WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GO INTO A SENIOR CAREGIVING CAREER? When I grew up, I was very, very close with my grandparents. My grandfather ended up having Alzheimer's, and I saw the way he was being treated in a nursing home. I wanted to make a difference working in assisted living and create a caring environment that helps the folks living there.
WHAT DUTIES DOES YOUR JOB ENTAIL? I’ve managed multiple sites in this industry for 17 years. About 60% of my job is resident interaction while 40% is overseeing and managing other directors. I’ll usually work an average of 50-60 hours every week.
WHAT KIND OF RESIDENTS DO YOU CARE FOR? We look after about 97 residents at HarborChase. There are around 30 residents in our memory care unit, and the remaining 67 residents are in regular assisted living. Assisted living residents are more independent — there’s not as much hands-on care they need. But in memory care, there’s eight residents to one care partner.
HOW DO YOU CATER TO RESIDENTS’ NEEDS? We have very detailed programming that is set up to meet the resident’s capabilities. If they’re pretty advanced in the disease process, then we’ll have simpler programming for them to do, while the higher functioning residents would be doing some more skilled activities such as painting. We meet them wherever they’re at.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH CONCERNS SURROUNDING COVID-19? Elderly folks are a high-risk group, so in order to protect them we were required to limit visitation. This was particularly tough from a social aspect. We started screening all residents and associates for COVID-19, took daily temperature checks and exercised precaution and high vigilance of social distancing.
HOW HAS COVID-19 IMPACTED YOUR SENIOR CARE? Our team has created innovative solutions such as our Togetherness Suite, which allows residents to visit outside in a private suite area. We also have virtual visits for families since we were not able to allow visitation inside the community.
DO THE RESPONSIBILITIES EVER BECOME TOO MUCH? Our caretakers enjoy coming here and interacting with the residents. The hours are long, but the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life really recharges our batteries. This is not just a job for us — it’s a calling.