Repositioning: Unlocking the Potential of Aging Senior Facilities

By David Wolterstorff, AIA

As you look at the evolution of your existing facilities or the development of new projects, changing demographics and the expectations of seniors can have a great impact how you will modify senior environments and your campus at large. As such expectations and competition increase within the industry, the need to reposition your facilities can often exceed the need for simple renovation.

While renovation can update or freshen an environment, repositioning can address a greater myriad of issues including increased competition, changes in the market focus, demographics, reimbursements or inefficiencies within a facility. Further, through repositioning, health care providers can:

Optimize space use
Meet new or changing market demands
Add new housing or service components
Retain or increase revenue
Improve resident quality of care / quality of life
Improve staff retention
Become the preferred environmental model in the market, thereby reducing turnover

Instead of merely adding a wing, changing décor or relocating services, effective repositioning designs can change the service delivery core from an institutional gathering place for services to a free flowing community within a community. Through the creation of transparent service delivery systems, wellness centers, town squares and other points of interest that encourage socialization and new avenues for resident gathering and movement, your facility can successfully reposition itself within your markets, ultimately retaining or increasing revenues as you provide new housing and care delivery aimed at tomorrow’s residents. By improving your senior environment, your facility can effectively improve quality of care and quality of life provided to its residents.

Further, as expectations and competition increase within the industry and senior resident desires to “age in place” grow, there is further emphasis for continuum of care communities. The challenge that exists is to create an environment that is properly positioned to respond to this changing industry and the most appropriate market. This encourages the creation of additional housing and service options to provide transitional environments to house and care for residents as their housing goals and health needs change.

A LOOK INSIDE:

REPOSITIONING WALKER METHODIST HEALTH CENTER

To address advances in medical research and growing expectations of Alzheimer’s residents and their families, Walker Methodist Health Center in Minneapolis sought to renovate two existing floors in their skilled nursing facility dedicated to dementia care. Unfortunately, prior renovation attempts proved fruitless with resident behaviors and unit concerns returning after little more than six months post renovation. Further, any changes to the facility would require the prevention of any bed loss – a significant hurdle to overcome.

As a result, a therapeutic environment was designed simulating the winding streets of a village where long monotonous hallways give way to intimate residential neighborhoods. Residential units and neighborhoods are connected by a “town square” complete with “street side” cafes, parkscapes, fruit stands, outdoor patio and a transparent service delivery system. Wayfinding and orientation were addressed with a central clock tower, apple lounge and multiple points of choice, which provide both site and touch stimulation. In this new village environment, resident behaviors are not limited but rather compensated for.

In the end, a welcoming and aesthetically pleasing Alzheimer’s village was created, far surpassing the expectations of staff, residents and families. What would provide the strongest proven proof positive of the project’s success would be the following statistical changes tracked by the care providers themselves:

Problematic resident behaviors have dropped from 68% to 40%.
Rates of resident falls and injuries have been cut in half.
Incontinence has dropped from 62% to 38%.
Use of psychopathic medications shows a two-fold improvement.
Resident falls and injuries show dramatic reduction by almost half its pre-renovation frequency.
Occupancy rates have increased from 78% to an average of 92%.
Turnover rates have dropped from 45% to 23%.
Family & resident satisfaction rates have climbed from 3.75 to 4.75 (on a 5.0 scale).

Supported by improved quality indicators, the repositioning project shows the impact of a new environment on quality of life and quality of care. In the end, a welcoming and aesthetically pleasing Alzheimer’s village was created, far surpassing the expectations of staff, residents and families.

For More Information:

Christina Zrust, Marketing
christinaz @waicontinuum.com
381 East Kellogg Boulevard • Saint Paul, MN 55101
Phone: (651) 227-0644 ext. 331 • Fax: (651) 223-5092