Asbury Heights

Title: Personal Care at Asbury Heights
Time: 16 min 9 sec

Description:

Is Personal Care right for your loved one? Hear from some of our residents and family members about life at Asbury Heights.

Transcript:

hello I'm Erika Javad and I am the administrator of two of the personal care communities here at Asbury the following video features stories from our residents and their families outlining their journey to personal care we hope you will find it useful as you begin to explore the possibilities of long-term care here are their stories we got a mailing my parents weren't even part of the community yeah they live in another community not far from here and when we we knew that both parents were suffering from dementia we didn't know you know how the course was going to go but when we got that flyer it just I needed hit it just the right time and I know I attended first and as soon as I attended I knew the next time I'd have to bring the rest of the family well you know my mom and we stepfather we're living together it has passed away now be four years but when she passed away you know there was a change two people together maybe could have our different dynamic than a person alone and you know I noticed that she was just a little unhappy I'm bored this of that and then she gradually became to move downhill actually she fell twice she was constantly having this sickness or this proper that problem or another problem and I was constantly feel well or this is happening those sorts of things I was in the hospital at I guess it was when i was at magee and the social worker told me she thought it would be place that I should go in that I would like that's how we got here my sister-in-law was here and we have friends who had parents here so it was word of mouth and it's always been I've never heard a bad thing about asbury well she didn't give me much of a choice I wasn't aware of what was going on around yeah she had had surgery and she had brain surgery and we had to find a place for her and that's actually where you guys were almost the most helpful because just the transition from the hospital to hear there wasn't even a place ready for her here yet and you guys were able to make accommodations for it and get her in when she needed to get in so that was easy it's a very difficult decision to make because you feel like you're putting your parents somewhere and in your kind of giving up and you're really not you're doing something that is better for them because you you're giving them more stimulation than you can give them at your own home or that they can have if you have somebody come in and take care of them in your home and it was a huge adjustment for us it I think maybe those first few weeks but the first day and when I looked at me and went so this is where you're sticking me I know as I go my gosh but you know you got through it and I think once you make through that adjustment and it didn't take that long once we got through that week maybe two then you know we could relax and she did enjoy and my dad my dad says to us unsolicited he'll say this is such a nice place and he goes and the people are so nice to me here and he and I think every time we come he says the same thing it's almost like he's trying to reassure us yeah she was she lost her license so she couldn't drive she was not taking her medications she was not eating she was losing weight all that all the signs were there and it was difficult for me to get to the point where yes I'm going to have to have her move somewhere out of her own home but it was the best decision I ever made the staff here has been great when you walk into the building everyone's very welcoming and it doesn't feel like a nursing facility when you walk in it's just people are generally very happy it's very clean asbury Heights is a wonderful sista sylheti it's very well managed it has good staff I love the staff I love the facilities the people are so friendly and caring and everybody makes it a point to know the people who are here and they're very all very kind and compassionate people building a nice building is easy but this staff there has to be something about how the staff is trained in overseeing that makes them able to interact with the residents here as easily as they do their very friend willing to get anything that they can get for you they're very genuine and honest with her yeah and if I need something or they'll try and help me with it they're very caring they're they're just wonderful they're just wonderful i feel so good having my mother here because I know that she's having the best care that she can get better than if she was even with me because it's 24-7 here and I can't give her that at my home is the people the staff again the takes dedication to work here and the people who work here are uniformly dedicated to caring for these older adults and treating them with respect and love I mean are you you you get it here and the level the level expertise training in the staff is top drawer she's actually created some true friendships with some of the staff yep I think overall just the community just you know you walk in and it is a true community the caregivers are involved with the people who live here and there's always an activity it's very busy there's always something to do if there's there's card games interactive things that they just makes people come out of their rooms and be together it's better for them to be out doing something than sitting in their room and they create activities that the draw people wanted their rooms I like all the activities I think you could always want something you want to do or if you don't want to do anything is fine too they don't push into they try and encourage you to do things that they don't push you into that if you want to be a loner for a while for some reason then you can do that I like the answer each other so do the exercise but I do individual I think when my parents first moved here and my dad was a little more ambulatory I think one of the most amazing activities was some of the outings or every month that you do and one of the outings and it's so simple they went to lunch and then it was there were a lot of men on that trip so they stopped the bus at an automobile dealership and they had it sure we have a picture of my dad in front of a pretty nifty sports car and he was just so tickled to be out and about so you know something that simple yet you know it's something that engages people like my dad and others and I really appreciated that as well as the activities that go on here it's a pert it's a beautiful location it's a lovely campus if you want to go outside there's places to walk inside the decor is very inviting I am a nice that's in not 11 which makes it fairly easy better to come over if I need or to get me thing so just if isn't we glad to lunch it's nice to have you around I don't have any children so she's kind of like my child what were from the area ironically we I was born and raised right here in Mount Lebanon and it just was a seem like a very good fit because I didn't take her out of an environment that she knew because we grew up a mile away actually went to school across the street you know so this is everything she already knew so it wasn't as drastic of a change we our mother had been residing at Asbury place up until about three months ago and our Father has been at Asbury sites for over a year now right I mean you're a member yet she needed to be in a place that was safe a place where she could receive 24 hour a day supervision medical attention when it was needed if she would call me on the phone and safechuck I my stomach hurts so i'm i'm here she's in penn hills i'm trying to diagnose and tell her what to do so you know you know i had experienced at that point as Barry for four years and I said there's no place else that I would want to bring my mom knowing that they staff are attentive to people's needs I wanted someplace for my mother that for the most important was that she was safe and happy and she's very safe and very happy and I think being a nurse practitioner seeing the quality of the medical care here in the Jerry benedum geriatric program and you know if dr. nice followed dad here but then he was also following him up in the skilled nursing area we have a dr david nice who is the chief of the medical staff here who is the person i credit for my mother's improved help he looked at her broad range of medicine her broad range of health issues and put her in a medical regimen which was you know which was appropriate for her and she again is so much better again now that's the thing that made it easy this isn't something i've ever done before and we came from UPMC and there was a very good connection between your staff here and UPMC to get the whole transportation over here well and just even moving her stuff in and you know if people were very open to that as soon as we got the go-ahead we were in within a week and they did everything to help make sure that everybody was settled in and she was out meeting people and it was really it really went a lot better than I ever thought it could there was an assessment done for my mother as to where she was appropriate what level of care was appropriate for her the staff who was doing did that was just very you know kind and just the involvement that we felt part of the care and the care plan because of all the involvement that we had had in some external training that you all provided and even the staff I mean they are they've been really helpful in helping us to better understand and how to react the transition you guys actually made it easy for me work any time I ever had a question or concern if I called in they would just try to answer it right away listen be very open you know just so it made it as easy as it possibly could be what if my money runs out and they said well your money runs out you're still resident that is so comforting it's it's really it's a very important feature it's a very important feature just knowing also that she we will not have to go through the process of finding another place for her whatever happens in her life however however how much memory she loses or whatever happens to her we're not going to have to go out and look for another place that she will always have a place in Asbury and they make it well known and they mean what they say actually that was one of the deciding factors because you know we do have you know when you're talking about finances and you don't know what's going to happen down the road and the fact that Asbury makes a commitment to the resident for their entire life was a big part in the decision that we had to make there's a piece of bond for my mom to know she doesn't have to worry about where she's going and she likes it here she doesn't want to go anywhere else for me to know that my mom is settled I will have to worry about her showy here forever just that it actually gives me some peace of mind that she's being taken care of well you know when I go home at night there's less worried about what's going on you know you look at the place the place is nice neat clean at all times and I know people are checking on her and they genuinely care about it I think too i think i would encourage people to look like we did yes and then I didn't let you look around you'll see that this is by far a place that has very good care and not only the care but the ongoing commitment to improving care and to making sure that people who work here are really well skilled in working with dementia patients I mean there wasn't any question that you know this was really the best place to be it's a great place come be part of our community it as Barry Heights you