Assured Assisted Living Interview with CNTV

Gary: This is Gary Atencio, with CNTV. And today we're in Littleton, Colorado. I'm here at Assured Assisted Living. Since 2005, they have created a living environment that is the closest thing to home, while utilizing cutting-edge, senior care. I am here with the President, thanks so much for joining us here today, Francis,

Francis: Thanks for having me.

Gary: Let's start off a little bit about yourself, be it the president, co-founder of many organizations, basically, you have a demonstrated history of senior care. Obviously, it's a passion of yours, this also began as kind of a personal story of a grandfather who struggled with the aging process that we're all going to go through. Share with me a little bit how this got started for you.

Francis: So, a lot of it came from my two grandfathers, my paternal and maternal grandfather, one had dementia, one had Parkinson's, and just seeing it through the family eyes, the stress on us and trying to navigate how we do it because you don't know what you don't know. And it's a blessing to get older, it's wisdom that you've acquired. So, hearing the stories of my grandfather, who was a military vet and hearing my other grandfather, who worked at General Motors for 50 years, it is finding ways to honor our older adults, and learn from them, even if they need a little help. And that's really where it came from. And I also was a firm believer, we need to do this differently. I'm a big believer of shaking things up, being a little younger, and I think it's time that we put aging on its head, ignite some hope, and let's do some things a little differently.

Gary: That is interesting. And let's face it, like you, for your grandfather, we all want the best for our loved ones, period. But yet, there are a lot of options out there, and it can be overwhelming. Before we talk about the option of what you provide here, share with me some of the options that people are having to decide upon, what are they up against? What are they looking at?

Francis: Well, obviously money comes into play, how much does it cost per month, and then a lot of it is the level of care, are they very independent, where you can live maybe in more of a senior community that's age-restricted, like 55 plus communities? Then you have your assisted living, where it can vary from little to no care to a lot of care, where maybe you're a two-person transfer, you can move on to memory care, which helps those living with Dementia or Alzheimer's. And then you have that skilled nursing component or the nursing home, which is that traditional model, we're thinking of long corridors, a bunch of scary rooms, all that stuff.

Gary: Let's talk a little bit about the reasons that you touched on for a second on why people find themselves needing assisted living, to begin with, obviously, many reasons out there, but your expertise is that in Dementia and Alzheimer's. Tell me why this was an area that you felt was important for your people to be certified in and skilled,

Francis: I think it comes down to… in the US, we're really good at handling treatment for diseases we can cure. But when someone is living with dementia, we only focus on dementia, we forget about the amazing opportunities of that person, they are who they are, they are just a little bit different. So, they might need some help navigating through the day, but that doesn't mean they don't have value, they don't have a purpose. So, our job is to empower them to have a purpose, to have a part of their day be for them. And that's what matters is they have a diagnosis that can be a little scary, but life isn't over. It's our job to pull it out of them. Do they want to go exercising or walk around the neighborhood? Do they want to do arts and paint? We need to give them the tools to do that.

Gary: Embrace that next chapter and see what we can do to keep that going.

Francis: Yes.

Gary: When a person moves out of their home, sometimes it's a home they've lived in their whole entire life, it can be very challenging. Not only is it challenging for the person moving out, but this is stressful for the family, it's overwhelming, there are signs of anxiety, wondering if you're doing the right thing. Is this something that your organization helps to navigate through those uncharted roads?

Francis: Absolutely. I always say, we have two jobs. The first job is making sure our residents get the care they need and deserve. The second is adding peace of mind to the family. And the reason I say that is because you're seeing some role reversal, kids may be making decisions for dad or mom that they never had to do. Kids or spouses being like, “I don't know if this is the right thing to have my husband or my wife or my significant other live without me”. You're trusting people to take care of your best friend. And so, our job is to help be a trust source. We want to provide them as much transparency and clarity, so they have peace of mind.

Gary: This peace of mind, I mean, obviously, the fact that we're talking about housing, housing is a roof over your head, it is meals, its necessities. This is more than housing.

Francis: Absolutely.

Gary: This is about your home, do you feel there's a feeling that people get of home?

Francis: And that's what I equate this to, why I fell in love with this smaller model was because we create these functional families, it's our residents and staff building this support system for each other. And the way we do it, they're able to know the idiosyncrasies of our residents. Like, we know this person only wants his coffee this way, or they want it this time of day, we know those personal touches that they deserve to have. And when you have the sense of family and home, that just adds a lot of value.

Gary: Let's begin with the structure itself. I've done many interviews, we drive in a commercial area, I'm driving into a residential area and it's purposely done as a single-level dwelling, it's not huge, it's not a facility, it's not intimidating. Do you think that really helps when a person even approaches the front door and it feels like home?

Francis: I definitely think it helps with that transition piece because you're not taking them from maybe their own single-family home and putting them in a three-story building, right? They're seeing a school at this property, we have 10 locations, and they're all in neighborhoods. So, you can go walk the neighborhood, you can hear kids playing, you can see traditional families activity of kids going to sports and all those things, right? You're giving them things that are familiar to them, even if they have to struggle cognitively, they still see a backyard and maybe a garden. So they're seeing things that they've always seen before.

Gary: I noticed inside of the facility when they have their meal, lunch, or dinner, it doesn't look like a cafeteria, this doesn't look like a school or work. We're talking about a tight-knit family structure, like you said they know what people like and maybe even help set the table.

Francis: And that's exactly it. We want our residents to be active in their lives. Whatever that is, if someone wants to set the table, great, clear the table, awesome, help make the meal in a traditional family kitchen, they can do that. Our staff is there to navigate for them. We want them to be empowered to do whatever they want and our staff will be there as that hand to assist or maybe your safety catch, like, “Oh, maybe we shouldn't leave that stove on. But here, let me help you, let's do it together”.

Gary: That is cool. Speaking of your staff, because it is not a big facility, you're not talking about a large staff, you’re not talking about changing out shifts and keeping track of who you're with. This is a wonderful ratio. Tell me more about that.

Francis: That's the part that I think I love for what we do, is we have the right staffing for our residents. We have two staff members on for most of the day across all of our properties. And that's about one to four. So, that means our residents get a ton of personal attention, we're not rushing, our staff can sit and get to know them, get to know what they like, they don't like so when we do have to do hands-on care, we're not scaring them, we're not rushing. We like to use this thing called the positive approach to care. It's a Teepa Snow philosophy, it's about a visual, verbal touch. And that matters, I want to see your eyes and I want you to see me so that I have a friendly face. And that's what it comes down to.

Gary: That is great. When we talked before about the reasons why people find they need this support, Alzheimer's is huge, Dementia. When I see the layout on something like this, do you think the layout itself helps to create that stable environment for them so that it reduces the anxiety they may have, it's got to reduce the fear of confusion.

Francis: I think that the design is important because I think if it's too large, they might get lost easier and they can't find the room as well, staff might not be able to see them. The cool thing about our design is it's large enough to be comfortable, small enough where our staff can have eyes on them. So, we can be proactive, if they do need a little bit of help with this or that, our staff can be right there. They're not pushing call buttons, they're not waiting for someone to help them, our staff is proactive in it. And I think it also helps that there are less people, you don't have 15, 16, 18 other people, you have about eight, nine.

Gary: I've gone to a larger facility before and visited my grandmother. Quite honestly, I was confused and there were so many rooms, so many corridors, three different levels. I almost felt like I needed a break to get back home because it was so busy and staff were running everywhere. What is the ratio comparison when you're looking at a bigger facility?

Francis: I think it's anywhere from I would say 1:8, 1:10 probably. Some of the other ones could be even as high as 1:12, 1:14. I would assume it's probably about 1:8, or 1:7, maybe something in that realm. It makes a difference, especially with memory care, that's what I think is also a key element here. People living with cognitive challenges need a little extra touch, a little extra support.

Gary: This is personal attention for each one of them, from an expert care team, all the way from the administrator, all the way down to the staff, and somebody who's out there helping them. You mentioned before the positive approach, is this something that has evolved through the years and you see it as, like you said, meeting that change that you're hoping for?

Francis: Yeah, I definitely think it is, Tipper Snow, who I learn from, who I’m an instructor through her program, and we've been bringing that on to our team for several years now. That has helped us, it helps the staff learn how to redirect better work with these residents. My hope is that we remove that curtain from the scare of dementia diagnoses, and it's a scary diagnosis, but there are ways we can do some amazing things.

Gary: I mean, not only the care that you have here within the four walls of the facility but what about the care that you're able to bring in, like doctors and physicians, does that happen on a weekly basis, monthly, how does that work?

Francis: Definitely, it happens on a weekly basis. We have running physician practices that we've worked with that may come in and see our residents, we have podiatrist, we have physical therapy, occupational therapy, we want as many services to come into the house, one, because it reduces the stress of them going out, but also to what's convenient for our residents. We want our residents to be in control and empowered in an environment that they feel comfortable in.

Gary: So, they don't have to leave the safety of their home to go get let's say a haircut, or like you said even doctors, physical care, speech therapist. That has to be a peace of mind for the family as well that they're not leaving… I wonder if dad has gotten where he needed to go to that type of thing.

Francis: Exactly, we use a lot of cool technology to stay in good communication with our family, we believe communication is the most important part here, letting the family know how mom, dad, husband, wife, their loved one is doing. And we also want to take the stress of scheduling those doctor's appointments off the table, not worrying about this and this, we want that burden so they can be family.

Gary: I mean, like I said before, this is in a residential area, so obviously it feels like home, At the same time, they can go out the backyard, got a beautiful place to walk around, kind of a free environment yet at the same time, this is a secure environment 24 seven, somebody's taking care of you that you don't drift off. Francis: Correct, they're 24/7, they're awake, they're here to meet their needs at night, if they have to, if they need help at 2 am, we have staff there to help them.

Gary: Like I said before, the goal is to provide somewhere that is like home, soon becomes home, I would even guess to say just from what I've learned, it can be almost better than home because of the activities that you provide. And we're talking about gardening, music, arts and crafts, physical exercise, these are things that my grandfather passed away in his home, he never had access to many of these things. Do you think that is an important factor to keep them happy?

Francis: Absolutely. And I think the socialization component too. We need to keep that social connection. A lot of people that are living in their homes by themselves, might not get that social interaction. So, we don't know how they're eating. We don't know what their hydration level is, are they taking their medications? All those little factors go into having a proactive care model because we track all of that. We want to know how much they eat at every meal, how much fluid they're drinking per day? Are they taking their meds as we administer them per the doctor's orders, we want to know all those things and we collect all that data.

Gary: Very impressive. Francis, let me ask you this, be it the president, co-founder of organizations, a podcast that you're sharing your experience with. At the end of the day, your passion is about changing the way that we care for folks that are aging, and also challenging ourselves to maybe look at new ways. Does this continue to be rewarding for you?

Francis: Absolutely. Because I go back to what I'm learning, the more I connect with our residents and our families, it keeps reinvigorating me. This has been a stressful period with COVID and things like that. But what it goes back to is, if you do it the right way, for the right reasons, we're going to have good outcomes. But we always have to be challenging ourselves to see what we can do better for them because they deserve the best. All of us are here because of someone before us, whether it's our parents or grandparents and so we need to learn from them, but also honor them. That's really where I am right now is realizing I'm here because of my dad, my grandfather, his grandfather, right? So, I want to do things that not only are the right way for me but also to give honor to those who have come before.

Gary: That is excellent. Viewers, let's take a look at the bottom of the screen right there, what you're going to see is their website. First of all, on the website, take a look around, you're going to see all the different services they provide at each location. We are at the Littleton location here today, but they have 10 locations. They have grown since 2005, as an organization that basically has professionals here to help you navigate through those years. If you're not sure of a loved one that maybe needs this type of assisted living, schedule a tour, schedule a phone call, they can walk you through it, and explain what is provided for you here as well. Located across many areas here of Denver Metro area, once again, that is Assured Assisted Living, keeping their golden years, golden. This is Gary Atencio with CNTV. And if you don't know, now you know.