Coping with changes in living spaces and daily routines can be particularly difficult for elderly residents. When a rehab-ready apartment or assisted living unit is also an established home, communication with both residents and contractors is key to smoothing the process as much as possible.
Senior living property representatives who have worked through capital projects agree that information and procedures should be shared at several stages and with several groups, including the residents themselves, residents’ families and contractors. Creating and sharing a detailed plan of “what happens when” can help residents anticipate adjustments and avoid confusion or frustration.
Not Your Average Contractors
Many contractors specialize in senior living properties, know what to look for going in, and make efforts to communicate any special situations to sub-contractors. No matter their experience, however, any contractor will need to understand a senior property’s particular needs.
“We recognize that with senior populations it is different than when working in a family environment,” says Don Gaitten, vice president of business development for Wallick Construction. “There’s a whole lot more that must be taken into consideration as it relates to noise, dust. … The approach you take is, we’re going to be listening to you very carefully.”
Constant Communication
Methodist Retirement Communities in Texas is doing in-place kitchen and living area renovations of more than 200 units at four properties. Resident emotions fluctuated between calm and nervous as information eased concerns or a new step caused additional ones, Director of Affordable Housing Narda Holland said. Part of the process included bringing in contractors before any work was started so residents could meet them and discuss the repairs.
“From the very beginning, we let them in on what was happening and what our plans were. Of course with the elderly it’s always going to be an issue of what their support system is and how they’re going to deal with their lives and moving,” Holland says.
Much of the concern had been from residents envisioning an overwhelming move-out process. “We broke it into smaller pieces, and they realized it really wasn’t going to disturb their way of life,” Holland says. Communications included posted fliers announcing what projects were ongoing or upcoming.
Getting Residents Involved
Brookwood Retirement Community offered its assisted living residents the opportunity to be involved by requesting their opinions on paint colors. The Ohio property renovated an entire building, which required that many residents move out temporarily. To help explain the process, Brookwood set up small group meetings among residents who already had moved back into their renovated homes and those who had yet to move out. Contractors were asked to work within certain time periods, and families were consulted to help residents adjust.
“This is someone’s home, so we try to treat everybody that lives here like we’re in their house,” says Greg Miller, vice president of operations for Brookwood owner Health Care Management Group.
Anticipating Needs
Each of National Church Residences’ capital projects has been different in terms of project scope, but the anxiety is the same, says Vice President of Support Services Terry Allton. Pre-planning and anticipation are key. “If the resident thinks about it before you do, now you’re in big trouble,” Allton says. And if properties don’t communicate with residents, expect that residents will communicate with the properties – and the contractors.
“We’ve got seniors who are going to be brazen enough to ask, ‘Why is that pile of garbage still there?” says Rose St. Claire, a relocation and service coordinator at Memorial Towers in Phoenix who shows up at her residents’ doors with bagels on their moving days.
Memorial Towers, an NCR property, is renovating 150 apartments one floor at a time. When completion of some units was delayed and residents became upset, procedures were adjusted from moving people into temporary units to moving them directly into their new units.
“It’s hard for seniors to be flexible,” says St. Claire. “They were living in boxes. They were complaining. You can’t blame them.”
Some residents had a hard time remembering that they were scheduled to move. Some changed their minds. One called the police when movers came to the door, St. Claire said; another wasn’t home at all the day of her move. Communicate constantly, St. Claire says, and anticipate that sometimes more still will be required.
Tips from Property Representatives:
- Have a comprehensive schedule of projects, and communicate frequently
- Identify support networks, and offer physical and emotional assistance to residents without families
- Remember holidays when you schedule contractors, particularly if resident traditions would be disrupted or support staff would be on vacation
- Offer peer meetings so residents can share their experiences
Invite contractors to meet residents before work begins - Schedule group activities or events to offer residents a place to be during rehab projects.
- Stay positive and keep the end in mind so residents can, too.
Share your ideas for helping elderly residents adjust to contractors, construction and change, and we’ll post select suggestions here. Email your name, title, organization and suggestion to edeforest@lancasterpollard.com. Comments may be edited for length.
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