Senior Living Today
Welcome to The Ohio Masonic Communities' podcast Senior Living Today! In this podcast, we will be discussing all aspects of senior living. From debunking myths about senior living to caregiving tips and health and wellness advice for seniors, we are here to answer all of your questions, and what life is like at our communities. We are excited to share our expertise on a variety of senior living topics, with a new podcast every two weeks. We will have a wide variety of guests ranging from experts in the field to those living their best life in one of our communities.
Senior Living Today
How to Succeed as a Family Caregiver: Getting Help to Avoid Burnout
Being a family caregiver takes practical advice and solutions for support. It’s more than saying you can’t pour from an empty cup.
No matter where you’re at in your caregiving journey, the right resources, support, and advice can make your caregiving experience successful.
Support is Crucial
If you know a caregiver, offer more than a blanket statement of support. Be specific about your offer. Support groups are also a great way for caregivers to find support with people going through a similar experience. Even a listening ear goes a long way.
Balance is Key
As a family caregiver, you really do have to take care of yourself. Find ways to prioritize things that take care of you without feeling guilty. Try managing your nutrition and hydration, maintaining your social activities, and keeping up with some of the things that make you feel like yourself.
Know the Warning Signs of Burnout
Burnout can’t always be prevented, but knowing the warning signs can help you address it when it happens. From impatience and irritability to insomnia and getting sick, it’s important to recognize burnout in yourself or a caregiver you know.
Respite and Senior Living can Offer Rest and Peace of Mind
Sometimes caregivers need a break or family caregiving is no longer the best option. Respite stays and senior living are here to offer caregivers rest and peace of mind, whether it’s for a week or long term.
Looking for resources for yourself or a caregiver you know? The Ohio Masonic Communities Resource Center is here to offer support to older adults and caregivers. Give them a call at 1-877-881-1623 or visit https://omcresourcecenter.org/.
The Ohio Masonic Communities' Here to Help guides cover everything from what Alzheimer's is to what senior living community and contract types exist and more. You can access your free copy of the guides by visiting omcoh.org/sltguide.
No matter what you or your loved one needs assistance with, our team is ready to help. Give us a call at 1-877-881-1623 and press option 4 to be connected with our intake coordinator or visit omcresourcecenter.org/slt.
(music) Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Senior Living Today. With me today is Annette Turner, president of Springfield Masonic Community, and Melissa Lunney, Corporate Sales Manager for the Ohio Masonic Communities. Ladies, thank you both so much for joining me today. Thanks for having us back. Good to be here. So before we dive into today's episode, would you mind each telling our listeners a little bit about yourself and what you do for the Ohio Masonic Communities? Sure. I'll go first. So my name is Melissa Lunney, formerly Todd just got married, so getting used to that. And here at the Ohio Masonic Communities I am the Corporate Sales Manager, which allows me to help support all three of our communities all over the state of Ohio by offering different processes to work with our families and get them moved into one of our continuum care retirement campuses. And hi, I'm Annette Turner, I am the president and administrator for the Springfield Masonic Community, and I oversee the entire Springfield campus. And I'm from A to Z, from admissions to discharges and resident concerns or things that are happening, good events and fun things across the campus. I'm here for all of it. Well, I'm excited to have both of you here for today's topic. So National Family Caregivers Month falls in November every year, and it really provides a time to support those who are caring for loved ones. In today's episode, we're going to start by discussing some ways that loved ones and friends can help support the caregivers in their lives. Offering specific help is a phrase that we hear often, and many times people feel like it's simply just what they should be saying. What is your advice for offering, you know, specific help to those in your life who may be providing care? So I get to talk with a lot of families when they are first exploring what senior living options are out there. And I can tell by talking to them whether they're taking on that caregiver role and whether they're doing it successfully or if they're on, you know, the track to really needing that more support. Honestly, it's in their voice. And when we talk about being a caregiver, you know, we all have a network of people around us, whether it's immediate family, children, nieces, nephews, friends from church, neighbors. But yes, it is almost this like auto response to say, like, you know, oh, well, let me know if you need anything. Like we can all pitch ourselves saying it, but it's so much more than that. If you're actually seeing someone struggling with being a caregiver, it's having very set and specific offers like what are you doing Tuesday? Can I bring dinner over? It feels less like a favor to them and more like you're trying to make plans and include them. So it's it's really kind of staying away from some of those general catchphrases and trying to be, like, more impactful with the effort that you're trying to provide them on a specific day at a specific time. And what are we exactly doing that's really going to be a huge help to the caregiver? Yeah, I think that's great advice, Melissa. And, you know, you mentioned the idea of providing dinner. What are some other ways that, the people you can help provide a break for the caregivers that you have in your life. I think, offering to do laundry or maybe cleaning the house once a week. You know, if you're a, a sibling or a grandchild, and you could offer to come over and help with, setting up meds for the week or just something to give that caregiver just a break. Something small. Let them go to the grocery store and you stay home with the loved one just to get a moment or let them go to church and enjoy Sunday. And you stay home with their loved one in the home so that they can just go to church for once and feel at peace about that. And a lot of people won't say what they want. No one wants to ask for help. They feel guilty asking for help. So I think just doing the offer, like Melissa said, not not asking what can I do for you? Telling them what you're going to do for them. That helps take the guilt off of the caregiver. I think even like asking the caregiver, like when their next appointments are is a huge thing too. Like kind of shift it back in perspective, like when is your next commitment? And yeah, can I come over during that time so you're not worried when you leave, you know that someone isn't taking care of or looked after. I agree with all those things Annette. And in addition to providing support and providing a break, maybe they just need somebody to talk to or somebody to listen to them. So what is your advice for that. And kind of just letting that caregiver, you know, talk with you, explain what's going on in their lives. What are your thoughts? My mom was my dad's caregiver and he had Alzheimer's. And she would call and sometimes she just wanted to vent because he doesn't really understand what she's trying to say. And nobody wants to make the person feel any worse. So she would just call and just vent and tell me all her frustrations and the things that were bothering her. And then I would just listen, just I mean, she would go on, sometimes I would have to set the phone down and just keep, you know, just keep listening and doing my things just to let her get it out. Because sometimes there is no one else for them to talk with. It's just them and the and the person, you know, the caregiver and the person. So just letting them express their feelings. And, we do have an Alzheimer's support group here at Springfield Masonic Community the second Monday of every month at 1:00 pm. And I think that is great to give the caregivers a place to come and do something fun with other caregivers that understand what they're going through. So that's something I just suggested to someone who called me from the community recently. Hey, I really think this would do you and your sister good to be around others who understand how you feel. Yeah, going through the same thing. I always have to remind myself in my role, you know, that sometimes when people are calling in and we're talking about, you know, clinical care, needing assisted living, needing memory care because there's a diagnosis that fits that, they don't necessarily want my advice. And that's hard in, you know, my role that they're not here for a solution like a solve all problem. They just want to be heard. So like listening just really validates their experience. So you know I try to just kind of dig into that and put more of like a social worker hat on and I'm like, that sounds really hard. How are you holding up? You know, instead of like offering this solution, I'm just like, wow, that's such important work. What you're doing isn't going unnoticed. Because I think sometimes just that phone call, if you're a family member and you know your mom, your dad, someone's being in that caregiver role, just listening is one of, like, the purest ways to remind a caregiver that they're not invisible, like they're being heard. So yeah, definitely doing that. And another thing that can be tough for caregivers is maintaining social connections with others and that social aspect of their lives because they're so busy providing care for their loved one. So how can loved ones and friends help support the caregivers in their life and make sure that they're still getting that social interaction that they need outside of caregiving? Calling. A phone call means a lot, even if it can only be for a few minutes. Just calling and checking on them, inviting them to things still. Maybe their loved one can go. Maybe they can tolerate a half an hour or an hour of something. So allowing them to come and just be a part and still invite them to things, even if they have to say no, still inviting them because that feels awful when everybody stops inviting you, you know, and you don't even get the invites anymore. It's like you're forgotten, but you're not forgotten. People want you around, so just keep inviting and letting them know you need to come and help them attend and then allow them to come attend. And maybe you stay with the loved one. Yeah, I always remind families too, you know, as far as social connections go for the person that's providing the care is they tend to only have this calendar for this for their loved one, right? Their loved ones’ doctors appointments, their loved ones’ commitments. Like, you still need a calendar for yourself and you still need to have these consistent outings, activities, commitments that are on the calendar. So if you're looking at your calendar and it only includes things for your loved one that fall into that caregiver role, we need to start adding some things on it. Even if it's going out to coffee or having someone bring you coffee, like add it to your calendar so you feel that social interaction and you're looking forward to it. You're not looking forward to the next doctor's appointment or the next task that you have to do, or the next phone call. But you're looking towards, you know, something that could potentially be fun and exciting. Yeah. And I think sometimes it can be really hard for caregivers to find that balance in their lives when they are providing care for a loved one. So, Melissa, that's perfect. I really want to move in next and talk about some tips for caregivers and to help them find that balance. One of the things that kind of seems to go by the wayside is prioritizing their own health. And it can be neglected when they're trying, when they're providing care for somebody else. So why is it so important to make sure that they're still staying focused on keeping healthy themselves? And what are some tips that they can incorporate to help prioritize their own health while still providing care for a loved one? I think they need to definitely focus on their nutrition. You have to make sure you're drinking water and maintaining your own strength, because we all know that the saying is the caregivers get sick before the loved one because they're trying and working so hard to do all of that, and it's hard to provide care for others if you're not well yourself. And we can say that. But people, people really don't take us up on it. I feel they say, yeah, I know, I know, but you really should, you know, if you have nail appointments every week, do your nail appointments to make yourself feel better, you know. Do you have hair appointments? Keep your hair appointments so that you feel good about yourself because if you're no good, you're not going to give good care if you don't feel good enough. Yeah, I always joke, you know, with folks and say, like, you can't pour from an empty cup, you know, like you have to fill your own cup first before you can take on that caregiver role. And it's also considering, like, how long has someone been in this caregiver role? You know, right at the beginning, when you're you're entering this level of purpose, you're entering this level of commitment. You've got your superhero cape on. But that can only last so long. Back to like, your cup being empty over six months, eight months, a year. And then you've gotten in this routine. So you have to take this step back and set some boundaries for yourself. And just make sure you remain a priority. And your health remains a priority because it is, you know, the most terrible thing for some of the families we work with when mom's always taking care of dad, or dad’s always taking care of mom, and then we get the call that that individual is no longer able to do that in a crisis moment. And, and it all starts at the beginning of being a caregiver, not at the year mark, the two year mark, the five year mark. It's got to be this continuous project that you keep bringing back up each month with a new goal to make yourself a little bit more full in a sense. And there is respite care available. So at Springfield Masonic Community we have respite care here where if you want your loved one to come in for a week and stay with us and let us feed them and bathe them and be there for them and give them meds so that you even could go on a cruise. We've had people just go on a cruise with friends just to get a break or, you know, we watch over their loved one. We're used to taking care of people. It's it can be very guilt free because that's our job is to take care of people. So you don't have to feel bad about that. We give people breaks like that all the time. So no one has to feel guilty. But you can take advantage of that. Or, you know, certain payers will pay for that every 30 days, certain things like that. So all you need to do is just ask and reach out. We have a resource center. So you can ask, you know, what kind of things do you think in the Clark County area or a certain county area would be helpful to give me some relief? A respite is such a blessing. And it is, you know, county to county and finding which areas have those programs, what's covered. You know, there's veteran programs if you're a loved one's a veteran. You've got to tap into those resources. I had a family just the other day say, you know, my son's getting married and we're going to be out of town for X amount of time. You know, grandpa can't come. What are we going to do? You know, and it's and it's finding those short term solutions which is what a respite is and setting that family up to like preplan for this little staycation for their loved one while they themselves are going on a vacation. So it's it's very doable. You've just got to reach out to the right people, and get connected with those programs. Yeah, and I think respite care is such a great option that many people might not know about because things do come up, you know, and you need a break yourself. We're talking about self-care and taking care of yourself. Maybe you do need a vacation, or maybe there's a need that you have to travel for work, or maybe something else pops up with your family. So I really think that respite care is a great option to help give someone a little break and still get the care that they need for their loved one during that time. So Annette, earlier you had mentioned, you know, support groups like the Alzheimer's Support Group that you have at Springfield Masonic Community. And I think that's also a great option for caregivers during this time is to connect with other caregivers. And they have this shared experience. So are there other support groups out there for caregivers that they can join, or where else can they find support resources at during this time? There are quite a few different support groups. Often times too the best thing to be looking at is the diagnosis your loved one has. We tend to touch on Alzheimer's support groups because, you know, we have some very impactful memory care programing on our campuses, which we're blessed to have, which kind of, you know, leads us to the focus of Alzheimer's, caregiver burnout and and resources. But there are so many different caregiver support groups based on diagnoses. There's Parkinson's support groups, because that is a totally different neurological decline that someone's experiencing, which is going to be completely different from the caregiver role versus someone who has dementia. There's support groups for even diabetes. There's support groups for MS. You name the diagnosis, I promise you, there is a support group. One of the best resources I, you know, tell folks other than our resource center, being general to Ohio, depending on where you live, check your AARP. That resource center has downloadable guides. It has free webinars. Even if you're not sure where to start google. You know you have Google. YouTube has plenty of support group information that kind of leads you into even virtual or on site, because that's huge, too. We're talking about someone who's already struggling with time to step away. Being a caregiver, there are virtual caregiver support groups for whatever you're going through. So it doesn't matter what county or area, area or region you're in, you’re virtual. So as long as you have a phone, you know, you can jump into that, but definitely check out AARP. That's kind of one of the resources I've been using just because it has such a variety of support entities. So next, I want to discuss caregiver burnout and what that looks like. Let's start with talking about some of the emotional and mental signs of caregiver burnout. What might a caregiver experience? I think one of the things that I see the most from families, and I see it in my right, you know, face to face with the families that come in is a lot of agitation or irritation sometimes that they don't even mean to have. So you might be snapping a little bit or, you know, I've had a few family members who've even, you know, maybe cussed at their loved one a little bit or something. And, you know, they may never have really treated them that way or talk to them that way, but little bit of outbursts, you might say, or something like that, that's not really them. And that's when you know the person is tired, they're tired, they're mentally exhausted from all that they're trying to do and they're overwhelmed. And you can just you can tell by their being impatient. So I think if if as a caregiver you're listening and you're feeling impatient and you're feeling that irritability, you're experiencing caregiver burnout. So you need rest. You need you need time. You need a moment. You need to understand that that is very normal. And that happens when you're getting burnout. Yeah, patience is a huge one. You know, when there's when all of your patience have been used that is going to equal more outbursts and being more irritable and and sharp tooth in your words. We see that a lot, you know, with families who we've worked with for years and years and, and, you know, it's, it's that you're at your break breaking point. Especially when you start turning to being resentful, you know, that that is a feeling. And it's a valid feeling for all the effort that you have done. But that is a huge cry for some help that it's time to reach out, you know, to a campus or community. Because that's not the real you. You're just at a level of, you know, low that needs to be addressed. And, and it can be fixed and solved. And no one is, you know, upset that you had an outburst or you were rude or snippy. We completely understand that you are tired and we do not take it personally. We honestly just accept it as a, as a stage of this caregiver burnout that we can help with. I think when you're feeling like you're empty or if you're feeling like, oh, I might be a little depressed or I'm getting, I'm having mood swings or something. All of those symptoms are symptoms of caregiver burnout. And it's very normal to have that. I think it might not be your normal as a caregiver, but it's normal for caregiver burnout. And that means, hey, you need to recognize and step back and do something about it because you don't want to mistreat your loved one or let it get out of control, or let something happen because you were so impatient and so tired. You didn't mean for that to happen. Absolutely. And physical symptoms of caregiver burnout can also exist. What might those look like? Oh, insomnia. I think that's a huge one. Which is the worst thing. You know, they're up all hours of the night, maybe changing a soiled bed that was an accident. But then they can't wind back down. You know, their level of sleep is so disrupted. And I also hear a lot of folks say, you know, they just have, like, a chronic headache. You know, they're so tired that then their their headache is just ongoing, never ending, because they're constantly thinking about the next thing or task that they need to do or complete. I think one thing too when you start feeling overwhelmed or when your, you know, workload is really high and you notice you're not sleeping well, you're not eating enough, you're not even you're forgetting to drink, you know, during the day or whatever. You definitely get a lowered resistance and you start feeling sick or you catch illnesses a little quicker and you'll say, man, I just got over a cold and now I'm feeling this way, you know? And so that that is definitely a symptom because, you know, lack of energy, really, really tired. Those things that happen because you're doing so much and don't even realize sometimes how much you're doing for two people or more. And I, to your point Annette, you know, that's not a part of aging, that is a part of being tired and caregiver burnout. I don't want people to, like, confuse the fact that they might be, you know, 70 or 80 caring for their spouse or a loved one, and they're like, well, you know, the way I'm feeling is just a part of aging. No it's not. It is a part of being tired and a lack of the general nutrition and socialization and, you know, things that your body needs. So please don't confuse that. If you're listening to this too and you’re, you have a mom and dad and mom’s trying to take care of dad or dad’s trying to take care of mom, and you're kind of sitting back and watching all this wondering, you know, how soon before I step in. If you notice someone losing weight, you know, if you notice someone's eyes, you know, are a little different. You know, you can tell in their eyes or in the way they're acting, you know, that's when their time is to step in. It's time to step in and help and be the person for that caregiver. Absolutely. And there might come a time when being an in-home caregiver is no longer an option for your loved one. But there are alternatives out there to make sure that your loved ones are still getting the care that they need. So I want to talk through some of those and share those with our listeners. Let's start with assisted living. Who is that right for? And what does assisted living include? Assisted living is more of a very home like apartment style living with meals, laundry, you know, housekeeping. You can get medication management if the person needs it. You can have assistance with personal care such as showers, or helping, you know, put on Ted hose or something like that. Assisted living is not 24 hour nurse, you know, whereas if you're, you can also get respite in assisted living. You know, you can ask in assisted living for a respite stay. It doesn't have to be long term care respite stay. It could be assisted living because maybe your loved one does pretty well, watches TV all day, but they do need help with showers and meds every day. That's an easy respite. That's a very easy respite for an assisted living. Yeah. For me, you know, assisted living because we have so many levels of care on our campuses. I try to explain it to families that it really bridges the gap between someone being 100% independent and being honest with those independent categories. If your loved one can't drive, they're not completely independent. If your loved one can't cook, they're not completely independent. But that's okay. There are still a multitude of things that they can do for themselves, so assisted living bridges the gap between the areas that they are independent in and the areas that they aren't independent in, and that's exactly what we do, you know, in assisted living every day or in, we're empowering those independent moments or activities or interests, but then we're there to help for more of the scheduled services like you mentioned Annette, you know, we can help someone take a shower, we can help someone, you know, get up every morning if if the up part of the day is a little bit harder than going to bed, we can help someone with their medications. You know, it's really just something that we're used to doing in assisted living because we're tailoring it to the things that someone needs help with. And often we rely on the caregivers before they move into assisted living to tell us, like, what does a normal day look like for you and your loved one? Because we are going to do our best to replicate that here at one of our Communities and instead of you being the caregiver, we have those roles and you're going to go back to being the family member. And then for those who might need a little bit more care, health care centers, which are also commonly referred to as nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities, might be a good fit. So can you explain to our listeners the type of care that's provided in a health care center and what makes it different from assisted living? So in our health care centers, we have, we provide the highest level of care so we can do everything they need, anything they need. You know, if someone is not able to get out of bed, stays in bed most of the day, we can meet their needs. We can help them eat. We can set up their meals. We can cut their meals up for them, sit them up in the bed and make sure they get one on one activities and visits. Around the clock medical care is what the nursing home or the skilled nursing facility, healthcare facility will provide. Personal assistance. All medicine. You know, we can help with if someone has a feeding tube. We can help If someone has a catheter. Any kind of wound vac or anything that they have, we are able to meet those needs in that regard. Oxygen, you know, all of those things that we could, we could do for a respite stay or, you know, some I've had some people who come for a respite stay and thought you know what? This wasn't as bad as I thought. This is a wonderful campus, a beautiful facility. The care was awesome. I'm just going to go ahead and let my loved one stay there. And that happens many times because they've just they just needed to try it and understand that that it it really is okay. Oh, that's so funny. And this really isn't that bad. It's like, no it's not. We, we've built, you know, multiple communities around caring for seniors. And yes Annette explained some of like the most complex care health needs that are out there. That's a huge different than what the scope and acuity of assisted living can provide. We can't do tube feeds in an assisted living environment. It's not safe. It's a very complex care. So, you know, making sure you're putting your loved one too, in the right care area because the care acuity is so different in a traditional assisted living versus your skilled nursing facilities or your, quote unquote, nursing homes. But, yeah, you know, I'm just glad that we have that respite option so we can give folks a break, give them a trial, and I wish more people would stay. And there's also memory care communities, which are designed specifically for those who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or another type of dementia. So can you explain the specialized care that would be provided in a memory care community? In a memory care community in our Ohio Masonic Communities we have 24 seven care. So that means nurses and aides are right there available. We have dietary and housekeeping. We have an activities personnel and specialized activities for memory care or dementia patients. And it's also a very secure building. I don't like to use the word lockdown, but it's I like to say secure because it's okay to be secure, because secure is safe. There's a lot of people out there that say, well, dad wanders, you know, he walks around the neighborhood and comes back. Well, when's the time going to be when dad doesn't make it back. because they’re confused. So these secure units are great. And they even have, you know, gardens, usually beautiful gardens that are secure also, so the patients can still go outside. The residents, loved ones can go outside. You can go outside with them as their caregiver or their loved one or their wife or their husband and have a good time in those settings. And they have beautiful areas to, you know, sitting areas, things like that, that just provide a really nice quality of life environment, but are still very safe compared to being at home, where you might not have the proper locks or the proper methods to keep it safe to where they can't get to, you know, the keys to the car, or you can get into the shed where there are tools that are unsafe. This environment is specifically organized and made for specialized care in that. And the folks that work down there, they're very used to those, those type of patients. They're used to being asked several times a day the same question sometimes, or being asked, you know, where am I several times a day. And redirecting. They have techniques on how to redirect someone when that happens and not to get agitated. You know, they get to go home after 8 to 12 hours and they get a break, right? So that's a good thing too. It's it's not the same caregivers seven days in a row, 24 hours a day, like at home. These caregivers rotate in and out and they get a break. I laughed at your locked term because yeah, we do not use that. You know, it's really about the specialized care and safety that memory care can provide. And remember too for our listeners, there is assisted living memory care. And there is also memory care that's available in the long term care setting. Those again are two completely different areas typically of a campus, of a building, of wherever you're looking. But you have to make sure the scope of care is falling in line with your loved one. So yes, there is traditional assisted living, licensed memory cares, and there are that higher complex acuity. But both designed with the safety security in mind. And I always tell families, you know, it's not about, keeping your loved ones locked in, right? Because they use that term back at me. I tell them we're keeping the bad out because the external factors are more scary than what your loved one's going through with their diagnosis, the fact that they could, you know, allow someone into their home that has not good intentions. I use the term and the phrase that, you know, we're keeping the good in and we're keeping the bad out because that is exactly what we are trying to protect them from. And too, if you're looking for a community for your loved one because providing care yourself is no longer an option, I think continuing care retirement communities are a great option to look at. Can you explain to our listeners what a continuing care retirement community is and the benefits of that? So we call that CCRC for short. This just allows people to transition as they need to as they age in place. I like to say age in place. So if you're in independent living and you get to where you aren't really being safe with the stove anymore, and you probably shouldn't be somewhere where there's a stove or you are not taking your meds properly. And so as a loved one you're coming in and you're seeing you know, a lot of the, in your, in your med-minder you’re, you’re noticing many days are still in there. So that means they're not taking their meds every day. That can become very scary, right? That's that's probably not healthy. That's probably not good. So those little signs are things that happen. And when that happens you might say, okay, it might be time for assisted living, but you're still on the same campus with the same staff surrounding you, the same leaders, the same folks in charge of things that you are from the independent living to the assisted living. And then, you know, something happens. Maybe you're in assisted living and and you have a stroke or something happens, you fall and fracture and, and it's a really bad break. So you might need to come to rehab, but on the same campus with the same faces all around you, the same meals, the same cooks. All of that is very, very, something I would want. I would want the same. I would, you know, people don't like change. It's hard on the elderly to change a bunch. So being here and just being able to go to all levels of care, depending on your needs as you age in place, that's what we're here for. And that's why I love the CCRC’s. I tell families that, you know, being on a continuum care retirement campus is the best decision you will make. You know, as you're exploring all these options, if you are genuinely looking at a standalone independent living-only assisted living-only campus, you have not educated yourself on the broad scope of the aging senior population, because there are so many risk and health factors that were not factoring in to that single decision and that single scope of care. You've got to have that point of reality touch to say my loved one might need more than they do today. So I, I just strongly encourage folks to really look at the care and the acuity that's provided on a continuum of care, and then also the continuity. When someone does go from independent living to assisted living and has a fall and then goes to rehab, it is the same campus communicating about the same person. And that is such a blessing to have that continuity of care not only to the the resident or the patient, but to that family. We've already worked with them. We know them. We know their dynamic. We know not to call before 5. We know not to call, you know, on Mondays, like, whatever those little anomalies may be, we've already developed that relationship with your family because you've chosen us and you've chosen a CCRC. Yeah. And I really think that a CCRC can provide peace of mind to that family as well. If, you know, a crisis were to occur, if a need in care changes, they can just move to the same campus. You're not starting all over, you're not searching, trying to find the right community for mom or dad. They're already there. They already have all their friends there. They know everybody that works there. So it's just an easier transition if something were to change. So before we close out today, are there any additional words of advice that either of you would like to share with those who might be in the caregiver role? I think I would just love to say, you know, people think it's scary to maybe come to a nursing home or an assisted living. You know, that a very guilty feeling about that. I would just say come check us out, come have dinner with us or lunch on us. And, you know, see for yourself what it's like. You know, we, I enjoy this job. I love being around the people I take care of and their families. So there are very good people on these campuses that are here and enjoy taking care of your loved one. So it's not a scary place. We eat here. We we, you know, we say we live here. This is our second home. We're here for you. So come, come see us, you know? And don't be afraid. The only additional thing I would like to say to our caregivers is that, remember, asking for help does not make you weak. And remember that caring for yourself is a part of caring for them. So don't forget us if you need us. We're here as well. I think those are both great pieces of advice. Well, thank you both again for joining me today. I really appreciated having you here to have this conversation with our caregivers. For our listeners, as always, be sure to like and subscribe to the Senior Living today podcast so that you never miss a new episode. And we will be back again in two weeks.(music)
