I have been seeing a television commercial for Brookdale Senior Living a lot recently. (If you would like to watch it, please click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/BrookdaleLiving). At the conclusion of the commercial, a list of offered services pops up, and I was so excited to see "Therapy" included! I decided to visit their website to explore a bit more, and I discovered that they provide three types of therapies to older adults who reside in their communities: 1) Rehabilitation, 2) Fitness, and 3) Education. The webpage that denotes these types of therapies, originally listed as "Therapy" in the commercial and on the homepage (http://www.brookdaleliving.com/ -- Hover the mouse over "Senior Living Solutions" to see what I'm talking about), is actually entitled "Therapy & Rehabilitation" (See here: http://www.brookdaleliving.com/therapy-and-rehabilitation.aspx). If I were providing care for my grandmother who suffered from Depression, Bipolar Disorder, or another mental health diagnosis, I would run to find the necessary support that I thought could be provided in a setting tailor-made with multiple types of therapies.
Brookdale defines "Education Therapy" as a way their residents can learn more about aging healthily while also supporting their peers in the aging process. It seems to me that this would be the perfect place to slip in some psychoeducation along with a therapist who specializes in older adult experiences with mental health. This brings us full circle back to our blog post about Medicare. Brookdale, and many other senior living facilities, accepts Medicare coverage. Their website has a full breakdown of Parts A and B. If you recall from our blog post (or you can view their page: http://www.brookdaleliving.com/medicare.aspx), Medicare Part B covers mental health concerns. Education Therapy provides a good framework for mental health services, or talk therapy. As my classmates and I have noted throughout our blog, there is a severe lack of specifically-trained therapists, facilities, and appropriate services available to the aging population. Despite my initial disappointment, Brookdale appears to offer a small glimpse of hope towards the potential for future assistance.
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ReplyDeleteProviding specialty courses in the area of psycho education for our seniors living in senior living facilities may help to fill the gap in qualified therapist. Perhaps these specialized fields could benefit from levels of therapy where not all require a Master’s Level of Education.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I find it interesting that your little investigation revealed the truth behind the advertisement. The senior living facility advertises therapy and personalized care plans, but the therapy is limited. While the educational therapy listed may be in an improvement from other facilities, I agree that seniors could certainly benefit from psycho-educational therapy. Change is difficult for everyone no matter how minimal. The changes that come along with aging is no different. Mentally going from 25 to 35 has been a bit of an adjustment for me, I cannot imagine the adjustment of going from 65 living on my own to 75 and living in a senior living facility.
I really enjoyed this post, particularly because I have had multiple friends with grandparents or parents who have suffered from severe depressive symptoms in later life and struggle to find the proper support or services when all of their resources are put in to facilities like Brookdale which do not offer comprehensive mental health services. I think that Brookdale is taking a step in the right direction by offering what appears to be a community-based approach to educating the residents and helping them to support one another, however, more severe mental health needs can not be met by a program like this. One other thought I had was that it could be useful to have family-based therapies in facilities such as this. We all know the strain that caring for an aging parent or aging adult can put on people and/or family systems. It could be beneficial for these families to have family-based therapy available to them in these cases.
ReplyDeleteI think this seems like a positive step in the right direction. Therapy of any kind could be beneficial, but as you mentioned there must be the correctly trained people to provide this type of care. I would like to learn more about the various qualifications that is required for some of these therapists. I know sometimes a CNA can perform a few of the tasks that could be considered 'therapy,' but for the more advanced rehabilitation and psycho-education it sounds a bit more complex. Other than therapy, I think just having people around that can relate or that are in a similar stage of life is very beneficial. I hear alot about the success of the living communities in Florida, where the elderly can have their own community of like-minded and those who share common interests/hobbies.
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