Manchester resident Betty McCandless was living in Independent Living for
far too long, her daughters said. They finally decided to make a change,
and since July Betty has been at Manchester Place Care Homes at Spring
Valley.“We should have moved her much sooner,” her daughter
Marcy said. “It took us a long time to find the right place. We’d
leave several homes feeling empty and cold. We knew they weren’t
for us. So we kept searching. Now? No regrets. We’re so happy and
thankful for Manchester.”
Personalized Senior Care
For someone with a family member in any kind of senior care, it’s
important that each resident is catered to uniquely. That’s difficult
to do in a large, big name independent living facility. Like a giant hotel,
all residents get identical treatment and must often fend for themselves.
In addition, when residents request help, they may not get a response
for several minutes or sometimes hours, which may often be too late. At
a minimum, the delay in response time can be both frustrating and demoralizing
for the residents. “Here, our needs are anticipated,” said
Betty’s granddaughter, Meredith McClain. “By the time I go
and ask a question, they’ve already thought it through and taken
care of it.”
Meredith was hoping to get some specific items for her grandmother onto
the Manchester shopping list, which incorporates items unique to each
patient’s needs. House manager Sharon Ford informed Meredith that
they already added the items to the list and her grandmother’s things
would be delivered within a day.“We love the fact that they go shop
for the residents,” Meredith said. “They already inventoried
all her needs, and that left me so shocked and happy. They did it all.”
Attention to Safety and Health
In addition to such individualized care, it’s important that family
members are able to reach those in charge of their loved one’s health.
The McCandless family has been very happy to be in such fluid contact
with the doctor, Dr. Newcomer, who visits the homes regularly and as needed.
Just recently, they needed to replace Betty’s hearing aids; Dr.
Newcomer was more than willing to meet with them to sort it out. It’s
important for loved ones to experience those open lines of communication.
Everyone knows that safety is a concern for someone who is fragile and
aging. Staff at Manchester take every precaution, including one in particular
that’s tech-savvy.
“We have been using these pads placed underneath the residents’
mattresses,” Sharon said. “They monitor weight fluctuation
- in other words, if the resident is moving. For residents who are at
higher risk for falling, we use these so that if there’s a chance
they’ve forgotten to ask for assistance, we can be notified in the
main area of the house that the resident is on the move and we can head
back there to check on them.”
The McCandless family has peace of mind knowing that this and other precautions
are being put to use, Kathy said.
Happy Environment
It’s an unfortunate stigma that senior care facilities have depressing
environments. That could might be true at many places which don’t
consider residents’ needs, desires or ambitions. Not only does a
cold, stagnant environment have a negative impact on residents and their
health, but it provides a huge obstacle to family members visiting, which
in turn has a negative impact on the residents who may become lonely and
depressed. Here, at Manchester, with our happy, homelike atmosphere and
devotion to each family’s specific needs, we have family visiting
all the time - out of pure choice and not obligation. “Sometimes,
residents in nursing homes go months without visitors,” Sharon said.
“But here, we’ve got family coming in weekly, and sometimes
daily.”
Betty’s daughters Marcy, Kathy and Meredith come in several times
a week. One thing they noticed, Kathy said, is how happy Betty is with
Manchester’s daily programming, including the accordion player who
performs at Betty’s home on Sundays. “They don’t just
do the bare minimum,” she added. “They put details into their
work; they’ve got a bubble machine going during the accordion performance,
and not to mention how we love the birds they have and also fresh flowers
on display throughout the week.”
Senior Socializing and Quality of Life
Another great upside of taking Betty out of independent living is her more
recent willingness to socialize. When she was in independent living, she
never wanted to venture out for dinner hardly at all, Meredith said. Her
door was always shut and meals were served in her room. “But ever
since we moved her to Manchester It’s always, ‘Leave my door
open,’ or ‘I’m going to dinner.’”
Betty is happier now and enjoying her own space, her daughters said, unlike
when she was in independent living where she had to share a space, suffer
from neglect and live without important individual needs met. We at Manchester
are thrilled that Betty is now a member of the Manchester family and is
being taken care of like we take care of our own family members - with
kindness, love, compassion, and personalized care that has lead to a far
better quality of life.