As a collection of smaller residential environments, Clarendon Senior Living is geared toward individuals that, due to mental, physical, and/or medical issues, are in need of a higher level of care. We are qualified to admit residents with virtually any condition that is legally allowed in a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly.
Our high staff ratio, our highly trained, experienced, and tenured staff, and our resident-centered policies give us the ability to care for your loved one, regardless of his or her condition.
In addition, our active and involved ownership and management give us the ability to work with residents with significant care needs. Whereas other facilities would simply give up caring for residents with numerous or difficult needs (or not even try in the first place), our team-centered approach allows us to devote a large amount of time and resources to each individual resident. Furthermore, our proactive nature helps residents actually improve, rather than simply be cared for.
Determining the Right Level of Care
Navigating the senior care world can be a daunting task, especially for those who have never experienced having to find the right care situation for a loved one. Here at Clarendon Senior Living, we want to help you as much as possible, even if your loved one isn’t one of our residents.
Helpful tips in determining the right level of care:
• Would you describe your loved one as basically independent?
If he or she drives, handles his or her own affairs, and has few, if any, care needs, then a larger assisted living facility may be the right environment.
• Does your loved one have several significant medical issues that require continuous care?
If so, he or she likely needs a smaller board and care environment with enough staff to provide for these needs.
• Does your loved one suffer from dementia?
If so, a board and care environment is likely the right one for them. Most assisted living facilities, even ones with special units for dementia residents, simply do not have enough staff to adequately care for these residents. A higher staff ratio, with staff trained and experienced to handle the various symptoms of dementia, can provide the care and monitoring your loved one requires, far more effectively than a large facility.
• Is your loved one non-ambulatory or bedridden?
If so, a larger assisted living facility will likely not fulfill his or her needs effectively. With such low staff ratios, larger facilities are less able to attend to residents that need assistance moving around the facility, either to the bathroom, the dining room, the activities area, etc. When this happens, the benefits of a full and vibrant activities program, a large dining area, and a beautiful facility become less significant. If your loved one is bedridden, it is likely that a large assisted living facility will not be able to admit or retain such residents in the first place.
• Is your loved one mentally alert and very social?
If so, a larger assisted living facility, with many residents of higher cognitive ability, will likely be the right environment, unless the resident has a number of issues that require a more significant amount of care.
Levels of Care
Clarendon Assisted Living cares for residents with a variety of medical, physical, and cognitive needs. We are qualified to admit residents who have any of the legally specified “Restrictive Health Conditions,”
Which include:
- Bedridden
- Catheter
- Colostomy/ileostomy
- Contractures
- Diabetes
- Enemas, suppositories, etc.
- Incontinence
- Injections
- Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB) machines
- Oxygen
- Stage 1 and 2 bedsores
- Wound-Care
We work with a variety of nurses and home health agencies, so that if your loved one needs regular injections (insulin, for example), we are able to arrange for these services at a fraction of what it would otherwise cost.
In terms of physical needs, we have residents that are ambulatory, non-ambulatory, and bedridden. Our high staff ratio ensures the safety of your loved ones in an emergency, especially if they are non-ambulatory or bedridden.
Cognitively, we have residents who have little or no dementia, moderate dementia, and advanced or late stage dementia. Because we are experts in dementia care, your loved ones will be well cared for in our homes. Specifically, we are trained to handle some of the most problematic symptoms of dementia, including wandering and agitation.
Our homes are designed for our residents to stay with us for a long time, and ultimately spend their remaining years and last days with us. Our hospice care waiver ensures that our residents will not have to leave as they near the end of life.
Residents who suffer few physical, medical, or cognitive issues (or none at all) may be better suited for a larger assisted living facility with significantly more residents, especially ones that are designed for individuals that are more independent. However, as these residents begin to experience ever more issues that are a natural part of aging, Clarendon Assisted Living will be the right environment for them to receive the care they need, and to thrive in ways they would not experience in other facilities.
Hospice and Palliative Care
Many individuals who have reached a certain point in life have made the decision to begin hospice care. While this is often emotionally difficult, the right hospice agency can provide a tremendous amount of comfort to both the individual and the family.
Individuals that are not quite ready for hospice may benefit instead from palliative care, a transitional phase of care that emphasizes comfort measures while allowing underlying conditions to still be treated.
Clarendon Assisted Living is licensed to provide hospice care to multiple residents at a time. We work with several high-quality agencies that provide both hospice and palliative care. For more information or to obtain referrals for the right agency, contact us today.
*** PLEASE NOTE: As a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly, Clarendon Assisted Living is NOT allowed to provide skilled nursing care. If your loved one develops a Prohibitive Health Condition (a condition that is not allowed in an RCFE under any circumstances), he or she must be relocated to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). Clarendon is more than willing to assist in this transition.
