Transcription:
Choosing a Senior Life Community

Intro: Riverside Healthcare, puts the health and wellness information you need well within reach.

Liz: Hello, listeners. And thank you for tuning into the Well Within Reach podcast, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Liz Unruh. And joining me today is Ben March, who's our Executive Director of Senior Services at the Riverside Senior Life Communities. And we're going to be talking about choosing a senior life community. Thanks for joining us today, Ben.

Ben March: Thank you for having me.

Liz: So, you know, choosing a senior community, that's kind of a big topic. Can you give us a little bit about your background and what makes you an expert in this?

Ben March: Sure, absolutely. I am a graduate of Peotone High School. And so, I'm a local person that lives in Bourbonnais. And I have worked in senior living for a little over 11 years now. And I help seniors make the best decisions they can for what they're looking for. And so, I have experience in independent living, assisted living, memory care, and supportive living. So, I know a lot about all of them and can help people ask questions and consider all the alternatives that they might be wanting to look for. So, yeah, I have a lot of experience in it.

Liz: Yeah. Perfect. So that kind of opens up the first question I have here. So what exactly is a senior life community? Like what makes the community a senior life community?

Ben March: So typically, a senior life community is any community that is 55 years and older and typically would offer some kind of services or amenities depending on what the person's looking for. And they can range anywhere from meal services to housekeeping services to healthcare services. And there is a wide variety of senior living communities out there. And there is a lot of options for everyone. So it's important to know exactly what kind of community you're looking for so that you or your loved one or your relatives or friends can all gather and talk about what the most important thing is for that individual to have the best quality of life possible.

Liz: Yeah, I think that's really important and understanding the different levels of care that exists. I know here at Riverside, we have a few different levels of care. So we have, like you mentioned, independent, we have assisted living and we have memory care. Can you touch on what each of those are and how they differ?

Ben March: Absolutely. So at Riverside, we are an all private-pay community for our senior life. In independent living, we offer housekeeping services and we offer meals if they would like to have meals. And we have activities that comes with their different apartment styles. So, we also have estate homes that they can also be in an agreement with us to reside in. And they typically all go for a month-to-month private pay opportunity.

So independent living, basically, the individual is able to make their own decisions, able to come and go as they would please, different things like that. They typically don't need any healthcare services. That's the main distinguisher in independent living. In assisted living, typically, someone needs some help with what they call an ADL. And ADL is an activity of daily living. So activities of daily living could be medication administration. They could be helped with grooming or dressing or bathing or things of that nature. They just might need a little bit of help to complete assist. And in memory care, the memory care is for our residents that might have some dementia or have Alzheimer's or things like that Lewy body, different things like that that could affect their decision-making ability. So typically, their powers of attorney make the decisions for them, and we give them the best quality of life that they can have. And they typically require some varying degree of medical assistance.

Liz: Okay. So, with that, there's the continuum. You know, you can always start in independent living and move through to assisted and to memory care if you do end up needing memory care. So, what would be the benefit of choosing a senior life community that has that continuum of care?

Ben March: I think it's familiarity and the ability to easily transition to the appropriate level of care that someone needs, so they have the best quality of life. And if you're within the same continuum, it should be a seamless transition, able to go anywhere that they would like within the community. So, if someone were to start, let's say, in an estate home or in an independent living, then, as they age in place and might need more healthcare services as they get older, they can go to assisted living or memory care and not have to make a drastic move and meet all new people and all new environment and things that should be relatively familiar for them. So that's a huge advantage because a lot of people get nervous when they move. They don't know what the unknown is. They're looking for familiarity and that helps create that sense of familiarity with them and it should help them transition better and more easily to that environment.

Liz: Yeah, for sure. I know me, I'm obviously younger, but the thought of having to make new friends in old age just very stressful. And I think being able to, like you said, age in place and be able to move into the different continuums, you can keep those same friends because they're still there in the community.

Ben March: Correct. And they help you transition. You might know Betty or Pat or Bill that you've lived next to in independent living for 10 to 15 years, and they might need to transition also into assisted living. So again, more familiarity with that whole process and easier to make friends, easier with that whole transition process.

Liz: Yeah. So that's one of the benefits, is being able to keep your friends. But what are some of the other benefits of living in a senior life community?

Ben March: It allows you to hopefully make your own decisions and live your own life. And that allows not only you to do that, but it also allows your children and/or relatives or powers of attorney to have their own lives as well. They don't have to worry about running out to get medications and running to the store because maybe the senior can't drive anymore or anything of that nature. So it allows them to live their own lives and have that quality of life and the independence as much as possible.

Liz: Yeah, for sure. I think that's important. And also, I know here we have like activities that we keep people busy and, you know, we have the gym and physical therapy and things. Can you talk a little bit about the different activities that a senior might experience? I know we always say you hear senior life community, and people are like, "Bingo." But there's more than that, right?

Ben March: Absolutely. So, there is a lot of different things that Riverside can offer that a lot of places can't. One of the main things is we do have a pool, so everybody can access the pool and swim in the pool as long as they're safe to do that. We have buses that go around to different places. So we go to the casino, we go to restaurants, we go to different concerts in the park and different things at Perry Farm and different things around that we all do. We have a dine and discover where a dietician comes in and they talk about different foods and how they can help the seniors with their diet needs.

We have all kinds of bodies that we take different feedback from. So, we have a new resident board. We have a food committee. We have different things that we get feedback from the residents on, so they can join any of those committees that they would like.

Yes, we have Bingo. I think that's kind of the stigma. But we also have other activities. We'll make crafts. We'll do art. We have a sip and paint night. We have happy hours. We have different things like that all the time that we're always constantly trying to get the best for what the seniors are looking for, our residents are looking for. And we try to take attendance to say, "Hey, yes, we saw everybody came to this event" or "Nobody wanted to come to that event." We have the feedbacks. We're always trying to constantly evolve and change to meet the needs of all the seniors and residents that live there. So that's great. I really liked that, that we're always kind of evolving.

Liz: Yeah, and I think it goes into a really important thing and that, for more than 30 years, Riverside Senior Life Communities have been providing remarkable experiences and quality care from Westwood and Miller Healthcare in Kankakee to Bourbonnais Grove in Bourbonnais. You're sure to find the level of care and vibrant lifestyle that you or your loved one is looking for. To learn more or schedule a tour or visit, definitely check out riversideseniorlife.org.

So, as we talk about the activities and the different things, are there certain things that you should think about when choosing a community to live in? Kind of the example that comes to mind for me, like my parents were getting to the age where they should start looking at different communities around us, is how close am I to my doctors?

Ben March: Correct. Yeah. There's lots of important things. But I think a couple of things they need to take into consideration is what is important to them? What is important? Is it they want a vibrant lifestyle? Do they want great food? Do they want great healthcare? Do they want access to their relatives and be close to them? Do they want close access to their doctors? You know, there's different things, that everybody's different. And I think that question is what is important to them and then trust the process of going to see it.

A lot of times people, particularly seniors, will have a catastrophic event that will happen. And they then pass on that decision to someone else. So I always encourage someone to go out and see us. Take a tour just to see. So that way, if you do have an event where you might need assisted living, or you might need memory care or something like that, you've already said, "You know what? I love Bourbonnais Grove. I wish we could have moved out there earlier" and things of that nature, or "I absolutely love Westwood. And I wish I would have known about this earlier and gone to do it. And now, my loved one's making that decision for me and they pick somewhere else and I wish they would've picked that place."

So I always encourage someone to make that decision for themselves and not put it in someone else's hands. And to come a little bit earlier and talk to your loved ones about that because it's your decision and I want you to be able to make that decision. So, that would be the two most important things I would say, is make the decision yourself and also what's important to you. So we can talk to those points and we can talk about those because I'd rather be upfront and honest about someone's expectations and what we can deliver than say, "Hey. I'm expecting something" and then not have that happen.

Liz: Yeah, I think that's really big being able, even though you might not be ready to move in there today, to have that plan already in place, so that you're like, "All right, this is the type," or "This is the community that I would like to go into if something were to happen or even when I am then ready to do that."

So one of the unique things about our senior life communities compared to others in the areas that we are affiliated to a hospital. So obviously, the location's on Kankakee are right across the street from the hospital on Bourbonnais. You're right by the Bourbonnais campus. So, what is the benefit of choosing somewhere like Riverside that is affiliated with a hospital versus somewhere that's an independent facility?

Ben March: The vast array of things that are under the same umbrella, there is so many services that are available to everyone that I would love to talk to them about. You know, we have options for, you know, your own doctor. You can see whatever doctor that you would like under the Riverside umbrella. And then, there's specialists that are also included should you need a heart doctor or a foot doctor or any kind of doctor that are out there. They have them at Riverside.

Also, they have a home health company that is under the Riverside umbrella, where if you need someone to come to your home and help you with certain things and Medicare will cover that. So there's a lot of Medicare-covered services along with outpatient physical therapy. We have that as well. So there's lots of different things that are available should someone need them that they don't have to travel here, there, and everywhere. And you shouldn't really have to worry about communication from one doctor group or one specialty group to another, because we're all on the same systems. We all should be able to make that seamless transition to help everybody. So there shouldn't be a lag time in getting the services that you need because it's all available. And how great is that to have all those services available in such a small area? So that also helps families, the residents themselves. You don't have to worry about going 20 miles here, 40 miles here. It's all within a little area that you can easily get to and have transportation provided for you among other things. So, I mean, we have social services, we have different things that you can definitely tap into to have the best quality services for all inclusive that we can together. So I really love that. I think it's a great option and, in fact, the best option that there is.

Liz: Yeah. I think the phrase I always like to hear is the incredible state-of-the-art care close to home, like you don't have to go very far to get that top-tier care. So when you are out touring a community, perhaps you've planned ahead, you're touring before that big issue comes up, what are some of the things that we'd be good to talk about or ask your tour guide?

Ben March: Great question. I always like to follow every tour that I have is here are the questions I don't think you've asked. And so I love to be open and honest and transparent in this whole process. How friendly are the staff? How friendly are the other residents? Does it look like the residents have good care? Does it look like that the food is good? Would you like to try a meal? Again, what is important to you? Have we covered those topics that are important to you?

And then, the famous old adage that I always like to tell everyone, "Does it feel like home?" and "Follow your nose." Those are great things. Is there any smell? Is there anything like that? And then, at the other end of it, can you imagine yourself living here. And if so, that is great. What do you like about it? And if not, we open the constructive feedback so that we can always better ourselves to make it more appealing to everyone. But I think it always boils down to what does your gut say and what is the best feeling that you have about here, there, or anywhere, and where do you think you'd be happiest. And that's what I want at the end of the day, because I know that no place is going to make everybody happy all the time, but we strive to. And we have processes in place that we continually improve what we're doing.

So, even if it is feedback that might be construed as negative, we take that as positive feedback all the time and we work to better ourselves. So I would just say, what is the most important to that person and all those other little tips that I've given. And there's also other things. Hopefully, on other topics we can cover later, that we can kind of deep dive more into some of those things.

Liz: Oh, yeah. For sure. We've covered a lot of really good information here, but is there anything that you feel like we missed or that you would like to add today?

Ben March: Don't procrastinate. Again, I'm going to kind of emphasize, please take that decision and make it yourself, or at least lead in the charge to do that. I would go out and just take a tour and tell Riverside, "Hey, this is for preliminary purposes. We really like this. I don't like that." I think you just have to start with an honest conversation on what you want and make that decision yourself and go take a tour.

Liz: Okay. Thank you for joining us today, Ben. And thank you for turning into the Well Within Reach podcast with Ben March, the Executive Director of Senior Services at Riverside Senior Life communities and your host, Liz Onoro. To learn more about Riverside Senior Life Communities or to schedule a tour of one or all of our beautiful locations, visit riversideseniorlife.org.