The following article was compiled from a press release.
The Connecticut Assisted Living Association (CALA) recently announced its annual award winners for 2021. This year, CALA awarded The Greens at Cannondale‘s Evergreen Program with the “Best Practices Award — Resident Care.”
As a trade association, CALA promotes and supports assisted living providers through education, programming and newsletters, legislative and public policy advocacy, and assessment of organizational best practices. Each year, CALA recognizes assisted living organizations for exemplary practices, programs or individuals.
With over 22 years of success as an assisted living provider with a memory care pavilion called “Evergreen,” The Greens at Cannondale has maintained true to its original recipe for success in caring for cognitively impaired residents. These core tenets have led to industry-leading resident retention rates, low staff turnover, solid census performance and a top length of stay averages.
The Evergreen team at the Greens are recruited, assigned, and trained for working specifically with memory care clients. Resident Care Associate (RCA) recreation and dietary associates are all consistently assigned to promote familiarity between each other and with their residents. By knowing the personal touches, such as wake-up times, food preferences or simply how to fix one’s tea really makes a difference in the life of a resident who has lost other choices in their life. With a staff turnover rate near zero and extensive dementia-specific training, the Evergreen team is able to work together in a meaningful way.
The Greens at Cannodale, Evergreen Program, has developed a diverse and rich program calendar for memory-impaired residents. Be it music, art, sensory activities, or fun and games, the many programs (often running simultaneously) keep residents engaged and mentally active to suit their level of cognition. Programming calendars and activities are designed and conducted by a team of on-site therapeutic recreation professionals.
While Evergreen Memory Care offers rooms large enough for comfortable sleeping and lounging, socialization often naturally occurs in the vast common spaces through the Pavilion. This also allows for proactive monitoring and engagement. Rather than call-for-aide pendants, resident needs are met via care planning without the need for a reactive system such as a pendant. This focus on effective care planning has led to positive outcomes that allow residents to “age-in-place” in memory care, often avoiding unnecessary hospitalization or the need for a higher level of care. Evergeen residents, therefore, often remain “chronic and stable” through proactive and effective care planning.
The Greens at Cannondale has committed to continued learning, through education from the Alzheimer’s Association or close partnerships with associations such as CALA.