The secret to the success of CareOne’s Harmony Village memory care program is the close collaboration between specialists, nurses, and staff to deliver next-level care to its residents. CareOne’s team works tirelessly to cultivate a strong understanding of their personal background in addition to their unique abilities and behaviors. From there, the team develops highly personalized care plans.

Harmony Village at Hanover Township is a vibrant CareOne community dedicated to creating a comfortable and stimulating environment for their residents living with memory impairments.

Hear from our excited new team members about what they find the most rewarding in caring for residents at Hanover:

A Community Catered to Residents’ Needs

Harmony Village assisted living communities have a unique model where each neighborhood serves residents based on the progression of their condition (mild, moderate, or advanced). This model allows for highly trained staff members to hone in on the specific needs of each resident and organize programming based on their distinct abilities and disease progression.

“What makes the dementia specialist’s role so special is that our sole job is to build a deep connection and understanding of the residents, identify their specific needs are and help manage their behaviors. The dementia specialists then share that information on to the frontline staff whouse dementia care techniques to help residents manage their days.. This makes CareOne unique – it’s a team effort,” says Hanover’s new Memory Care Specialist Ulysses Biscaia.

Ulysses has more than 10 years of experience working with seniors with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other memory impairments with a specialization in sub-acute rehab and long-term care. Grounded in the training from CareOne’s Director of Dementia Program Development Joan DiPaola and informed by the expertise of world-class Dementia Specialist Teepa Snow, Harmony Village staff and dementia specialists work 24/7 to aid and encourage residents in their communities. Put simply, this means carefully and compassionately observing resident patterns of behavior, trigger points and emotional responses to best understand their condition. Centered around these principles, the dementia specialist’s job is to make sure this expertise and personal knowledge informs each resident’s care.

Partnership in Care

From the community tour through admissions, CareOne supports caregivers throughout the process, working closely with them to understand residents’ needs and behaviors. At Hanover, we want caregivers to stay engaged and work closely with us in designing the best program for their loved one. Our new Building Administrator, Robert Fiorese, has worked for more than 20 years in senior living:

“Often times when families come to us, they’re in a crisis mode. They need help and they don’t know how to care for this person. This is their mom, their dad, or their loved one and they just don’t have the full knowledge of how to deal with them in their condition and have a lot of questions.”

Robert feels the most joy in being an empathetic ally to caregivers and getting their loved ones the care they need. This is especially true when caregivers feel apprehensive to put their loved ones in an assisted living community.

“We assure [caregivers] that this isn’t the final stage. They’re not dropping off your loved one – we’re here to help you reconnect and give them the safest level of independence possible,” he adds.

Activities & Engagement

Outside of aiding residents with daily living tasks such as hygiene, getting proper nutrition, and medication management, the Hanover team fosters a fun and interactive environment through thoughtful activity programming matched to residents’ cognitive abilities. Olivia Cozewith, the new director of sales and marketing, has a background as an activities director.

Group programming can range from playing games and socializing at the ice cream parlor to spring events on the outdoor patio as well as individual activities. At CareOne, we help residents connect with their previous interests through these activities.

“If we have a woman who used to knit lap blankets for hospice patients, we’ll introduce her to another resident who also used to knit. By bringing them together for activities, they form a friendship — if it’s a new friendship every day, that’s totally fine,” says Olivia.

Our staff builds strong relationships with residents and their families and are dedicated to developing creative programming to promote mental and emotional well-being. We also deliver around-the-clock care to help residents achieve the highest quality of life possible while relieving caregivers of their most challenging responsibilities. CareOne delivers this support so that caregivers can return to their role as a daughter, son, spouse, sister, or brother and get quality time back with their loved one.

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Over the course of the last year, CareOne’s New Jersey facilities have significantly reduced the use of agency nurses and nursing assistants. As of May 2023, CareOne is 95% out of agency across the state, providing care through our own talented team of healthcare professionals. This incredible achievement is unparalleled in the industry and showcases CareOne’s commitment to recruiting, hiring, retaining, rewarding, and investing in our staff.

Achieving this significant reduction is particularly noteworthy given the ongoing staffing challenges faced by the industry amid a talent shortage. According to a study released by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, nearly 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce in the wake of the pandemic. Many skilled nursing and assisted living facilities have been forced to rely on temporary staff from nursing agencies as a result. Because we believe strong resident-staff relationships are a critical component of quality care, CareOne made a commitment to reducing our reliance on temporary staff.

he journey towards this milestone started with a comprehensive review of CareOne’s recruitment and hiring processes. By focusing on attracting and retaining the best talent in the industry, the organization was able to significantly reduce its reliance on agency staffing. Our proactive approach to talent management has enabled CareOne to foster a supportive and collaborative work environment that values employees.

CareOne’s investment in its staff goes beyond competitive salaries and benefits packages. The organization has implemented ongoing training and development programs, equipping nursing staff with the skills and knowledge necessary to provide exceptional care to patients and residents. This focus on employee growth and satisfaction has contributed significantly to the organization’s ability to reduce its reliance on agency nurses and nursing assistants.

CareOne’s commitment to its staff has also had a positive impact on the quality of care provided to patients and residents. By investing in its workforce, CareOne has been able to maintain a consistent team of nursing professionals, leading to improved continuity of care and better patient outcomes.

“Staffing our facilities with our own dedicated nursing staff is a top priority,” said Daniel Straus, CEO and Chairman at CareOne. “We believe the strong bonds that form between our employees and residents are fundamental to the CareOne experience, where we strive to treat your family like our own. This milestone is indicative of our commitment to our staff and to our residents.”

CareOne stands as a paradigm for other healthcare organizations seeking to achieve similar results.

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There are more than 6 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number could rise to almost 13 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

That need can be acutely felt by the 11 million Americans who provide unpaid care for those individuals, many of whom are grandparents, mothers, fathers and siblings. For many, finding the right place to care for a loved one is difficult.

To help, Kaitlyn Koch, administrator of Harmony Village at CareOne Hanover Township, recently spoke with NJ Advance Media about what to look for in a memory care facility, such as CareOne’s Harmony Village, which will open a new 84-room location in Hanover in 2022 and is part of a larger expansion plan by the company.

Q: What should families consider first when selecting a memory care facility?
A: I always tell families that they need to trust their gut. They need to walk into the building and feel comfortable when they’re visiting, and they need to feel safe and secure and have confidence in the staff to care for their the loved one the same way they would care for them. We’re almost like a luxury hotel. Every resident has his or her own suite, bathroom and kitchenette. There are common spaces throughout, a dining room, a movie theater, a mini gym, garden areas, a bistro that is open 24/7, and we’ll also have an ice cream parlor and a full-service salon.

Q: What on-site services will be at Harmony Village at CareOne Hanover Township?
A: Each Harmony Village community is staffed with a dementia specialist — an individual who is highly trained in memory care and works to educate staff and develop a customized plan of care that is specific to each resident. We’re also proud to offer in-house physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and we have a full team of dementia care specialists working with patients and their families. In addition, our director of nursing has relationships with many local specialists, such as cardiologists and psychologists. At CareOne Harmony Village in Hanover, families will have a place that is safe and secure for their loved ones, where they will have the resources and care they need.

Q: How does Harmony Village evaluate patients before they move in?
A: A comprehensive assessment is done before residents move in. Our dementia specialist and director of nursing meet with the family and resident to learn more about the resident’s past, what they like, their interests and goals moving forward, and how we can provide consistent, patient-centered care. It is so important, especially in a dementia assisted living community, that we focus on the resident’s past and their goals so the residents can live their best life. Additionally, residents live in different neighborhoods based on their cognitive ability.

Q: What recreational activities are available to residents?
A: We have a full calendar of activities planned for residents. There are daily exercise groups, cooking demonstrations, baking clubs, outings and we have different performers from the community come in. Whatever residents or their families want to see in place for them, we can make that happen. Additionally, families take a very active role here, visiting loved ones regularly and participating in activities, including some of our trips. It’s our goal to have families as active as possible. We want residents to be engaged and enjoy a purposeful, meaningful life. We want them to feel like they have a reason to be in the community.

For more information on Harmony Village at Hanover Township, call Ann Foley, director of sales and marketing, at 201-370-4592.

The post Comprehensive, Compassionate Memory Care at Harmony Village at CareOne Hanover appeared first on CareOne.

It was the day before Christmas, Julie, a family friend invited me to bring gifts to the senior center that she worked at in Canada. As we entered the facility I had mixed emotions and the image of my grandmother came to my mind as I looked at each senior. (I was with my grandmother from 4th grade until High School before leaving for College.) For almost an hour we were exchanging laughter and thoughts about Christmas. I was really moved when they would share something about their life with me. When Julie bid goodbye she said to them “I’ll see you after Christmas”. One resident said “You mean, you’re not here tomorrow?” There was silence and the Julie explained that she had to spend time with her family. As I looked at the woman, she replied with two teardrops rolling down her cheek from her eyes.” That night I couldn’t sleep thinking about her.

The next morning we had Christmas breakfast and exchanged gifts with Julie’s family. Afterwards, Julie asked me, “Where would you like to go today?” I think Julie was shocked when I said “I want to go back and say Merry Christmas to your residents, I think that will make them happy.” “After that you can take me anywhere you want.”

When we arrived at the facility and Julie entered the hall, everyone was shouting for joy and some were even in tears hugging her. My eyes were looking for the lady I was thinking about all night. I found her in a corner and as I came closer and greeted her the same as yesterday, she whispered in my ear, “Thank you for coming back today, it’s worth more than the Christmas gift that you gave me yesterday.” I could see my Grandmother in her and it gave me goosebumps. I saw her still smiling when we left the room to go home.

This experience is why I’m in healthcare working for seniors. I immediately started attending free caregiver training and took courses toward my college education.

In August 2011, I was so happy when I was offered a position at CareOne at Cresskill in their Rehab Department. I enjoyed taking residents to the gym for their exercises, working with the Nurses assigned to them, making sure they’re up, dressed, and had their meal and medicine before going to therapy.

Later, I was transferred to the Activities Department and felt more like I did that Christmas in Canada. Every day is a happy day when I’m welcomed by my residents and I see them smile. I’m most amazed when I can make someone laugh or smile when they aren’t feeling well or in pain. Every night I pray that they feel loved, cared for and that I will see them again tomorrow.

This will be my 10th year here and I am still thankful to this facility who gave me the opportunity to share my talents and continue to be a part of making our residents feel that they are home every day.

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