Connie Michaelis, Marketing Consultant, The Piper Assisted Living and Memory Support
I highly recommend every Elder, medical and senior care professional read Dr. Atul Gawande’s book ‘Being Mortal.’ His message is directed to the medical community and elders to make informed decisions about their continuing care. He says, “There is a messy intersection of science and human fallibility.” When more treatments and more medications prolong life beyond even what the patient desires, there needs to be a candid conversation. He suggests a simple question that might spare both the doctor and the patient a lot of grief. The physician’s question is, “What are your goals for your care? How can I help you?” In other words, the doctor needs to know, apart from his technical knowledge, what it is that the patient really wants. Is it quality or quantity of life? How straight forward can it be? There could easily be some revelations in the conversation!
It occurred to me that we could take that same model and apply it to making a transition to an Assisted Living Community. “What are your goals for the next chapters of your life? How can we help you?” Some possible goals could be: staying independent, continue to make my own decisions, giving up home maintenance, having privacy, feeling safe, staying physically and mentally strong, having friends and new activities to pursue. I encourage you to take a piece of paper and write down your goals for the future. Be honest and candid. When you visit a community, tell the marketing people exactly what your goals are. Where you live does make a difference and part of that is making sure your objectives are met. Our goal at The Piper is to make it possible for our residents to hit their goals every time! Give us a call at The Piper, 913.400.7006, and experience the difference!