tallahassee Democrat Readers Choice Award Winner For
Best Assisted Living & Memory Care
Demand for a New Model
Villas at Killearn Lakes, ISL of Florida’s “small house” assisted living model, will be the first introduction to this region of the state-of-the-art philosophies, architecture, staffing patterns and service delivery systems that are transforming assisted living and other long-term care facilities into true person-centered homes throughout the nation.
CULTURE CHANGE
Culture change is currently taking place in long-term care as a result of regulations mandating a more person-centered environment in nursing homes. The “Small House Movement”, a component of culture change in long-term care, began in the late 90’s when the first nursing home was transformed into a neighborhood of smaller residential-style homes. “A small house is an intentional community of 10-14 persons and a staff of highly trained workers who live and work in a well-designed environment organized and operated by the humanistic guiding principles of autonomy and dignity. When completely implemented, small house reframes the philosophical view of a person, restores the metaphysical and physical home, provides good chronic disease management and supplies sufficient staff and equipment to support personal care” (Rabig, Judith; Rabig, Donald. [2008, March 1].From “nursing home” to “home”: the small house movement: from the growing movement toward “small is better.” Long Term Living).
While assisted living facilities have grown to be less regulated, less costly, and important alternatives to nursing homes over the past two decades, they have not been immune to an increasingly institutional feel. Regional and national operators have replicated “large box” designs and standardized operating procedures across the country. Ironically, fewer regulations in assisted living have also enabled many operators to ignore the culture change processes currently taking place in nursing homes. Consequently, many assisted living facilities are driven more than some progressive nursing homes by management and staff considerations – not by the considerations of people who live there.
In the article titled “Sizing up the market for Assisted Living in 2010”, David G. Stevenson and David C. Grabowski, Assistant and Associate Professors for Health Policy at Harvard Medical School, write: “People who need assistance with performing everyday activities such as bathing, eating, and dressing prefer to receive supportive services in the least institutional and most homelike setting possible. A general population survey found that people would prefer to be cared for in an assisted living facility over a nursing home if they needed 24 hour care, by a margin of six to one.” Preference clearly shows that people in need of care are looking for a place with minimal medical signposts.
We believe Villas at Killearn Lakes meets this demand. It is a neighborhood home setting, with above industry staffing ratios, professional management, and moderate, predictable pricing that provides the best environment for a new assisted living community — and the people it serves — to thrive.