Friendships in 2021

It needs no repeating: these times are more isolating than ever. For many of us, social distancing, quarantine, and shutdowns have resulted in a sense of newfound loneliness. However, we want to reassure you that the social needs of your loved ones are being met daily. Due to the home-style environment, genuine friendships between residents flourish. Your loved ones do not merely share space with roommates, they live with companions and friends. They enjoy various social activities on a daily basis; some favorites include watching classic movies and football games, going on walks in the beautiful backyard, and listening to music they can sing along to. Perhaps the quintessential activity for resident bonding is the shared mealtimes, emulating family meals that are prepared with love and care by our live-in caregivers.

Live-in caregiving provides the opportunity to have a natural friendship between your loved one and staff. Our caregivers truly get to know your loved-ones and how best to care for each individual based off of their personality, interests, dislikes, and more. We are delighted and honored to continue serving your loved ones in this way.

Importance of Outdoors

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At Estancia, we understand that spending time outside can make a big difference in the physical and mental health of our residents. That is why we have put so much effort into creating an inviting backyard. We’ve created an accessible walking path around the yard with a variety of flowers, plants, and trees. Flowering vines grow along the back wall, and a lighted pergola with comfortable seating and a grill provides a great place for residents and their visitors to spend time. Hummingbirds are regular visitors to the feeders we’ve hung from the pergola, and other birds enjoy the trees and plants throughout the yard. A bit of sun and exercise in a pleasant yard adds to the well-being and sense of home for our residents. That’s just what we want to provide. Small things can make a big difference.

 

In Home Doctor Visits

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At Estancia, we know that access to healthcare professionals is very important to our residents. We work closely with doctors and nurses that come into our home on a consistent basis to ensure that our residents have convenient and professional care. The array of services that healthcare professionals can now provide in a home environment is wide ranging. Everything from simple checkups, to blood work, to x-rays can take place in the comfort and privacy of the resident’s own room. Our residents know that their health is our priority, and we take pride in facilitating this service.

Spoiling our Residents

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Part of the respect and kindness we show also includes spoiling our residents when we get the chance! It is important to us to learn our residents’ likes, dislikes, and favorite foods. You’ll notice questions of this nature in our initial in-house assessment, and we are happy to update our menus and accommodate special requests whenever we can. For example we recently had a resident move in that told us she loves ice cream. We stock the freezer with her favorite flavors. She eats this ice cream almost every day. It is wonderful to watch her get excited when she sees that bowl of ice cream in front of her. This is just one example of a small thing that is easy for us to do but can mean everything in the world to those we are honored to care for.

Showing Love and Care

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At Estancia Assisted Living, providing a loving, empathetic, and caring atmosphere is of utmost importance. Our work is guided by questions such as, how would I wish to be treated if I were a resident? How would I want my own loved one to be treated if they lived here as a resident? Some things that we make a special point of doing to live up to this ideal include giving our residents hugs, letting them know that they look nice, and making a point of practicing patience in every bit of service we provide. Patience is especially important where mobility or memory issues are concerned. This means that, while always being available and ready to help, we support residents in being independent where possible even if it takes a bit longer to do things. It means kindly and helpfully answering questions, even if the staff has heard the same questions several times already. We want to be sure that our residents get the respect and kindness they deserve.