If you’re looking for a retirement community, personal care home or memory care in Louisville for yourself or for an older loved one, how do you begin your search? How do you compare quality of retirement care?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) make it easy for you. The government agency’s Nursing Home Compare (NHC) ratings are conveniently posted online, so you can quickly narrow your search to only those retirement care centers that meet the safety inspection and quality of care standards.
The difference high-quality senior care can make
When it comes to elder care, quality is key. "Seniors often have numerous medical conditions and are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of low-quality health care," notes the RAND Corporation, a research organization dedicated to developing solutions to public policy challenges.
"High quality healthcare needs to be the norm, not the exception," says Robin Hertz, Ph.D., a Pfizer epidemiologist. And we couldn't agree more. But, how do we improve the standard of care for America's aging population?
One promising approach is person-centered care (PCC). According to a 2017 study published in Clinical Interventions of Aging, PCC was found to "reduce agitation, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and depression and to improve the quality of life" in individuals with dementia living in long-term care communities.
But it doesn't just help seniors with dementia—it benefits all aging adults. That's why person-centered care is the common thread running throughout all ERS communities, including Episcopal Church Home.
ECH's legacy of quality senior care
Ever since our 1881 founding as the Church Home and Infirmary by prominent publisher and Episcopal Church member John P. Morton, Episcopal Church Home has striven to render the best senior care in Louisville.
Today, our Louisville senior living community, and our affiliate organization, Episcopal Retirement Services (ERS), consistently remains a top performer for quality, safe elder care in the Ohio Valley. We serve 250 residents, including independent senior living, assisted living, memory care and short-term physical rehabilitation clients.
How do we do consistently earn the trust of families who place their loved ones in our care? By enriching the lives of older adults in a person-centered, innovative and spiritually based way, as our mission states.
“Our residents’ individual needs come first at all times,” said Beverly Edwards, our Executive Director. “If one of our residents needs something, we make every effort to fulfill the request.”
ECH’s staffing levels remain higher than most other senior care communities’ in the Louisville area — especially in terms of on-duty Registered Nurses (RNs).
That’s critically important for our residents’ wellbeing. Numerous studies of healthcare quality and safety have shown that higher nursing staff levels yield more positive health outcomes.
On the quality of resident care side, Episcopal Church Home’s hospital readmission rates for short-stay rehabilitation patients are dramatically lower than the national and Kentucky averages. Additionally, ECH exceeded the Kentucky average for improvement of patient mobility during short-term stays.
The percentage of ECH residents who reported experiencing moderate to severe pain during their stay was less than half of the Kentucky average for short-term rehab facilities, and was far below the national average in the same category.
Could you and your spouse or your parents benefit from ECH’s person-centered care?
As a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC), Episcopal Church Home serves a wide variety of seniors’ retirement care needs, from independent living and assisted living, to short-term physical rehab and long-term memory care placement. Our multi-level care concept allows residents to remain at home even as their needs change.
Come see the ECH difference for yourself. We’d love an opportunity to show you and your loved ones how we’re helping Louisville seniors live well into the future.
