge impact on their physical health and cognitive health.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, Brenda, I think you said something that’s very important. And it’s, you know, really something that stemmed after Covid, where people lost a lot of confidence in the ability to be social, especially if they’re the elderly or immunocompromised or something right? I feel like those components. And those factors really

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Mike Paladino: played a large part in what it means to find the right center or facility for these individuals. I personally have an elderly grandfather that, you know, was exceptionally resistant to going into assisted living to the point where he knows he’s old. He’s Italian, very, very stubborn, so didn’t wanna go and leave his house that he was in for 50 years right, kinda similar to the point you made. But we ended up finding a good solution for him which ultimately wasn’t assisted living. But

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Mike Paladino: again, it was the right fit for him. Cause, I think the most important thing is for making sure that those that are going into a home or a facility that’s not providing assistance. They’re ready to do so, and if they have that ability, if they’re able to recognize these things, and they have that confidence to do so. They’re likely to be successful, right? And I think that’s a very important aspect of it as well.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: I’ll I’ll add in that I would say 85% of the seniors that I work with

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: would really not want to go into assisted living in their home. So I mean, it’s common, and I’m as much as I’m a big proponent of assisted living. I’m also a proponent of if the senior can have the means and can remain in their home safely.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And get the care that they need. Then stay at home. That’s great.

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Mike Paladino: Absolutely. Yeah.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Lots of seniors don’t have.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Ability to do so.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, no, absolutely. I think you hit the nail on the head with. If they’re safe to age in place, I think that’s not something that people mostly would prefer. But at the same time a lot of the reasons why individuals go find themselves in assisted living is because they need that extra support, or they aren’t able to equip their house with what they need to live comfortably right, or have that social aspect which we all know. And you would definitely know better than me

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Mike Paladino: those that do have those cognitive disorders like memory loss and dementia, that kind of thing being in a social setting that allows them to be, you know, able to use those with no cognitive skills more frequently. If they’re at home alone, they’re not, they’re, you know, deteriorating more quickly. Right? They don’t use those

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Mike Paladino: natural abilities in their mind that they still have access to and just exercising those kinds of muscle memories. Type thing is something that helps them. You know, age more gracefully right, and kinda ease their way into that stage of life. And that’s something that I, I guess, can’t be understated in an assisted living center as well. I used to volunteer a lot and assisted living, and that was one thing that I found worked exceptionally well when I would go and spend my time there

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Mike Paladino: doing things like playing cards, or doing something that was engaging for them, either brought back old memories, and they were able to tell stories, or it helped them, kinda you know, reset themselves into more of a social setting again, right, and that was just my personal experience. But I think it’s a highly relevant one, right? And you probably see that often as well.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah, I call it senior peer pressure. It’s like a senior going back into grade school or high school.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: When they first transition into the community. They see other seniors like themselves participating in activities and trying new things. And so they’re encouraged to do it because other seniors are doing it. So it’s a win-win.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, it’s a great perspective, right? It’s like it kinda alleviates some of that social pressure. The peer pressure of like, Oh, I can’t do this, but I see somebody else doing it. It’s like, Oh, maybe I can’t do it right. So it’s kinda you know the whole monkey see? Monkeys think that we tell children right? That’s again a fantastic perspective.

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Mike Paladino: Brent. The next question that I wanted to ask you is, can you offer any advice on navigating the cost of assisted living and memory care? And are there any financial resources that are available to help families in these situations?

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: So my P. Biggest piece of advice would be to really plan ahead. So, understanding what the costs and options for assisted living are in your area before you or your loved one actually need assisted living. Often the seniors or family members. That I work with.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: They only start really looking at what their options are when there’s a sense of urgency. Maybe the senior has fallen and they’re in the hospital, or maybe they’re in the rehab or something’s not working. And so the family then comes to me, and there’s this sort of pressure to the things that have to happen on a very quick timeline.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And when you do that, then, of course, your choices are more limited. And then the going in the community is gonna go up. So planning ahead is huge.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And then I would also say in part of that planning, understanding what Medicare and Medicaid cover in your State. So I happen to be in California. So Medicare, unfortunately, does not cover any assisted living costs. So seniors really are.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: You know, they have to pay for assisted living, either with their financial resources or long term care insurance if the senior is lower income, then medicaid, which is our version of Medicaid in other States. Is really the only option for them, and field nursing

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: is what medical covers, and a lot of seniors at that point don’t need skilled nursing level care. That’s 24, 7, you know. Type of care. And so fortunately, in California, in terms of resources, there’s a couple of programs that the State has put in place. And the focus of these programs are really for those lower income people on medical.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: That are forced to go into skilled nur nursing that don’t need skilled nur level, skilled nursing level care to put them into assisted living. Give them access financially. So one is an assisted living waiver program.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Certain counties in California.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: offer that. And then there’s a new program called Master care. That is focusing on this problem. And again it I mean, ultimately, it’s a money saving mechanism for the State. But the seniors do benefit, because they’re not going into skilled nursing when they actually don’t need that level of care, and it gives them access to assisted living.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: gosh! Another one would be that a lot of people don’t know about if there’s something called the veterans Aid and attendance benefit. So veterans who served active military duty for at least 90 consecutive days, and at least one full day during a time of war. And they meet certain financial

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and income requirements, they can receive. This benefit from the Va. They can actually help them pay for their assisted living. So for a lot of vet veterans that don’t have financial means to pay for assisted living. This is a huge benefit.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and then I guess this is the last one would be. This is a little bit of a self plug, but I highly. I highly encourage families and seniors to work with. A senior living placement, professional like myself so that they understand the various options available to them at their price. Point, you know, there’s like you mentioned with your own family, there’s different options. There’s what we call in California board and cares, which is

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: a co, a private home that’s been converted into an assisted living home that has a license. Provide care. It’s a smaller, more intimate environment

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: that might be the right solution, or it could be a more traditional, you know, medium to large size, assisted living. Building. That has a, you know, larger number of residents. So you know, it really depends. And you know, there’s some communities, at least in my territory here in San Francisco, that offer below market rate programs. So if the Senior

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: you know, qualifies for the program from a financial standpoint, then they’re offering units in their building at a much lower rate than the price. And so most people aren’t really aware of these nuances in the market. So if you work with a placement professional they’re gonna be able to queue you into those different you know.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: offers.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, you know, I think self plug or not, I think that’s kind of the purpose, though, right? I think we need others to understand the resources available to them. Because, you know, I admittedly, am somebody who likes to research on my own and think that I know everything until I don’t right, whereas I think you know, as you get more experience, you kinda get more in general knowledge about certain things you’re talking about or the industries you’re working in.

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Mike Paladino: You also recognize that you don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s where professionals like you come in, where, when somebody is at that point of deciding what is the best you know? Care

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Mike Paladino: to be provided for them? Is it an Alp? Is it assisted living group homes? Is it in my own house too? Can we equip it for that? Some of these things are just not answers we’re able to find on our own. So, working with professionals like you that specialize in finding the right fit cost wise, based on their needs, maybe defining what is skilled care versus non skilled care.

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Mike Paladino: Right? I think those are exceptionally important, and ultimately will lead to people having more positive care outcomes when they find the right place for them right where families are more at ease. The clients themselves are happier. And again I’m gonna repeat this, but they’re aging more gracefully, and they know the golden years right? And I think that’s really important. And you know, sometimes we don’t have that luxury of time like you mentioned a lot. A lot of people plan

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Mike Paladino: for these things, and we kind of just do it when we’ve realized it’s a thing that needs to be done. But if we can give ourselves those you know that extra time to really work with professionals to find the best fit. It really works out more positively in the end, more often than it doesn’t.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah, I say to my clients all the time, come to me now when you don’t need assisted living, let’s get you educated on what your options are, and then, further down the road, as you age in place, come back to me, you know, when the time is right, but at least you you know you have some education around what the options are.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, being proactive. And really, you can apply this to most things. Being proactive is the best way to set yourself up for success right? And that applies to life in general. Typically. But in the context of what we’re talking about, like you said, having somebody like you to work with, ask questions to prepare for it. Well, when the time comes that ultimately one day will happen. You know, that’s something that we can at least ease ourselves into right as a family of those that need that kind of service.

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Mike Paladino: Alright. Well, the next question, Brent, I wanted to ask you, what are some of the most important questions families should be asking during tours of assisted living centers and memory care communities.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah, one of the big ones is resident to care team ratio. So what does that mean? And I mean, how many care team members are available at any time. In the community in proportion to the number of residents, and so that ratio is an indicator to Ste to see if the staffing at the community is in alignment to fit the care of the residents. You know, in the community. So that’s a big one

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: emergency protocol. So God forbid you know an accident or a fire, or something happens. The care. The staff

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: in the community should have a very formalized protocol on where they meet, how to evacuate the residents in the community. So you know, knowing that there’s a protocol in place can give you a lot of peace of mind if God forbid! Something happened in an emergency in the community.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And then another big one that can be a problem is the executive team and care team retention. So it’s important to ask, what’s the longevity of the care team or even management team in the community. Unfortunately, there’s a shortage across the whole country of caregivers.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And that impacts home care as well as assisted living communities. And so sometimes communities don’t have the staffing, and they have to contract with external organizations just to meet the care team’s needs.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And so you know, longevity can and turnover can be indicative of bigger problems within the community. So I’d say, that’s a big one to ask.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, all great points. And I think you know, if there’s consistency in the leadership or the management of this, the assisted living community. Then you’re gonna find consistency and care. I think there’s a lot of synonymity there, whereas if you find

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Mike Paladino: you know, the people don’t leave every 6 months, or there’s not a revolving door of care. I mean, it’s like you said. It’s hard to to really manage these things, cause there is a shortage of caregivers across all service types right in home care assisted living group homes. You name it. There’s likely a need

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Mike Paladino: And that’s hopefully gonna keep getting better as there’s more across the country, you know. Hopefully, more States really want to add more resources and support for these individuals. It’s getting better at a sales pace, but it is improving slightly and hopefully that does not help with some fostering of change. But I think that’s the most important thing you can do. It’s kinda dialing back to the research component.

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Mike Paladino: Do your diligence, look into the facilities, look into the centers, ask questions, be curious, and I think, from my perspective, the best advice I could give is no questions. A bad question. If you’re thinking about it, likely somebody else has either asked it before, or they’re wondering the same thing right? And you need to get those answers cause you have to feel that confidence when you, you know, pass off your loved one.

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Mike Paladino: They’re going to be in good hands, right? And not you just shouldn’t have that worry or that wonder. Right? So I think that’s again a really important aspect of it.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Absolutely.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, Brent, we’re kind of rifling through these, but that’s not a bad thing. The next question I wanted to ask you is that the landscape of senior living is, you know, constantly evolving. What are some new and exciting trends or innovations in assisted living and memory care that can benefit the residents?

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: I would say, the biggest innovation or trend that I’m seeing. It focuses on new technologies. So technologies that are really designed to improve the quality of care in the community, or keep the residents safe within the community. So one thing that’s pretty standard, I guess, across all, at least all the communities that I work with are wearables, wearable technology, so that the

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: you know, the residents can wear either a pendant or a a watch and then, if they were to need help or fall, they can get care immediately through the pendant or the watch, and then there’s a lot of new fall detection technologies that are coming onto the market. One thing to remember. It’s kind of a misconception with the system living is

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: falls. Does happiness continue to happen at assisted living communities? A lot of people are on the perception that you know that that is eliminated. When someone goes into the community, the falls do decrease because the actual setup of the community is different in terms of the apartment that the seniors in, you know the layout. Is the bathroom wheelchair accessible?

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And you know, if there was a supportive care plan that’s watching over the senior. So falls do decrease. But they still happen. So these new technologies can kind of address that. So one simple one that I’ve started seeing is just floor mat sensors. So if the senior is asleep in, you know, in their room at night and they try to get out of bed.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: In the middle of the night. That sensor is gonna alert the care team. Oh, the senior is trying to get up. Let’s go assist them. Maybe they need help with toileting, and then they can avoid potential fall. And there’s other technologies that

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: they’re camera based systems. And they use camera or video sensors to detect movements and motions that emulate something like a fall. And so once they’re triggered. Then the care team at the community is notified, and they can come in and just see what the situation is. And hopefully respond. If the senior has fallen very quickly.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and then some of these are pretty cool. They have even been incorporating AI and some room sensors that detect the signs of the Resident trying to stand and then it. If the Resident is trying to get up out of their bed or chair, then it alerts the care team and the technologies with AI continue to learn and improve over time to detect things even more accurately. So it’s it’s pretty exciting where you can

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: preemptively try to prevent falls with this kind of technology.

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Mike Paladino: Yeah, that’s awesome. And as you know, we’re a tech company here, and we’d love everything to do with tech, and especially as it relates to our industry. You know, I think it’s only gonna help us. It’s gonna take time. Especially. There are some more AI powered programs that have AI built into our program. That’s more predictive. For like caregiver churn, and that kind of thing which is a separate topic, obviously. But I think AI powered tools, again, are going to give our teams the resources and that predictive analytics to prevent things from happen

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Mike Paladino: happening right? Like a fall. Somebody shuffles in bed a certain way. Right? That’s indicative of maybe they’re trying to get up. Okay, we’re gonna send somebody there before they have the opportunity to fall down. So that right there is something that didn’t exist like 5 years ago and already is improving. So for me, what’s exciting to think about in that context is what’s gonna happen in the next 5 years. What’s the technology gonna look like then?

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Mike Paladino: And that’s the exciting part about it. And I think it all goes down to the same end goal of how do we make it as comfortable as possible for those that are in these facilities or in these settings to feel safe right, and feel like they’re in a good spot to again, gracefully, age.

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Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah. Another thing that I’m seeing also is, you know, communities using technologies to help them manage their care, their staffing, that problem that I referred to earlier algorithms or just systems to kind of predict how many residents we have in the community.

00:25:14.130 –> 00:25:27.859
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: What levels of care do each resident need? How did they do it? Do we staff accordingly? And so, having technology to help them? Really figure out what the level of staffing needs to be. That’s huge.

00:25:27.860 –> 00:25:28.390
Mike Paladino: Yeah.

00:25:28.390 –> 00:25:32.539
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: And using technologies could really focus on that.

00:25:32.700 –> 00:26:02.178
Mike Paladino: Yeah, absolutely. I couldn’t have said it better. And you know, these technology tools are in place, whether they’re operational or more practical or clinical. Really, they’re evolving to give us that peace of mind, to make our lives easier. And I, even for individuals like yourself, having tools in place to give you information without having to work too hard for it allows you to be more proactive and less reactive. And you know, historically, being reactive is usually because something bad has happened or something requires intervention.

00:26:02.759 –> 00:26:14.969
Mike Paladino: And if we can prevent these things obviously from happening, then everybody wins and we can focus on the growth of the industry, and less the things that needed not change 5 years ago. Right? So I think that’s a really good way to think about it as well.

00:26:16.660 –> 00:26:35.279
Mike Paladino: Alright, Brent, the last question I wanted to ask you today, is the needs of individuals with memory impairment can vary significantly right? So how do memory care? Communities cater to the diverse needs of these individuals and really ensure each resident receives personalized and effective care.

00:26:36.698 –> 00:27:01.789
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Okay. So for your listeners, you may not know. Memory care is specialized, I call it neighborhood within an assisted living community. That, of course, is designed to care for residents with Alzheimer’s dementia, and it’s a secured part of the community. It’s separate and it prevents the secured nature of the memory care, number, and neighborhood. Prevents wandering, you know it’s a safety issue.

00:27:01.790 –> 00:27:02.110
Mike Paladino: Hmm.

00:27:02.110 –> 00:27:25.760
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Presence in the memory care community. And then those memory care neighborhoods really focus specifically and do programming for people with Alzheimer’s dementia. So it’s a special part of the community focused on memory care. So really for memory care neighborhoods within communities, it’s kind of a 2 pronged approach.

00:27:25.760 –> 00:27:38.400
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: On the one hand, each resident within the memory care neighborhood definitely, just like an assistant living as a specialized care program that’s tailored to their individual needs and routines could be.

00:27:38.400 –> 00:27:55.950
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: How many times a week do they want assistance bathing? What are their toileting routines? Things like that. But at the same time memory care overall is very much. The programming is geared towards group dynamics. So what do I mean? Residents are really

00:27:56.030 –> 00:28:17.169
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: highly encouraged to participate in all the daily activities. And it’s a full day of activities. They, you know, have them on a schedule from morning to go to breakfast all the way through the end of the day, so that they sleep better. And they just have that cognitive stimulation. And also, the activities are kind of done in a

00:28:17.170 –> 00:28:35.949
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: in a group dynamic, so that the residents can mirror each other, and then they also it makes it easier for them to understand what the activity is, because they can see what other residents are doing, and then they also feel encouraged to participate. And I I think this is a really great question, because

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00:28:36.650 –> 00:28:49.009
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: every senior with dementia the disease is unpredictable. The different cognitions. And you know the disease speeds up at different paces for different individuals.

00:28:49.492 –> 00:28:52.209
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: So the the memory care community

00:28:52.290 –> 00:29:20.660
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: has to really design their programming to cater to seniors at different levels in their dementia journey. Now I have seen it where memory care communities have segmented sections so there could be a special part of the memory care neighborhood that’s designed for seniors with more demanding advanced dementia, and of course, have really higher care needs. But in general the programming is designed to work with residents that are at different points in their dementia journey.

00:29:21.260 –> 00:29:45.610
Mike Paladino: Yeah. And it’s so important right to to think about it this way, because you can’t, especially when you’re talking about memory care right? No, no person is the same. People have great days. People have bad days. You might think somebody’s getting, you know, on a different track, and they know they were the previous day. Right? So I think, having more individualized care needs, especially as it relates to Dimension Alzheimer’s, which again, is a very unique

00:29:45.610 –> 00:29:54.689
Mike Paladino: Things to be managing and very tough, at the same time having the resources and the right fit for the individual, I think, is ultimately so important.

00:29:54.690 –> 00:30:16.009
Mike Paladino: and making sure the environment again is a safe one, because the safer the environment, the more you know, I don’t want to say laid back, but that no, the better support there is within that community or area, the more likely it is that person’s going to have more good days than bad, or be on a better track to be managing those memory care needs more effectively.

00:30:16.870 –> 00:30:40.339
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah, another trend that I’m seeing. On the memory care side of things is communities offering what’s called transitional care. So as you might imagine going from, you know, both for the senior and the family going from home straight into memory. Care is a really tough transition. A lot of families have a lot of apprehension about making that transition for their loved one.

00:30:40.340 –> 00:30:49.860
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: So I’m seeing where assistive living communities are offering even with a dementia diagnosis they can go into assisted living

00:30:50.177 –> 00:31:10.149
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: and of course they have to meet certain criteria. They’re not. They don’t have behavioral issues. They’re not at risk of wandering or impacting other residents. And you know that has to be determined on a case by case basis. But if it’s earlier, if they’re earlier in their dementia journey, there’s no reason that they can’t with their supportive care.

00:31:10.511 –> 00:31:26.418
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Plan, live and assist, living on those sits a living side and not go directly into memory care, and then, at whatever time, as their dimension progresses, then you know collectively, they can decide then to migrate over to the memory care community.

00:31:26.780 –> 00:31:50.309
Mike Paladino: Yeah. And then again, I think it’s important to again understand the stages. Right? Cause it’s sometimes things progress quickly, more rapidly, sometimes it’s more slow moving, right? And I think, understanding that the gap between those 2 things and providing the best resources given the circumstances is what’s going to allow those to have more likely positive outcomes as well. Right? I think that what you mentioned is the best way to think about that. Moving forward.

00:31:50.940 –> 00:31:57.930
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Yeah. And it’s a big issue. Because I will say, of all the communities that I work with in my area, I’d say.

00:31:58.070 –> 00:32:18.510
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: you know, it’s like 92, 93%. They’re all full. And so there’s just a huge demand for memory care right now. And that’s only gonna grow. So having more options for people regardless of where they are, in their dementia journey is gonna be really important.

00:32:18.510 –> 00:32:43.480
Mike Paladino: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s kinda I think the last point will make on that is the aging population, like they call it the boomer generation. Right? It’s coming to that point where there’s gonna be a lot more of a need right? And the stats that we’re seeing show. There’s really a big gap in the resources required. So hopefully, with the power of technology wearables or

00:32:43.480 –> 00:33:03.530
Mike Paladino: operational platforms that makes it easier for people to manage more with less, and sounds scary to think about it that way. But I do think we’re on the right track technology wise. I hope that with that more people join the industry and provide the support that we know that we’re going to need in the next 5 to 1015 years to come as well. Right.

00:33:04.380 –> 00:33:06.020
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: I have high hopes, you know.

00:33:06.020 –> 00:33:07.562
Mike Paladino: We have, we have to.

00:33:08.180 –> 00:33:24.330
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: I mean the demand is there 70% of all Americans will need long term care in their lifetime, and a huge segment of the population is going to be turning 65 or older. So, yeah, we have to really have resources to address the needs in our communities.

00:33:24.330 –> 00:33:51.880
Mike Paladino: I say it’s both a very exciting time to be in our industry, but it’s also a very scary one, because there’s so much unknown especially with the demand and and honestly lack of supply. Right? So it’s gonna be interesting and and and hopefully pretty cool to see how we bridge that gap and I’m confident we’ll get there as is most people in the industry. But you know we’ll keep. Keep our tabs open on that one over the next 5 to 10 years to come.

00:33:52.370 –> 00:33:54.870
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Absolutely. Maybe that’s a future conversation. We’ll have.

00:33:54.870 –> 00:34:19.370
Mike Paladino: Yeah, hopefully, that’d be, you know, I’m always open to those kinds of chats. I think it’s important to have them. And the more people that are talking about them hopefully, it encourages more to get involved. Right? I think that’s really the whole idea of the podcast like these ones, right is to spread awareness, to spread messaging and peak interest. Right? Allow people to think differently about some concepts that are ultimately gonna be very top of mind very, very soon. Right? So that’s a good way to put it.

00:34:19.690 –> 00:34:28.669
Mike Paladino: With that, said Brents. I wanted to thank you for sharing such wonderful insights, and I’m sure the audiences, you know, found these illuminating and got guidance regarding.

00:34:29.015 –> 00:34:38.679
Mike Paladino: you know, navigating senior care more seamlessly to you, the audience. Thanks for tuning in, and until the next episode. This is Mike Paladino signing off.

00:34:38.960 –> 00:34:39.859
Mike Paladino: Thanks, Brent.

00:34:40.090 –> 00:34:40.969
Brent Hensley – Assisted Living Locators: Thank you.