Many people considering senior living are concerned about whether or not they will be just another face in the crowd rather than receive the focused and bespoke attention they require and desire. Rest assured that with an individually crafted care plan, a quality assisted living community or senior continuum community should support you specifically so that you thrive brilliantly – today and into the future.

What Is a Care Plan in Senior Living?

When moving into an assisted living community or memory care community, a written care plan will outline measures of care and support to address your unique needs. Care plans play a fundamental role in senior living communities and serve as a blueprint for personalized support that enriches your physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual wellness.

Why Is a Senior Living Care Plan So Important?

By developing and implementing a care plan, your team can communicate and collaborate effectively. This enables the senior living community to improve how it structures its approach and its quality of care. The result: You can trust your new caregivers, settle in comfortably, and enjoy greater independence and vitality than you might have ever thought possible.

How Are Senior Care Plans Created?

In developing a comprehensive care plan, senior living community care teams (wellness directors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, and other advisors) conduct discussions about and assessments of the resident. They incorporate first-person feedback from the resident and/or their family and their physicians and health professionals. Your whole team will:

• Evaluate your status, ongoing needs, and preferences.
• Set common goals and objectives to reflect your wishes and needs.
• Determine what particular strategies and interventions will accomplish your goals.
• Coordinate among themselves who will provide scheduled care and assistance.
• Put it into writing so that everyone stays on the same page.

Ultimately, you and your team work together toward outcomes and a vibrant lifestyle that benefits you.

What Is In a Senior Living Care Plan?

In a senior living community that adopts a relationship-centered approach, your team will pay close attention to those things that influence your individualized care. Among the factors in your personal care plan, you may define your:

• Strategy for familiarizing yourself – and excelling – with your new community, routine, and neighbors.
• Medical requirements – your chronic conditions, functional limitations, essential medical care and therapies, medications and treatments, dietary restrictions and sensitivities, etc.
• Personal preferences, such as values, cultural background, religion/spirituality, lifestyle essentials, choices, experiences and achievements, etc.
• Social needs – the activities, interests, and hobbies that you like and talents and skills you possess and can share.
• Daily living activities that require assistance – from household chores and transportation to personal tasks including, showering, personal care, getting dressed, using the restroom, eating, being escorted around the community, managing your medication, etc.
• Memory-related conditions, if any – Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or another form of memory loss – to provide specialized recreation and activities, brain health fitness programming, and behavioral support, plus extra safety precautions, including wander protection.
• Financial arrangements– your available resources and how you’ll fulfill financial matters.
• Primary contacts in your family who will act as liaisons with the community and/or designated medical and financial powers of attorney.
• Age-related changes that occur over time.
• Ultimately, “the plan” is to figure out what everyone will do to keep you – and precisely you – as healthy and happy as possible.

Do Care Plans Ever Change?

Yes, they can. Understand that over time, your care needs may increase, decrease, or shift. That’s why senior living community teams cultivate relationships with each resident, their family members, and their physicians and health professionals, and schedule regular care plan meetings, to reassess a resident’s care needs and adjust them proactively. Any documentation should also be modified, to maintain an accurate written record of your journey and ensure consistency moving forward.

Do Independent Living Residents Receive a Care Plan?

Typically, seniors in independent living do not need or receive the same kind of care plan, per se, since they’re capable of tending to themselves and their homes more privately, and without much help. However, they should still enjoy personalized attention from a thoughtful team, alongside the carefree perks of community living – amenities and services that relieve upkeep and chores, serve up restaurant-style dining, and both curated and casual activities and events that foster friendships.

What If I Pick Independent Living Now, But Need a Care Plan in the Future?

It's crucial to note that although you may think independent living is what you require currently, assisted living or memory care could certainly become necessary down the line. For instance, while residing in independent living, you could realize that some responsibilities and tasks are increasingly too difficult or dangerous or that you’re encountering issues with your memory. In that case, transitioning into a different care level – assisted living or memory care – might then be the best option.

To keep you safer, healthier, and simply more comfortable, look for a senior living community that offers a continuum of care. That will enable you to stay in one location that can accommodate your changing needs as they evolve without forcing you to move and start over again in another new community. You can begin in independent living now and later, have access to assisted living and/or memory care, and choose that level of assistance if you need it in the future – all in the same community.

Am I Ready for Senior Living Customized to Me?

Explore the senior living options in your area before the risks and worries keep rising or sudden, unexpected changes occur. By planning now, you’ll be able to make decisions more easily, transition more seamlessly, and ensure an enduring focus on your wellness.

Reach out to Cardinal Bay and bring our team into the conversation. As experts providing a continuum of care in resort-style independent living, assisted living, and memory care communities in Texas and Oklahoma, we’ll collaborate on every aspect of your move and ongoing contentment. In our dynamic, relationship-centered environment, residents stay active and engaged and enjoy a wealth of stimulating activities and daily social interactions focused on ongoing wellness.

Observe for yourself how you will thrive by scheduling a complimentary visit. Learn more by reading Cardinal Bay’s free, valuable resources, which are dedicated to the seniors and their caregivers navigating this next chapter. Subscribe to our blog, plus access our eBook, Your Elementary Guide to Senior Living and Care Options in Texas and Oklahoma. Get your copy now!