Experts say this demand for autonomy and advanced security will only grow greater in the years ahead as resident age, acuity increases and more memory-impaired residents enter senior housing communities. Along with more “open concept” community designs that encourage broader access to safe and secure areas, operators are adopting increasingly innovative, unobtrusive and silent security solutions that can be tailored to each resident’s unique needs. This innovative technology encompasses emergency call systems, wander and elopement solutions, fall prevention systems, sleep and physiological monitoring, and more.

“A safe and secure environment is crucial to residents and their families,” says Jared Pitney, vice president of senior living for RF Technologies. “The ultimate goal is to provide that protection in the most dignified way possible, promoting resident mobility in a homelike, barrier-free environment, while allowing visitors and staff to move easily throughout the community.”

Proactive protection

Today’s resident security technologies help caregivers more promptly and proactively respond to resident needs, regardless of the resident’s location. Real-time locating system technology and wearable smart sensor solutions are gaining ground in the senior housing segment, in large part because of their improved tracking capabilities, which let employees pinpoint a resident’s location with far greater accuracy than what was possible in the past.

“We now have in-room granularity, so we can know if someone is in a particular room versus a [general vicinity],” says Martin Rokicki, CEO of Skynet Healthcare Technologies. “You can pull up a map of the community on a mobile device and see the resident’s location in real time.” Precision locating capabilities can greatly improve caregiver response. When one community went on lockdown because a resident couldn’t be located, Sky-Net’s system showed that the resident was in the bedroom. Caregivers already had been to the room but left and kept looking for her elsewhere because they didn’t see her.

“She had fallen between the bed and the wall. Because we were able to narrow the location down to the bedroom, they could respond and assist her much more quickly,” Rokicki notes.

RTLS technology can offer other benefits as well, including allowing caregivers to quickly locate residents to administer medications, for example. This can be especially valuable in large, sprawling communities where residents might travel a distance from their private residence. Further, when employees wear RTLS sensor technology, they can quickly and easily find colleagues, which further improves caregiver response. If a caregiver is with a resident and needs assistance, a simple tap of the wearable band can alert other staff that help is needed, explains Rokicki.

RTLS-enabled solutions also can allow facilities to create rule-based alerts when residents are not visiting restrooms, dining areas or activity areas over prescribed timeframes, adds Jennifer Mazzei, marketing specialist for Secure Care Products LLC. “This helps ensure proper care and health.”

Continuous monitoring solutions also are available to monitor residents’ vitals, as well as their movement while they are in bed, a chair or in common areas. Sensors can be placed under a mattress or chair cushion, which allows for discreet, unobtrusive monitoring.

“The system alerts clinicians to changes in a resident’s health, as well as when residents are at risk of falling or developing pressure ulcers,” adds Maayan Wenderow, director of marketing for EarlySense Inc.

On the move

More than ever, high-tech resident security solutions are alerting employees to resident needs via mobile devices, which prevents the need for a caregiver to monitor a centralized computer station. Audible alarms that diminished residential appeal, disrupted residents and visitors, and resulted in alarm fatigue for staff also are becoming things of the past.

“Silent forms of staff notification have become much more the norm, along with shared notification via Wi-Fi-enabled smart phones,” says Pitney. “Caregivers can receive, acknowledge and coordinate response on mobile devices, enabling coordination of care that improves workflow and enhances resident care.”

With roughly 60% of assisted living residents living with dementia, wander management and elopement prevention are top priorities for operators. Reliable technologies that promote autonomy while reducing elopement risks also are an expectation for many residents and their family members. Today’s solutions offer more flexibility, allowing them to be tailored to each individual — and scaled up or down to meet their evolving needs.

“A resident can freely access certain areas at certain times, for example — such as an Alzheimer’s garden during the daytime — or when accompanied by a spouse,” says Steve Elder, senior marketing manager for Stanley Healthcare. “You don’t have one-size-fits-all anymore.”

If a resident who is at risk for elopement wears a sensor-based monitor, the system can automatically and silently lock down certain doors or access points when the resident is not traveling with a caregiver or approved chaperone. The technology also can alert staff when a resident enters a “hot zone,” allowing employees to redirect the resident.

Improved battery life — some lasting a year or longer — and around-the-clock system monitoring offers added assurance that resident security solutions will remain reliable.

“Because we monitor the [environment where our equipment is installed], we can even tell when there’s a problem before the community discovers it, such as a broken air conditioning unit that could harm their other servers,” Rokicki says.

Data drive results

Perhaps the greatest benefit of today’s resident security systems is their data-capturing capabilities.

Heritage Communities, a senior housing operator based in Omaha, NE, uses system-captured data as leading indicators for quality. “We are continually pulling data to keep a pulse on residents’ conditions and monitor our response times,” says Amy Birkel, VP of Heritage Communities. If the data show a resident has required more assistance or experienced physical or behavioral changes, for example, then that may indicate the need for more care and services being provided.

Predictive analytics further increase the merits of today’s monitoring solutions. New fall prevention solutions, for example, use artificial intelligence to predict resident behavior and determine fall risks.

“This technology helps mitigate the event-decline cycle and alerts staff to any conditions that may cause a fall,” notes Laura Wasson, director of healthcare for Tech Electronics. Data captured by wander management systems let the care team map the behavior of each individual to better understand their wandering patterns — including when and where it generally happens, and how frequently.

“This kind of analytics is made possible by not only capturing alerts, but also the resident’s movement and, potentially, even interactions with caregivers to form a full picture of the behavior,” he says. “Combined with the insights of caregivers, these data help facilities develop a better care plan for each resident.”

The ability to track key card access and entry to residences and other community access points offers even more assurance for residents and operators. As Birkel explains, the system not only documents and tracks who entered, but at what time. Not only does this promote greater resident security, it also provides operators with employee response times to care and service issues.

Soon, operators can expect even more system advancements to streamline efficiencies, enhance system integration and eliminate the need for costly, labor-intensive installation. Wireless solutions will gain even more momentum because they allow operators to use existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for category 5 cables to carry signals throughout the community. They also allow providers to seamlessly add new additions and upgrades for their customers, and automatically push system updates to each mobile device.

Although necessary for personal hygiene, assisted bathing carries a heavy stigma for residents, especially the most physically and mentally vulnerable ones. The indignity of being undressed, exposed to cold air and being precariously transferred into the tub can be a severe cause of stress for residents. Likewise, staff are subjected to what is an awkward, uncomfortable and physically demanding process.

But bathing doesn’t have to be that way. With the right approach, environment and products, it can be a pleasant experience for both residents and staff, bathing specialists say. 

Hillary Marshall, Joerns Healthcare’s global product manager, patient lifting and repositioning, understands the negative associations with bathing and says they can be minimized with thoughtful and compassionate measures.

“If a resident requires assistance undressing, staff may help with this task in the resident’s room,” she says. “But if the bathing area is not in the resident’s living quarters, the resident may feel uncomfortable wearing a robe or covering when passing through common living areas because it doesn’t provide a level of discretion. Instead, residents can receive the assistance they need in the bathing suite with a sit-to-stand lift, on which caregivers can easily undress and dress the resident in the bathing suite, preserving the resident’s dignity.”

Even residents who don’t normally need assistance transferring may feel nervous when entering and exiting a shower or bathing area, and that anxiety could create a safety hazard in and of itself, Marshall says. When residents are concerned about their safety, dignity or comfort, it can cause anxiety, she notes.

“They can be especially nervous during transfers, so it’s important to reassure them in a comforting tone and keep them at the caregiver’s eye level, or below, as much as possible so they feel secure,” Marshall says. “So it is important to understand residents’ insecurities as well as their physical capabilities. The sling of a sit-to-stand lift fitted around a nervous resident offers the feeling of security and confidence, reassuring the resident, offering greater control and elevating the dignity level.”

A sit-to-stand resident handling lift may be a solution for residents who have some trunk control and weight-bearing ability, Marshall says. Sit-to-stand lifts safely raise residents from a sitting position to a standing position on the lift’s foot pad. The lift then can be repositioned near a shower chair or other seat, and it then can lower the resident. Because sit-to-stand lifts are active lifts — meaning the resident actively participates in their usage — they can encourage or prolong mobility and independence in performing activities of daily living.

“In a bathing environment, safety issues are often related to the abundance of wet surfaces, as these slick surfaces could cause the resident to slip and fall and sustain injury,” Marshall says.

To be sure, “the right bathing solution makes all the difference for the safety and wellbeing of senior residents,” adds Greg Wells, director of marketing and communications for Bestbath. “The residents have various abilities, and this should be taken into account to provide the appropriate bathing solution,” he says.

Gary Nowitz, president of Pressalit North America, notes that considerable attention should be given to residents with special needs — those who are profoundly disabled — including quadriplegics and people suffering from severe degenerative diseases.

“While these individuals are not generally bathed in a conventional tub, they do require regular bath- ing and share many of the same worries and concerns as do typical elderly residents,” he says. “Height-adjustable, wall-mounted nursing benches have come into vogue as an ideal means of addressing the bathing requirements of people with profound disabilities.”

From pain to pleasure

Under the right circumstances, residents can learn to love bathing, finding it a relaxing and soothing experience. The key to making bathing more desirable, says David Anderson, national sales manager for Apollo Bath, is to let bath time be the resident’s idea.

“Don’t force the issue,” he says. “Provide the bath at the time that the resident would normally bathe. If the resident is used to a shower and you are introducing them to a tub bath, give them a shower in the bath the first two times so they get used to it. Once they are familiar with the bathing system, add water and then engage the whirlpool to give them a nice, relaxing spa bath.” Penner Patient Care advises facilities on how to design the optimal bathing area. President Lee Penner says with the right amenities it can turn into a marketing tool. For instance, changing the color from a bright white to a low-key dark tone instantly transforms the area from institutional to a resort-style spa. “Color is very important,” he says. “We offer 21 colors in granite to match the décor.”

Taking the resident’s mind off the stressful aspects is another way to encourage relaxation and enjoyment, Penner adds.

“TVs are a great way to increase the enjoyment of the bath,” he says. “Some facilities put together 15-minute DVDs of the resident’s life, which definitely takes the attention away from the bath and toward the screen.”  

Kelley Hoffman, partner and interior designer for RDG, recently used furniture and furnishings from 88 manufacturers in a single clubhouse project.

In a separate, new-construction project at John Knox Village in Pampano Beach, FL, she mixed styles — casual, resin-coated wicker chairs grouped with hard-armed dining chairs — to deliver different support levels for residents with a range of preferences.

Hoffman’s selections also meet her clients’ preference for materials that keep residents safe, last long enough to make the investment worthwhile and avoid trends that can undermine a community’s overall quality once dated.

As continuing care retirement and senior living communities grapple with aging in place and seek ways to accommodate home healthcare, high-quality, damage-resistant pieces have become ever more critical.

“There is a misnomer based on the level of care that you can sacrifice durability for aesthetics,” Hoffman says. “Durability needs to be at the forefront of every furniture selection.”

Hoffman points to Kwalu — long a trusted provider of casegoods and seating for skilled nursing facilities — as one company that has met provider demand for more visually pleasing products.

Newer transitional styling combined with the ability to withstand driving such changes in craftsmanship.

“Today’s properties are completely different from those 20 years ago,” says Anna Chaney, lead designer for Flexsteel Industries. “The way properties are built and the research that has been done have been driving factors in changing the way manufacturers make furniture.”

Flexsteel’s goal for its senior housing customers is a trifecta of safety, durability and comfort. Chaney says senior communities should remind residents both of the home they’ve always loved and a home they’ve always wanted.

Amenities, floor plans and lighting all play a part.

But furniture — by its presence throughout a building or across a campus — balances the overall look and needs of every property.

“It’s really become all about being a utility player in this industry,” Chaney says. “Our goal is to produce furniture that is not only beautiful, but also easy for residents and caregivers to use.”

Hidden treasures

While much attention goes to big pieces in high-impact places — lobbies and dining areas, for instance — quality improvements also can be found underfoot or on the wall.

Altro launched its Aquarius line of luxury vinyl tile about five years ago. Though it always was resilient, its more hospital-like styling made a better fit in skilled nursing.

“Today, it has a very gentle, spa-like aesthetic,” says Susan Johnson, the company’s senior living team leader. “We realized, yes, we’re a performance product, but we need to bring out the style. And we’re not compromising performance to do it.”

Now the company offers three levels of product (safety flooring, slip-resistant surfaces and smooth surfaces) that all can be made to feel part of a facility that goes for high-end finishes and warmth elsewhere on property.

Altro’s Whiterock wall cladding also is in demand for what Altro bills as a “hygienic alternative to tiles that’s impact-resistant, grout-free and easy to clean.”

Not only is the product ideal for moisture-prone places such as kitchens and baths, it comes in modern colors like sage and platinum to provide helpful contrast for seniors starting to have balance or orientation issues.

Back at John Knox Village, Hoffman uses texture sparingly on decorative walls, adding glossy hand-rails to break up a formal entry to a shared amenities space.

“It’s the showcase,” she says. “You do try to get some impact there. But durability is still key. You want to be smart about how much of a product is smart to use.”

Paint typically is still favored in residential corridors, says Johnson, because its smoother finish is easier on knuckles that wrap around hand-rails for support.

The long view

Industrywide, experts are looking for more ways to add longevity to pieces that accommodate seniors with a wide variety of needs and abilities.

Back in the common areas, furniture designers are doing their best “to find that sweet spot between durability and comfort,” says Dean Jarrett, director of marketing for H Contract, a division of Hooker Furniture.

Although furniture designed for seniors housing can’t have an institutional feel, it likely will come up against institutional realities such as durable equipment, bleach and other harsh chemicals and residents prone to trips, slips and falls.

Small touches, often unnoticed in one piece, can make a dramatic difference when used in groupings or throughout a building.

Jarrett points to rich finishes, exposed woods and high-quality, good-feeling fabrics as easy places to score in the looks department. Adding details to casegoods or residential-style pieces such as sofa tables also can be a hit.

“If a designer is mindful about where those pieces go, it can be a great application,” he says.

Although some elements were avoided for fear of breakage in the past, Jarrett advises his clients to launch hotel-like maintenance programs that look monthly for small repairs (such as gluing) that can save long-term.

Increasingly, functional supports are being incorporated in subtle ways that might cut down on maintenance and replacement costs.

H Contract’s Layne Collection offers a contemporary take on the wingback chair, but its armrests include wood or Thermofoil caps that residents can push against to boost themselves to a standing position.

The result, Jarrett says, is a chair that shows less wear and tear (and is easier to clean).

Top coats that repel liquids and stains also are getting better, with many fabric manufacturers now opting for water-based products to cut down on off-gassing.

Flexsteel offers a selection of antimicrobial fabrics and developed a top-coat called FlexGuard II specifically for its senior living and healthcare lines.

Removable seat decks and moisture-resistant clean-outs that protect internal parts also continue to be in high demand in senior living settings.

The same advances can be seen in wooden bed frames, like those offered through Joerns.

“Furniture finish options continue to be the most varied and advancing innovation, with improving surface textures, colors and grains providing more customization than ever before,” Mulligan says.

Materials that provide scratch and wear resistance can be particularly important because scratches and dings allow cleaners to penetrate furniture. Mulligan reminds users that proper dilution of cleaners and regular wipe-downs can minimize the impact on the condition of the case goods.

Bed panels with authentic wood veneer are still popular among “the most discriminating communities,” Mulligan says. Complementary finishes serve as a cohesive design element between resident-owned furniture and articulating bed frames.

When it comes to other furniture with moving parts, a company’s reputation is key for would-be buyers, says Hoffman. For instance, she’s long relied on SpaceTables for its adjustable-height dining pieces with molded polyurethane edges that stand up to wheelchair arms. But its mechanism also is dependable, and that’s key when she’s buying enough pieces to fill a dining room.

Hoffman also only recommends powered recliners.

In March, H Contract rolled out its first line, helping senior living customers cut down damage to traditional lever-style handles (and improve resident satisfaction).

Jarrett acknowledges they are more costly upfront, but they cut down the risk to caregivers and residents who might otherwise try to push and pull the chairs into an upright position.

Having so many providers willing to pair their most durable products with residential styling gives new meaning to mix-and-match.

More than ever, it’s simple enough to swap out a piece or two that has been damaged, buy a new cover or update some pieces without refurbishing a whole facility.

Over time, Hoffman says, that can serve senior communities best. “It reminds us of how our homes evolve,” she says.

Currently, the North River campus can house 97 residents, and with the opening of 30 Independent Living Villa Patio Homes, Trilogy offers customers a complete array of services to the city on the banks of the Ohio River, including assisted living, long-term care, short-term rehab, transitional care, respite and adult day services.

Specialized memory care services also are offered at West River Health Campus in its freestanding Legacy neighborhood.

The North River community follows the senior care provider’s village center prototype. Rooms are clustered into neighborhoods, with short hallways and access to North River’s amenities, which include several common areas, a beauty salon, Ritzy’s ice cream parlor, computer lab and multiple courtyards with covered porches.

These rooms surround the heart of the campus, which is marked by a central dining room below a windowed pergola.

The design scheme is contemporary, striving for a sophisticated, comfortable atmosphere. The campus features an open floor plan with a large centralized area for residents to congregate and socialize.

Since Trilogy’s acquisition of River Pointe Health Campus in 2003 and opening of West River Health Campus in 2010, CEO Randall Bufford says the North River Health Campus completes the organization’s vision of providing services that encompass the entire eldercare continuum for citizens of Vanderburgh County.

“We provide care options for all levels of healthcare, and the needs and preferences of our residents are our top priority,” he says. “We are proud to have North River Health Campus join our other campuses in Evansville.”

The culture and décor at North River are focused on the local area — dining choices contain local flavors, hallways hold the names of local landmarks and residents are encouraged to decorate their rooms with their favorite pieces from home.

Residents have their pick of both private suites and companion suites in either the health center or assisted living neighborhoods.

Each room comes fully furnished or residents can bring in their own furniture and decorations to personalize their space.

A private bath is also available in each room, and assisted living suites include a kitchenette.

North River also offers Trilogy’s Home Again short-term rehabilitation program in a state-of-the-art therapy gym.

This program features a full range of medical and rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology. Therapists at North River work directly with residents’ physicians to create individualized therapy programs.

“Nobody dies from incontinence or having to go 10 times a night,” says Britton Garrett, senior strategic market development manager for Medtronic Senior Living, which is developing a program for treating overactive bladders in the elderly. “But when you think of an 85-year-old man in the middle of the night trying to get up from his bed to go to the restroom, there are risk profiles associated with that action that unfortunately can put his life at risk.”

By far, the biggest risk is stumbling and falling in haste en route to the restroom or, as indelicate as it sounds, slipping from a leak.

According to the Wound Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society, roughly 80% of individuals affected by urinary incontinence can be cured or improved. Yet in their zeal to manage incontinence, many providers unwittingly trade one potential problem for another by relying on medications that pose cognitive risk or poorly made briefs that could contribute to bedsores.

But much progress is being made to reduce or even eliminate at least some forms of incontinence that not only could positively impact a facility’s bottom line through greater staff efficiencies and reduced liability but also by restoring residents’ dignity and independence.

Through relatively simple measures such as thorough initial assessments and other documentation, old-fashioned vigilance, and even alternative therapies, incontinence and its attendant risks can be mitigated. Also at the top of that list: Adopting a person-centered approach to toileting that places the resident’s needs above staff convenience.

Vigilance, checks pay off

Ensuring quality sleep and providing proven alternative therapies can go far in managing incontinence. But to administrators like Gary Minassian, administrator/owner of Crestwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Warren, RI, there’s no substitute for an effective bond between caregiver and resident.

Two years ago, Crestwood adopted a new approach to incontinence care that began with thorough assessments upon admission.

Knowing that cognitively impaired yet highly independent and mobile residents with incontinence are among the highest risk for falls, Minassian understood the importance of constant vigilance and observation. That led to the establishment of a program that included certified nursing assistants documenting in a diary their observations of resident behaviors, including eating habits, body language during exercises, changes in gait and mood, and the times when toileting occurs.

Conducted for a specified period after admission or change in health status, the documentation allowed caregivers to better predict interventions that would prevent accidents, whether it involved an incontinent episode or falls.

A good activities program in a positive group environment is another tool to Crestwood’s success in mitigating incontinence.

“This makes it easier to observe residents with sensitive body language,” Minassian adds. “For example, being more fidgety may be more indicative of the need to go the bathroom.” Exercise time also allows for more direct supervision, “which gives you more control that helps you prevent incontinence accidents.”

Crestwood’s nursing staff also reviews each resident’s diagnosis to uncover any contributing factors for incontinence, such as benign prostatic hyperplasis, bladder prolapse and constipation. All CNAs also are required to develop detailed care plans based on what they documented in their diaries and are permanently assigned to specific residents to improve long-term success.

“This helps because they get to see the patterns,” he explains. “This way they would know when to toilet the resident.”

Virtues of sleep

For most providers, quality adult briefs have been a godsend for incontinence care. For at least one major briefs manufacturer, the time-worn practice of nighttime bed check and changing rounds every two hours is beginning to be viewed as more detrimental than helpful.

A National Institute on Aging study of more than 9,000 individuals aged 65 or older showed that chronic issues with obtaining quality sleep are more widespread than originally thought, according to Domtar, the global parent company of Attends and other products. More than 50% of study respondents reported having at least one chronic sleep complaint. Moreover, poor quality sleep has been linked to cognitive decline, fatigue and daytime sleepiness, moodiness, depression, falls and reduced quality of life.

In January 2016, Domtar conducted a pilot study at Superior Care Home Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Paducah, KY, to explore the impact of doing away with nighttime bed checks. The “clinical study of holistic continence care” was conducted over a 12-week period. The results affirmed what many caregivers had been telling the company: Quality sleep was viewed as more beneficial than nighttime toileting.

Among the study findings, stopping automatic nighttime bed checks led to:

• 71% maintenance or improvement of activities of daily living scores
• 90.5% stable or improved Brief Interview of Mental Status Scores, a key metric of cognitive health
• An improvement of mood severity scores in 57% of residents
• “Dramatic” improvement in gait and balance
• Significant reductions in linen costs; labor hours were reduced on the third-shift laundry and re-directed to other care duties.

“We assessed how wearing a product with absorbent core technologies that allows for multiple voids and still remain dry overall improves performance scores like these,” says Chris Lee, brand manager for Domtar Personal Care. He notes that allowing residents to get five to six hours of quality uninterrupted sleep results in “greater alertness and calm in the mornings.”

Lee adds that the 12-week study resulted in a “significant reduction in falls” during daytime hours, presumably related to improved gait and cognition.

Alternative therapy

The need for frequent toileting and/or urgency to void in the elderly increases the risk of falls by 26% and bone fractures by 34%, according to WOCN. The group also notes that 53% of homebound older persons have overactive bladder/urge incontinence. A significant percentage occurs in senior living communities.

For nearly a decade, peripheral tibial neuromodulation (PTNM), a technique that involves insertion of an acupuncture needle near the ankle, close to the nerve root serving the bladder, has been used with a great deal of success to curb and, in some cases, cure overactive bladder in cognitively healthy and ambulatory seniors.

Unfortunately, many seniors cannot access the therapy because it needs to be conducted in a physician’s office.

In OAB sufferers, the pathway between the tibial nerve and the brain is distorted or broken, giving them a false sense of urgency to void. The PTNM technique essentially restores the link.

Medtronic embarked on a broad new initiative to raise awareness of PTNM among skilled nursing homes (called “Restore Senior Living”) and is developing a device (called “NURO”) that can allow it to be administered inside the facility, obviating the need for an office visit and, it is hoped, radically increasing resident adherence and success mitigating urge incontinence, or OAB, Garrett says.

Q: In February, the SLCC announced that 252 people had become certified directors of assisted living (CDAL). What do you think the program means to the profession?

A: It’s interesting that you use the word “profession.” One of the statements from one of the subject matter experts who worked with us on one of the development phases of the exam was: “Most people refer to this as an industry. This is my profession.” It was such a sincere comment, and it highlighted why we’re doing this.

For so many decades, people who have devoted their lives and their careers to this profession and have gained some real professional knowledge and a skill set unique to this business haven’t had a way for their professionalism and their accomplishments to be recognized in the way that people in other professions have.

We’ve designed the exam to be a high-standard, professional credential. It’s not an easy exam to succeed at, but there are three primary benefits to this achievement. One is to the individual: It’s a way for them to stand out in their community of professionals. It’s also a way for consumers to recognize a level of professionalism for who is managing the community that they are entrusting their life to and their experience to. And it’s a way for operators to distinguish among candidates in their hiring and their training and to highlight who these people are.

I’m excited on a personal level to have been a part of the beginning of the assisted living business model and to help celebrate that movement across the country. To be able to do something special to recognize the professionalism of people who do this work every day is a unique privilege for me.

I think it’s well worth the investment of every senior living professional to seek this credential — and to seek as many professional designations as possible — and to ask their employer to help them pay for the credential. Legend is paying for all of our eligible directors to sit for the exam, and I know other Argentum board-member companies are doing the same.

Q: What is the status of the certification programs planned for directors in independent living and memory care?

A: The SLCC is working with our consultants to develop a schedule and a work plan for those two programs. It starts with multiple meetings with subject matter experts to help develop the domains for each one of those specific credentials and then meetings with another set of subject matter experts to help write test items. It’s about a yearlong process for each credential.

At the same time, Argentum is offering a certificate of knowledge for sales and marketing professionals. That’s a certificate program, a little different than the credential the SLCC offers, but it nonetheless highlights training and experience. For that, the sales and marketing professionals will complete a course of study that Argentum will sponsor and provide. The certificate they’ll receive will recognize them for having accomplished that course of study and passed a test specific to that course of study.

Q: Legend has started a fellow program at Wichita State University. What was the impetus?

A: They’ve chosen the two fellows for this year. We’ve dovetailed that with an internship program with Wichita State students at one of our Wichita assisted living properties, Regent Park. That also has evolved into our vice president of education being asked to teach a course inside the College of Healthcare Professions.

That relationship started with trying to do some joint research. A fellowship with the university has evolved into this broader relationship and partnership between us and the university beyond what we originally anticipated.

My wife and I give a lot of money to education as one of the things we feel is really important. Doing something with Wichita State in the area of healthcare professions was just a natural fit for us as donors.

We actually are employing one of the students. I’ve spoken at the university, and one of the students I met at one of the speaking engagements approached us about a job and is on our payroll now.

It’s part of a broader movement that Argentum, as well as other associations, are doing to develop partnerships and relationships with all of our local and state universities. They’re really eager to have these partnerships and to have this involvement. It doesn’t always have to be a fellowship or a donation of money as in our case, but just to have an industry partner come alongside and work with them.

Whether it’s in the business college or college of healthcare professions, it’s something that we as a profession need to do more of and help teach other operators how to share our experiences. How those relationships are formed is part of Argentum’s broader workforce development effort that includes a workforce subcommittee on the board. These university partnerships are a big part of that.

NIC CEO Robert G. Kramer shared details with McKnight’s Senior Living that build on the informal announcement he made last month at the group’s Spring Investment Forum in San Diego.

The 18-month study is part of a $300,000 commitment by NIC to examine the need for middle-market seniors housing, Kramer said. Most of the total not used for the actual research, he added, will be used to disseminate the results, including convening a meeting at which the results will be presented in the second half of 2018, perhaps separate from the group’s annual fall conference.

Researchers will focus on those whose income or assets are too high for Medicaid eligibility without a “spend down” but are too low to afford life in existing senior living communities, “at least for very long,” Kramer said.

NIC believes the information will be useful to capital providers and public policy experts and that public-private partnerships may be required to find solutions related to the housing and care needs of the “exploding” senior population, he added.

“But the first step is bringing attention to and understanding who is this middle-market population?” he said. “What’s their health and functional status? What can they afford? Where do they live? How big of a market is it? And so forth.”

NORC will project the size, demographics, health and functional status and the economic status of this population five, 10, 15 and 20 years from now, Kramer said.

“Healthcare is one of the most labor-intensive of all industries,” according to the 2017 Consumer Survey on Virtual Health. “At the same time, the U.S., like the rest of the world, is facing shortages of many clinicians and health professionals. Tight resources and demand that outpaces supply require new approaches, and virtual health innovation can deliver services that are scalable, less labor-intensive and lower-cost.”

Accenture surveyed 1,501 U.S.-based consumers aged 18 or more years and found that “[w]hether having a telemedicine clinical encounter with a physician, telehealth support such as medication-related reminders or tracking health indicators such as blood pressure and blood sugars, or receiving daily support to manage an ongoing health issue, consumers are ready to try virtual healthcare,” according to the report.

Adults aged 65 or more years said they were motivated to manage their own healthcare to maintain their health or to manage a condition, according to the survey. Such information on this age group and others can be useful to providers, payers and policymakers, the researchers said.

“Healthcare organizations that act now will enter the market while virtual health is still in its growth phase, avoiding the pitfalls of late market entry or being challenged to capture market share and differentiate in a mature market,” they wrote.