WHEN OLDER ADULTS DECIDE the time is right to move into a senior living community, they know the transition will be a difficult one, even if the community they’re joining has plenty of benefits to offer. Leaving behind one’s long-time home—where a family was raised and many years of memories were made—is no small step. After making such a dramatic change and getting settled in a new community, the last thing they want to do is move yet again just because their care needs have changed.
Seniors who choose The Gardens of St. Francis, a CHI Living Community located in Oregon, Ohio, needn’t worry that a change in health status will require them to move to a different facility. According to Kristy Wortketter, the community’s Director of Marketing, once residents enter The Gardens of St. Francis, they can rest assured they’ve found a forever home. “We understand that moving once is a big enough hurdle after living in the same home for many decades. So, our goal is that residents who come here requiring a certain level of care can remain here as their needs progress.”
The ability to make this commitment to residents depends on a facility’s continuum of care—which at The Gardens of St. Francis encompasses multiple levels, ranging from assisted living to skilled nursing and long-term care.
The assisted-living option includes apartment-style housing along with additional services that can be as simple as housekeeping, laundry, and meals, or higher-level care services such as help with bathing, dressing, grooming, medication management, or other activities of daily living. The staff’s fundamental goal at this level is to provide residents the support services they need while preserving their independence and ability to make choices to the extent possible.
For residents who are experiencing cognitive challenges, such as the onset of dementia, The Gardens of St. Francis offers memory care assisted living. “This level of care is provided in a secured—but warm and wel coming—apartment-style setting and includes programming that’s more specific to dementia,” Wortketter says. “In addition to addressing the cognitive aspect of residents’ care, this level also provides assistance with activities of daily living as needed.”
Along with two different levels of assisted living, The Gardens of St. Francis offers both skilled nursing and long-term care. Wortketter explains that the skilled-nursing level is for short-term residents who need physical, occupational, and/ or speech therapy before returning home. “The goal at this level is to rehabilitate residents so they can get home and back to their normal lives as safely and successfully as possible,” she states.
Long-term care is an appropriate option for full-time residents who need more intensive nursing assistance and help with daily activities, for example the use of a lift to get in and out of bed, as well as close, 24/7 observation.
Having access to a full continu um of care in the same facility also means residents can expect a certain degree of continuity in the staff they interact with as they progress from one care level to the next. For example, Wortketter notes, residents will continue to see many of the same medical professionals at each level, so they won’t have to reestablish their medical history, clinical background, list of medications, etc. with each transition. All of that information will simply carry over.
At every care level, Gardens of St. Francis residents enjoy regular social interaction and are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of stimulating and fulfilling activities. “In addition, being a faith-based community, not only do we offer regular church services in our chapel, but we also integrate our mission of ‘making the healing presence of God known in our world’ into every aspect of our care and everything we do. We truly care for the whole person—body, mind, and soul,” says Wortketter. ✲
