Archive for category: News

Today, seniors and their families are initially looking for assisted living facilities online. Therefore, it is more important than ever that your assisted living facility ranks well in Google and other places that people search for assisted living facilities.

The higher you rank and the better your online reviews, the more likely that you will attract greater interest, more visitors and qualified new residents.

We knew little about online marketing when we started but wanted to summarize the basics for you here. Even if you are new to the world of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or already have some knowledge, the information in this blog will provide you with key insights that can be easily accomplished.

1 – How to Get More People to Your Website

If you are still in the early stages of setting up an assisted living facility, you first need to look into RCFE certification. While getting your RCFE certification and license, you can start the process of building your website. Look at how other facilities are listed online.  Do they have a website and are they in online directories such as Yelp or Google My Business?  What do you like and not like so you can inform the people building your website?

Once the site is created and is live, you can start trying to rank for keywords. In other words, you hope to find keywords that people would logically be searching for assisted living and try to get as high on the Google search results as possible, so viewers will find you.

A good search engine strategy centers on finding the keywords that people looking to find a facility in a specific town are most often searching. Essentially, you need to comprehend what terms people are likely to type into their search engine bar so your website can appear.

Most likely, the keywords would revolve around phrases like “assisted living” or “assisted living facility” or “senior assisted living” along with the city your community resides in.

For example, if your facility was in Encino, California, you’d most likely want to show up in search results when people typed in “assisted living Encino”.

The simple strategy is then to place that keyword in the text of your home page – maybe even a couple of times. That way, Google will see that keyword on your site and make the connection to the search. Thus, you’ll have a better chance of ranking higher when that phrase is searched for.

Even if you already run an established community, you can gain a lot of potential search engine ground by adding those keywords to your existing website on several of the pages that you think would best describe your facility.

2 – Claim Your Google My Business & Other Directory Listings

Many of the major search engines allow you to make a specific business listing where you can include all of your facility’s key information. Google being the largest search engine in the world is the place you want to begin.

The Google My Business listing is the most popular, most visited and simplest for you to claim. It’s easy to sign your business up and costs nothing. You simply go to Google, search “Google my business” and click on the “manage now” button.

The rest of the process will take minutes by just following the directions on each screen. Enter your business’ information along with contact details, and you will immediately have a new presence with Google My Business (GMB).

Often, these listings also automatically display a map of your location. Further enhancing your GMB presence, you can easily upload photos of your facility or your staff to personalize the listing further.

Now, when someone types in the name of your facility, this listing will be near or at the top of the results. Over time, other keywords that you have been adding to your website pages may also display this GMB page increasing your prospective clients even further.

Here is an example of Google’s local search results for “assisted living Encino”

Note how the facility with the most reviews showed up at the top of list.  More about reviews below.

While Google may be the biggest directory in the world, we’d also suggest setting up similar profiles on other directories such as:

Yelp for Business

Better Business Bureau

Assisted Living Directory

Caring.com

Taking the time to get your assisted living business noticed is almost as important as the RCFE licensing process if you want to be successful.

Reading online RCFE reviews help people find the best assisted living facilities near you.

3 – Solicit Reviews From Satisfied Clients

The importance of online reviews cannot be understated.

A recent survey showed that people were 270%  more likely to purchase a good or service that had at least one five-star review as compared to a company that had no reviews at all.  Almost three times more likely to choose your facility just because of reviews.

Once you have set-up your directories, engage with your satisfied clients – both past and present – and ask them to please post a positive, five-star review on these places. (To make it simple for them to do, you may want to email them the request with a series of direct links to your Google My Business, Yelp and other business directory pages.)

You also want to manage the reviews – both favorable or unfavorable – in a timely fashion. This direct interaction with your audience shows you care about your quality of service and care what your customers think.

If you have any negative reviews, it is a good idea to address these directly. Offer an apology or explain the circumstances behind this complaint. Online reputation management is key to growing the word-of-mouth and credibility of your facility.

In addition, placing any positive reviews on your website in a testimonial section also helps enhance the selling of your service.

4 – Engage Visitors on Your Website

So you’ve started getting potential new clients to come to your website after seeing you rank high in search results and reading all your positive reviews. Now the goal is converting them from visitors into customers.

You want to make your site easy to comprehend with a very clear “call to action”. In other words, you should quickly and clearly make the case why your facility is the best one for mom or dad. Then get the web user to call your business or fill out a contact form.

The phone number and contact form should be present at all times on the page. Your web developer should recognize that the forms and phone should be at the top of the page in a stationary spot that doesn’t move out of the reader’s eye even if he or she scrolls down the page.

The other key to closing new leads is a lightning quick response. If a call is made after hours and a message is left, that lead should be the top priority for a recall first thing in the morning.

Similarly, when the contact form is filled out, there should be a follow-up action (preferably a phone call to the person) within minutes, even seconds. With so many search results out there for assisted living facilities, chances are the same family that reached out to you also did so to several other facilities.

In this case, it’s often a race as the first facility to contact that potential client will more often than not win the client’s business.

It is optimal to have a member of your RCFE administrator staff who can be tasked with managing and following up with interested parties right away.

Conclusion

These are just some of the basics that can seriously help improve your online marketing. It may seem intimidating at first but it gets easier once you start.  If you would like to know more than I recommend you reach out to great people and the company we use for digital online marketing.

Please let us know if you found this blog helpful.

About Assisted Living Education

Assisted Living Education is the premier provider of RCFE certification, RCFE classes, licensing, products and services for assisted living. Our teachers are industry professionals with many years of experience that are engaging, entertaining and highly informative. They offer RCFE consulting services and share real RCFE experience that will help you be successful in this fast growing career industry.

Good luck!

If you are considering opening a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), you may benefit from joining an assisted living association. Your first step to effectively own and operate an RCFE is to become an RCFE administrator, which requires an administration certification.

You also must obtain an RCFE license. You can take advantage of all the resources assisted living associations provide to RCFE administrators while also getting support as you navigate the RCFE certification process. Here are five benefits of joining an assisted living association.

 1. Resources

If you’re new to the industry, there are many resources available to you as an assisted living administrator. Even if you are a seasoned professional, assisted living associations provide fantastic resources for all things industry-related.

For instance, they are often the go-to source for keeping up with regulations and laws. They also keep up with industry trends and share relevant information on everything from resident care to health care. Resources are always important, but they are especially so now in the midst of the global Covid-19 pandemic and RCFE’s efforts to keep residents healthy and safe.

2. Advocacy

There is strength in numbers. When you join an assisted living association, you gain a representative and an advocate. RCFE administrators and residents benefit from advocacy because it allows their voice to be heard by people making decisions that impact the industry and RCFE operations.

Assisted living association leaders must stay current on pending legislation and policy efforts. They represent you, your RCFE, and your residents to ensure any changes are as smooth and unencumbered as possible. They also communicate relevant information you need to know and act as an intermediary between RCFEs, state legislatures, and social services.

3. Professional Development

Assisted living associations are in the perfect position to coordinate and facilitate professional and workforce development. As an assisted living administrator, you require trained, skilled staff to provide the right care and services for your residents.

Assisted living associations can support you in your recruiting efforts, onboarding, and ongoing skills development. No matter whether you’re in the first year of your RCFE career or your 20th, ongoing professional development is necessary. Your membership in an association allows you to engage in numerous training and ongoing education opportunities.

4. Events

Assisted living associations commonly host annual conferences and other sessions that allow you to immerse yourself in educational events, industry news, and trends. When you attend events, you can hear from industry leaders, guest speakers, and others in the field.

Leave the event and return to your RCFE refreshed and full of new ideas and insights. Conferences and other events allow you to take the information you receive and practically apply them immediately. Events can also include trade shows, opportunities for recognition and awards, and the option to gain continuing education credits.

5. Networking 

When you join an assisted living association, you get to network with others in the industry. Networking is vital; it allows you to be seen, connect with people in your field, share and learn best practices, trouble-shoot, recruit and seek new job opportunities. In a world where things change rapidly, it is nice to have access to industry peers where you can bounce ideas, learn, mentor, and connect over common ground. 

If you’re an RCFE administrator, you will benefit from joining an assisted living association. Associations offer many benefits, including resources, advocacy, professional development opportunities, events, education, and networking.

As an association member, you join a community of like-minded individuals and industry leaders dedicated to supporting one another, sharing ideas, answering questions, and performing at a high-level. Stay informed on industry trends, ahead of the curve on regulations and pending legislation, and operating at optimal performance.

As an assisted living administrator, you are responsible for ensuring your RCFE maximizes its operations and services. The best way to achieve this goal is to become a member of an assisted living association. The leading California association is the California Assisted Living Association (CALA). 

Assisted Living Education is the leading provider of RCFE certification classes, licensing, products and services for assisted living. Our teachers are industry professionals with many years of experience that are engaging, entertaining and highly informative.

We always welcome your feedback, and if you have other important terms you would like added to the list, please let us know. Assisted Living Education is a recognized leader in the industry, and our instructors have years of professional RCFE experience that will help ensure your success in this burgeoning industry.

Senior living will always play an important role in the healthcare process of aging adults and despite some unflattering media attention, most Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE) are actually doing well with the Covid-19 crisis. Many have been able to keep their facilities COVID-19 free, providing their residents with a safe and secure home, while the country works hard towards long term solutions to this pandemic.

Even with a COVID-19 free environment, this does not change the fact that the conversation in regard to bringing on new residents has started to evolve. To help ensure that your facility is ready for this change and some of the questions that will follow, we at Assisted Living Education (ALE) have put together some information that can help guide your teams as society begins to move forward.

National Voice For A Change of Narrative

While it is true that some Assisted Living Facilities across the country have been impacted, most facilities have quickly adapted to the safety guidelines and have continued to provide excellent care with very low risk to their residents. Communities with a negative COVID-19 population are often overlooked because this fact is not as newsworthy. To illustrate this, Seniors Better Together, a Seattle-based cooperative, has launched a national marketing campaign. Their intention is to communicate the safety and benefits of elderly care and assisted living facilities during this time. Here at ALE we are supportive of these industry voices and feel that a proper communication strategy is important to the success of any well managed RCFE.

Utilizing a Positive Messaging Strategy

Like many RCFE administrators, you are probably in the process of updating your marketing materials to address the current reality of things. Through this process of communicating the safety, efficacy, and benefits of senior living during the pandemic is more crucial than ever, so we’ve put together some high level takeaways for you here.

1. Senior Living Communities Are Safe

Safety is the most important message to communicate effectively and compellingly right now. Let the public know that you follow the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance and incorporate best practices into your procedures related to COVID-19. Another safety aspect to include is visitor limitation, sanitization, virus specific training and specific protocols you have in place to ensure the safety of your residents. Finally, assure prospective clients that you have ample long-term supplies of PPE and other supplies that may be reduced in quantity to the regular public.

2. Elderly Care Facilities Promote Safe Socialization

Seniors sometimes battle loneliness and feelings of isolation, especially during periods of quarantine that come along with a pandemic. In residential living, there are opportunities for safe socializing and community living. Teams take all the necessary precautions to sanitize and effectively mitigate the risk that comes with community living, while also allowing opportunities to be active and engaged. Since isolation is linked to adverse mental health outcomes, especially for the elderly, sharing your strategies on interpersonal communication and engagement help both new and existing residents feel more comfortable.

3. Trained Medical Professionals Oversee Medical Safety

There is always some level of risk for COVID-19, but with the proper precautions and oversight, that risk can be mitigated. When using on-site medical professionals, residents can be seen, diagnosed, and treated more quickly and with less exposure than when traveling to see a primary care physician. This results in more active monitoring and faster treatment. Medical teams and residential staff are also better equipped to sanitize and execute CDC policies that protect the most vulnerable population. The end result is improved quality of care with less risk to exposure.

4. Care Facilities Allow for Exercise and Physical Activities

Physical activity among the elderly is directly related to mental and emotional health. In assisted living communities, clients can choose to participate in a variety of exercise programs such as stretch daily, walks, virtual and non-virtual activities. A senior living at home may not feel a need to exercise or does not have someone to motivate them to get up and move.  It is important to explain to prospective residents the importance of staying active even while faced with the obstacles of social distancing and how important that is to their wellbeing.

5. Families Can Focus on Relationships as Opposed to Care

When an aging family member moves into an assisted living community, the adult children are often relieved that there is now a partner to assist their loved one. Many families experience a loss or reversal of their roles within the family unit. Relationships might be strained, as many adults do not want their children telling them what to do.  Many families find that by letting go of the care aspect of providing for their loved one, they can shift and realign themselves with their loved one’s  Providing care, supervision and observation gives many families peace of mind, making residential facilities one of the best options for their relationship that need full time care. As an added benefit these communities provide an environment for parents and children to interact in a more meaningful way that may reduce family tensions.

Senior Living Is Still a Safe and Viable Option

Information about COVID-19 changes  rapidly, and all senior living communities should be dedicated to staying informed. Understanding and taking ownership of the information being used in your marketing and communications is key in this process. The process ensures that prospective residents and their families have the most relevant information available to them so they can make the best decisions possible. When managed correctly with proper safety precautions, RCFEs are still among the best solutions for providing a high level of care, comfort, and most importantly safety to those that need it the most.

If you or your RCFE is looking for guidance during this difficult time please don’t hesitate to reach out to Assisted Living Education. We are here to help and support our clients and their businesses.

Starting your first Resident Care Facility or RCFE can be exciting, fulfilling, and daunting all at the same time. Between securing a location and getting your certifications it can be easy to overlook the basics — the essential aspects that will help ensure your RCFE is a success.

Over the years we have worked with hundreds of newly minted RCFE administrators to make sure their facilities, policies, and business strategies are setting them and their residents up for the best possible experience. In that time, we’ve learned a thing or two, particularly about what you should and shouldn’t do when hiring your staff. After all, your employees are the backbone of your RCFE!

Here are the 7 Do’s and Don’ts of hiring staff for a residential care facility for the elderly.

Don’ts:

1. Warm body hiring:  hiring in desperation.

It’s one of the biggest mistakes an RCFE administrator can make. In your desperation to put together a staff, you might think that any warm body will do.

Trust us, it won’t! It is completely okay to be patient and take your time to build your ideal team. After all, these are the people you’re going to be working with day in and day out, and they’re the employees you are going to rely on to care for your residents. 

You want to make sure they’re not only qualified in skill, knowledge, temperament (a big one!), and experience but that they also have the capacity to grow into a larger role. Hiring anyone with a pulse out of desperation to fill the role is the perfect way to open yourself up to lawsuits. 

Remember that in the health and senior care industries, you aren’t just hiring an employee:  you’re potentially hiring a liability. That’s a whole lot of trust to place on the first person to walk through the door… who you now have to spend time (and money!) training and fingerprinting.

2. Only interviewing one person.

She’s the first person in for an interview, and you think she’s perfect. She’s warm, she’s qualified, she’s great with the residents, and she has experience to boot. There’s no two ways about it:  she is your dream candidate, so much so that you’re tempted to hire her on the spot.

This scenario is nothing new. It happens all the time in companies across the nation (and the world), but there are a few problems with only interviewing one person. 

Think about it, what are you doing when you interview someone? You’re gathering information. Additional candidates mean more of this information, and thus more context. By allowing yourself the benefit of comparing a wider field of candidates, you’ll be able to make the most qualified choice.

In interviewing a bunch of people, you might also discover that you didn’t actually know what you wanted. It’s a surprising but true phenomenon and the reason why you often see job postings with a seemingly endless list of impossible-to-meet criteria (another big no-no). 

Hiring managers just aren’t sure what they’re looking for. If you’ve ever gone on a date and found yourself struck by someone totally not your type, you’ve seen this phenomenon in action. It’s human nature. We don’t always know, much as we think we do. 

The same can be said for job candidates, though. Hiring is a two-way street. As much as you are interviewing them, they are also interviewing you. That perfect candidate you’re crazy about might have multiple offers, and end up going somewhere else.

3. Not having updated job descriptions/responsibilities when interviewing a candidate.

The phenomenon continues! How often have you heard about a company deciding to “go a different direction?” In many places, this can be code for “the job we were originally hiring for has now evolved into something totally different.” 

Frequently this takes candidates by surprise and can be super frustrating when everything is in flux — especially for candidates who appeared to be a shoe-in during the interview stage. 

It’s understandable that things change, but if you’re trying to find the right candidate for XYZ open position, you need to know what that role will entail. How will interviewing applicants know what responsibilities they will have if YOU don’t even know?

4. Not asking the same questions of each candidate to gauge their answers.

This harkens back to what we said about comparisons in Don’t #2. In every interview you do for a given role, it’s important to have at least a certain number of questions that you ask consistently. By comparing and contrasting your candidate’s answers, you have a standardized way of judging who is the best fit. 

This doesn’t mean that every interview needs to follow the same script — the best interviews are more like conversations than question and answer sessions. 

Think about how awkward and stilted those Q&As are. Some people are great at interviews, but for most people, they are incredibly stressful. (Who hasn’t completely blanked on even the simplest question?) Allowing some room for deviation (and personality) is a great way to put a candidate at ease, and allow them to give you their best answers. But even as the conversation evolves, always bring it back to your standard.

Do’s:

1. Introducing them to residents to see how they interact.

Your residents are the people they’re going to be caring for every day! It’s important to see how your candidates respond to them. If they are aloof, that tells you a lot about their attitude and how they might be as an employee. You want someone who engages with the residents, talks to them, and is open to hearing their concerns. Someone who is dismissive or disrespectful of the seniors in your care has no business being part of your RCFE staff. Understand the qualities that make a good assisted living administrator.  

2. Analyzing the 3 C’s:  commitment, caring and culture.

You can’t work at a residential care facility for the elderly if you’re not a team player. Your staff is going to be working closely with one another day in and day out, so it’s important that they make a good fit for the culture. 

This doesn’t mean that every employee has to be BFFs, but they should be able to work together to get their jobs done. If they can’t put caring for your residents ahead of any interpersonal issues, productivity is going to suffer, and you run the risk of accidental negligence. Make sure you communicate your facility’s culture to prospective hires. 

These attitudes also go towards commitment (or lack thereof). You want someone who doesn’t just show up for work, but who actually shows up for work — someone for who this isn’t just a paycheck. Working at an RCFE doesn’t have to be their life’s calling, but it has to be something they’re committed to. 

The well-being of your residents depends on it! To put it simply, if they don’t care, how will they be able to care? Do they care about seniors, and want to do what’s right by them, or is this just going to be a job for them?

3. Remind them of the qualifications of the job.

We’re not just talking about responsibilities here. There’s more to qualifications than having the experience or abilities to perform the duties adequately (with or without reasonable accommodation).

DSS regulations require staff, persons residing in the facility, and most volunteers to have a criminal background clearance (or exemption) prior to their first day of work. This means that they will need to be electronically fingerprinted, at which point the California DOJ will conduct a background check. 

If the candidate has a criminal history, that won’t necessarily disqualify them. California’s Caregiver Background Check Bureau will review the transcript and decide if the conviction(s) were for crimes that may be exempted. Candidates with non-exemptible convictions will not be eligible to work in your care facility. 

The employee will also need to go to a local healthcare clinic (this is something you can arrange) for a health screening to verify their general well-being, and to demonstrate that their current health condition allows them to perform the type of work required. At the clinic, the physician will fill out and sign LIC 503, the health screening report for facility personnel. As a portion of their health screening, employees will also have test negative for TB.

Are you ready?

The process of successfully opening and staffing an RCFE in California might be a long one, but in the end, it will all be worth it. The senior care industry is among the fastest-growing industries in the country, and California is no different. We must be prepared to meet the needs of seniors with the best care possible. More growth means more new facilities, and more new facilities mean hiring the best employees.

The need is there. Are you ready to provide it?

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Assisted Living Education is the premier provider of RCFE classes, licensing, products and services for assisted living. Our teachers are industry professionals with many years of experience that are engaging, entertaining and highly informative. They offer RCFE consulting services and share real RCFE experience that will help you be successful in this fast-growing career industry.

People Also Ask:

How much do RCFE Administrators make? The average salary in California is more than $45,000. On the other hand, for larger facilities to pay $130,000 or more. 

Joyous as the winter season can be for some — with fresh blankets of snow, a warm hearth, and the love of family surrounding them — for others it can be a time of struggle. Not only do the holidays and cold months often counterintuitively bring some people down, perhaps in part the result of past psychological drama, but they can also trigger persistent depression.

The Holiday Blues and Seasonal Affective Disorder typically manifest in similar ways, but their origins and treatment are different. In our last post we discussed the symptoms of each condition, as well as why they might befall certain residents in your care.

As caregivers, we play an important role in an individual’s day to day life; our close relationships with those we look after allow us to notice changes in mood and behavior, and alert other members of the care team. Keeping everyone in the loop, especially the psychiatric professional who will provide the diagnosis and treatment, gives a resident the best shot at recovery.

Here are some of the ways we can help our senior residents when the black dog begins to growl.

Helping Residents With Holiday Depression

With proper planning and program design, it may be possible to shift a resident’s mood throughout the holidays, and prevent the Holiday Blues from taking hold in the first place.

Well before the holiday season or particular event arrives, try to make an extra effort to engage with those residents who may be at risk for experiencing a depressive episode. One simple way to start is with a conversation.

Have Meaningful Interactions With Your Residents

Regular, casual engagements with your residents can turn into lasting relationships, with positive benefits for the residents. These relationships can help toward stabilizing emotional highs and lows that may be experienced during particular times of year, like the holidays, where residents can tend to feel more isolated and lonely.

Initiating daily conversations with each and every resident may sound like a daunting and time-consuming task, but even keeping it short and sweet can brighten a resident’s day. It’s not necessary to have a long, sit-down conversation, but try to create an ongoing dialogue whenever you see your resident either in passing, during medications administration, therapy sessions, mealtimes, or other times you may have scheduled contact with them.

Not every individual will be responsive, for various reasons. They may be shy, have trust issues, or they may have a disorder or cognitive issue that makes it difficult for them to interact openly with you. These individuals may take some time to warm up to you, or you may need to change your approach. Gauge how the individual reacts to conversation; you may need to back off and take smaller steps for them to open up. You may be doing most of the talking at first, but over time, you might find it balances out to a more even exchange.

Begin inviting them to group activities or outings, but ever push a resident into something they’re. not interested in doing. Nonetheless, always let them know they’re welcome to join if they want. These relationships might take longer to develop, but for resident and caretakers alike, they can be truly meaningful.

Even for residents who have advanced dementia or Alzheimer’s, or other cognitive or verbal limitations, you making an effort to reach them can make all the difference. Singing to them, talking to them, or signing with them will help these individuals feel connected to other people. Their responses may be different, but pay close attention to their behaviors and body language for positive or negative feedback.

These are all important components of trust-building, which can help you with other times in the long-run. As a trusted staff member, the resident may look to you in times of difficulty or even non-compliance to remain calm or de-escalate a tense situation.

Involve Everyone in the Festivities

Most facilities decorate and have events correlating with the major holidays, which is a great start to creating a warm and festive environment. If possible, find out which holidays in particular your residents like to celebrate throughout the year, and make an effort to have those represented if they aren’t part of the mainstream/regular celebrations. Even decorating a common area or the hall near their room can help bring some cheer. If the resident(s) are able, they can help explain the traditions with which they’re familiar and share stories they recall from their past.

The winter holidays are also a great time of year to invite people from the community to interact with residents. Local religious organizations, youth musicians, choirs, a capella or other community groups, and even schools can come sing and/or engage with residents and bring light to their holiday experience.

If possible, outings to local community events, or even driving around looking at holiday lights in the neighborhood are great excursions as well — but if that’s not doable, reaching out to the community and requesting greeting cards for the residents is another simple way to bring your residents cheer.

Recuperation Time is Important

With all of the activities and bustle of the holiday season, down time or quiet time is crucial. Even if elderly residents are enjoying themselves with all of the festivities, it is a change from their daily routine, and may be more physically and emotionally demanding on them than expected. As we age, it can take us longer to recover from activities, especially those out of our norm, whether we realize it or not. Moreover, stress and exhaustion can depress one’s immune response, causing someone to be more susceptible to illness.

Switching things up by having partial or half-day activities with ‘regular’ days in between will allow for recovery, and help reduce the mental and physical tolls the holidays can put on elderly folks.

Treating Residents Suffering From Seasonal Affective Disorder

Many of us are familiar with the term Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but may not fully understand its condition, or even that there are different kinds of SAD. While we mentioned that there is a type of spring/summer SAD, the depression varietal we’re discussing here is fall/winter — the physiological condition coming to bear in the cold months.

For the period that the resident is suffering from SAD symptoms, antidepressants can be helpful, especially if the condition’s pattern is known. If a patient has a history of SAD, the an antidepressant regimen can begin prior to the expected onset of either winter or summer SAD. By starting sooner, the medication will be more effective.

Light therapy has also proven beneficial for sufferers of fall/winter SAD, especially among seniors who dislike taking medications or whom are already on multiple medications. Light therapy is also helpful for elderly who are not as able to go outside for natural exposure to light.

For residents with executive cognitive functioning within normal range, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is another possible treatment as well. What works best for every patient is different, and treatment can sometimes take a while to gain a foothold. In fact, there can be a great deal of trial and error in finding the right cocktail of medications or therapies, depending on one’s personal preference and brain chemistry.

A Light Through the Fog

The resident’s attending or personal psychiatrist/psychologist can determine the best course of treatment, depending on the individual’s needs, cognitive capabilities, and severity of symptoms. Even if the resident is receiving specific treatment from their psychiatrist/psychologist, it is pertinent to keep all doctors, therapists, dieticians, and other caretakers abreast of any adjustments to the resident’s routines, medical or otherwise. This helps maintain consistency and effectiveness of the treatment and resident care.

For residents suffering from Holiday Depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder, it might be a while before they can find their way to the bright side of life again, but always remember:  with your care and compassion, you are their light through the fog.

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Assisted Living Education is the leading provider of RCFE certification classes, licensing, products and services for assisted living. Our teachers are industry professionals with many years of experience that are engaging, entertaining and highly informative.