Sunrise Senior Living, one of the largest providers of senior living services
with more than 440 communities worldwide, announced today that it is bringing
an innovative independent senior living community to Colorado’s Front Range.
The Stratford at FlatIrons leverages Sunrise’s nearly three decades of serving
seniors by combining this expertise with a distinguishing approach to senior
living that will offer residents and their families the type of active,
fulfilling lifestyle they have come to expect.  While Sunrise currently
operates 10 assisted living communities in the state, this is the first
independent living community that will also offer assisted living and a full
range of healthcare services.

The Stratford, to be located at 400 Summit Blvd., in the popular FlatIrons
area, is a full-service, amenity-rich senior living community.  Through its
broad offering of services and amenities, coupled with on-site assisted
living, memory care programs, rehabilitation and in-home health care
coordination, The Stratford will be well positioned to cater to seniors with
varying needs.

With about 130 employees, The Stratford will feature a Southwestern motif
and mountain-like design.  The community is set to debut in May 2009 and
recently opened its sales gallery at 549 FlatIron Blvd., Unit B in Broomfield,
80021, (303) 466-2422.  At the sales gallery, visitors can view floor plans
and learn more about the broad range of features and amenities that can be
found at The Stratford, including:

– Concierge services to assist residents with requests such as dining and
entertainment reservations, transportation arrangements, appointment
reminders, dog walking, personal errands and much more

– Maintenance and housekeeping services

– State-of-art fitness center and personal training as well as in-home
exercise programming

– Full-service spa and salon
– A 60-seat theatre for movies and theatrical performances
– Art Studio
– Casual and formal dining venues including a bistro bar
– In-room food service
– Private dining rooms and catering for parties and events
– Extensive library
– Club and game room
– Business Center and wireless internet access areas
– In-home care coordination and support services
– Geriatric case management
– Outpatient rehabilitation clinic

 

In addition to on-site assisted living, memory care and in-home health
care coordination, The Stratford will also offer rehabilitation services;
comprehensive health and wellness programs, which include screenings, support
groups and wellness lectures; 24-hour voice-to-voice emergency response
systems; and 24-hour security monitoring.

“The Stratford at FlatIrons is an exciting, new community for Sunrise
whereby we are integrating our long-standing experience as a pioneer in senior
living with a full menu of exceptional amenities, personalized services and a
host of life-enriching options for residents — all of which will be
seamlessly offered under one roof.  We believe The Stratford is a community
that seniors and their families will find exciting, appealing and comfortable.
The Stratford is distinguishing itself in the marketplace based on its ability
to cater to independent seniors who take comfort in knowing that they have the
opportunity to live life on their own terms at this full-service, all-
encompassing community,” explained Jennifer Teague, executive director for The
Stratford.

Luveda Fern Kessler fell and cut her leg as she got out of bed at her Laguna Hills assisted living apartment.The 83-year-old woman did as she had been told to do: Press a personal emergency response call button, according to a recent lawsuit. Bleeding from the two-inch gash she waited for help. Twenty-four minutes later, at 1:57 a.m., an unidentified staffer at Villa Valencia Health Care Center called 911, the filing says.

“Is there a nurse with the patient?” the dispatcher asks the staffer.

“No, there’s not a nurse here right now,” the staffer replied.

“OK, are you able to control the bleeding with some pressure?” the dispatcher later asks.

The staffer replies: “I’m trying to find it right now … the bleeding, where it’s coming from.”

Paramedics arrived at 2:10 a.m. Kessler lay on her stomach, nonresponsive. She was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Villa Valencia did not report the Aug. 23, 2007, incident to the state. Officials only became aware of the case after being contacted by The Orange County Register for this article.

Kessler’s death has led to a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court last month against Villa Valencia and its owner, Sunrise Senior Living Inc. The 911 tape will be used as evidence in the trial, according to Richard Cohn, who represents Kessler’s surviving relatives.

“They let my mom bleed to death,” said Kessler’s daughter, Joanne. “I thought that was the best place for her. … Her death was completely preventable.”

Sara Krueger, a spokeswoman for Sunrise Senior Living, said she could not comment on Kessler’s demise because of the pending litigation. “Sunrise’s first priority is the health and safety of our residents and we take all allegations very seriously,” she said.

She added that the company does train staffers on when to call 911, and how to assist residents while paramedics are en route. She declined to give more specifics on training.

The Virginia-based company – which runs 445 senior centers internationally – has garnered criticism in two other lawsuits this year over care of residents at Villa Valencia’s adjacent nursing home unit.

Alot of people contact me qith questions regarding senior living costs, more specifically assisted living costs.Here’s a partial list of average monthly assisted living costs around the country according to the MetLife study:

Statewide, AK - $3,757	Des Moines, IA $2,139
Birmingham, AL $2,441	Boise, ID $2,317
Little Rock, AR $2,011	Peoria, IL $2,008
Tucson, AZ $2,057	Fort Wayne, IN $2,638
San Diego, CA $2,103	Wichita, KS $2,347
San Francisco, CA $2,630	Louisville, KY $2,438
Denver, CO $2,056	New Orleans, LA $2,418
Stamford, CT $4,327	Boston, MA $3,424
Washington, DC $3,920	Silver Spring, MD $3,718
Wilmington, DE $3,782	Billings, MT $2,339
Orlando, FL $2,000	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX $2,361
Atlanta, GA $2,535	Milwaukee, WI $2,798
Honolulu, HI $3,112

Rates for assisted living and independent living fell noticeably in 2007.The assisted living occupancy rate slid from a peak of 91.5% in the first quarter of 2007 to 89.8% in the second quarter of 2008, continuing a consistent downward path, according to MAP officials at the annual meeting of NIC in Chicago.

Independent living’s occupancy rate also decreased from a high of 93.8% in the first quarter of last year to 91.4% in the second quarter of 2008, a sign that supply had grown faster than demand. A crowd of 1,600 attended the 18th annual NIC conference, which was held at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) released a Special Issue Brief that describes the use of computerized brain fitness tools being offered to seniors housing residents as part of comprehensive wellness program. The Brief was prepared for ASHA by Alvaro Fernandez, co-founder and CEO of SharpBrains, a recognized thought leader in the growing science-based brain fitness market.

The 15-page report, entitled “Brain Fitness Centers in Senior Housing: A Field in the Making,” provides an overview of the brain fitness field with four case studies that shed light on the use of brain fitness centers in seniors housing communities, including those operated by Senior Star Living of Tulsa, OK, Belmont Village Senior Living of Houston, TX, and Erickson Retirement Communities of Catonsville, MD.

In releasing the Special Issue Brief, David Schless, ASHA’s President, noted, “This report truly underscores how cutting-edge technology and science are being used to enhance the lives of seniors. It is particularly exciting to contemplate the enormous potential impact that computerized cognitive assessments and training can have for seniors housing residents.” According to the author, Alvaro Fernandez, “This is the very first publication in the field of brain fitness to address specific considerations related to seniors housing, expanding on our general market report released earlier this year. It is very conceivable that the early and enthusiastic adaptation of cognitive fitness, supported by the solid measurement of outcomes reported in the Brief, will help to transform the way in which the general population perceives seniors housing.”

A limited number of copies of the Special Issue Brief are available for purchase at ASHA’s online bookstore at www.seniorshousing.org and at www.sharpbrains.com.

The American Seniors Housing Association (ASHA) was created in 1991 by a number of leading seniors housing providers seeking an effective voice on Capitol Hill. Today, ASHA’s membership has grown to 350 companies that develop, operate, and finance the entire spectrum of seniors housing. ASHA’s membership owns and/or manages more than 600,000 units of senior apartments, independent living, assisted living, and continuing care retirement communities. Over the years, ASHA’s members have come to rely on the Association for its expertise in three key areas - federal advocacy; seniors housing research; and networking and exchange of strategic business information. For more information, visit www.seniorshousing.org or call 202-237-0900.

Source:www.businesswire.com

Two years after Kelly “Buck” Whitesides disappeared from Unique Living, an assisted living facility he called home for only a week another resident is missing.Eight days after he was reported missing, Whitesides, 59, a diabetic with a history of strokes and heart problems, was found dead less than 300 yards from the facility.

History appeared to be repeating itself Wednesday when another Unique Living resident vanished.Officials set up shop in the parking lot of Burns High School - less than two miles from the assisted living facility - Wednesday evening and canvassed the 1.7 mile stretch between the two buildings.It was in there, according to Cleveland County Assistant Fire Marshal Perry Davis, that they hoped to find Tang Mouy, 46.

With a N.C. Highway Patrol helicopter flying overhead, Lawndale and Fallston firemen, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and K-9 division and the fire marshal’s office took part in the search for the native of Cambodia.

According to the missing person’s report, Mouy was last seen around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday after refusing to take her medication. A short time later, the report read, a teacher at Burns High called and asked if they were missing an Asian resident. A staff member was sent to the student parking lot, where Mouy was last seen, but could not find her.

“Mr. (Gregory) Oates (supervisor at Unique Living) stated that Ms. Mouy was capable of living a normal life,” read the report by Deputy J.M. Bradley. “He stated she did have an illness but managed it well.”

The report read that Oates expected Mouy to return on her own. But, 12 hours after she was reported missing, the search continued.

Calls were made Wednesday to the facility but there was no answer.

source:gastsongazzette.com

Assisted Living communities throughout the country will celebrate National Assisted Living Week Sept. 7 through 13.

The theme of the week is Filling Life with Love, and it focuses on the role of communities, including residents, family members, volunteers and health care professionals. Numerous activities and events are planned in assisted living communities during this week to honor those who live and work in assisted living communities.

Potentially harmful medication administration errors are very rare in assisted living settings, the result of a study of 12 facilities in three states suggests.

Assisted living facilities are a less expensive alternative to skilled nursing facilities, offering residents more independence and a homier environment. Medication errors are a concern in these settings, lead investigator Dr. Heather M. Young of Oregon Health and Science University in Ashland and her colleagues say, because aides with no licensing or professional training are typically charged with distributing drugs to residents.

To investigate the prevalence of medication errors, the researchers observed 29 unlicensed assistive personnel giving out medications to 510 assisted living residents at facilities in New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. They watched 56 “medication passes,” including both day and night shifts, for a total of 4,866 observations.

Young and her team observed 1,373 errors, for an error rate of 28.2 percent. But 70.8 percent of the errors were time-related, meaning a patient didn’t get a drug within an hour of the scheduled dosing time. Once time was removed from the analysis, the error rate was 8.2 percent.

Other causes of errors included wrong dose (12.9 percent), skipped dose (11.1 percent), extra dose (3.5 percent), unauthorized drug (1.5 percent) and wrong drug (0.2 percent),Young’s team reports in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Only three of the errors observed had potential clinical significance, according to the researchers, and none of the errors were considered “highly likely to cause harm.”

None of the time-related errors involved giving medications for which timing was crucial, such as insulin. Because medication is typically given out to assisted living residents twice a day at a standardized time, the researchers say, “a high number of wrong-time errors is not surprising, and given the lack of clinical significance of the errors observed, is probably not a meaningful indicator of quality.”

The researchers did find that errors were more likely to occur with riskier medications, like insulin or the blood thinning drug warfarin, which are typically given to patients “in less stable and predictable conditions.”

They suggest that prioritizing the administration of high-risk drugs, as well as the care of patients with more complex health issues, could help prevent serous medication errors and improve the quality of care.

Did you know that Sunrise Senior Living is the largest global provider of senior living alternatives? Below is an overview of Sunrise Senior Living. 

Sunrise Senior Living, based in McLean, Va., employs approximately 40,000 people. As of March 31, 2008, Sunrise operated 441 communities in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, with a combined capacity for more than 54,000 residents. At quarter end, Sunrise also had 40 communities under construction in these countries with a combined capacity for 5,300 additional residents. Sunrise offers a full range of personalized senior living services, including independent living, assisted living, care for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss, as well as nursing, rehabilitative and hospice care. Sunrise’s senior living services are delivered by staff trained to encourage the independence, preserve the dignity, enable freedom of choice and protect the privacy of residents.

Source and to learn more about Sunrise, please visit http://www.sunriseseniorliving.com.

 

I hear alot about added safety features for residents in Senior Living Communites. This by far is one ofthe best investments.

Philips Senior Living Solutions provides resident safety products, software and services specifically designed for Senior Living communities.  Senior Living Solutions

Philips Senior Living Solutions provides a complete line of resident safety products, software and services specifically designed for Senior Living communities. Our focus is on the safety, health and wellness of residents in independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.

The CarePoint Resident Safety System is a state-of-the-art solution built upon a proven wireless infrastructure. It offers a broad-ranging suite of modular components that fully integrate to work as one. CarePoint is designed to seamlessly integrate with your existing life safety systems - whether fire, security, wandering, or egress - to provide a “bubble” of comprehensive safety coverage over your entire facility. Emergency call options include personal help buttons , fixed help devices , wandering monitors , active and passive resident check-in devices, smoke detectors , pagers , and resident communicators.

Visit http://www.lifelineseniorliving.com for more information.