Copley at Stoughton

Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

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Caring for Older Adults Means Keeping Everyone Active and Engaged

by Steven Tyer

I asked our activities director, Cheryl Woodward, to assist me in writing the blog this month. Getting older doesn’t have to mean getting less active! In fact it’s quite the opposite. Older adults who are less physically and socially active are at higher risk of losing the ability to do everyday routines. That includes everything from walking and dressing to dialing a telephone.

Exercise affects the mental well-being of older adults, too. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that lack of physical activity can lead to a greater risk of dementia-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. A good fitness program, on the other hand, can help delay or even avoid symptoms of these diseases. Yet at least one study found that older adults in long-term facilities spend up to 65% of their time alone in their rooms.

I can tell you, that is not the case at Copley at Stoughton!

We do everything possible to help our residents stay fit and active for their physical, mental, and social well-being. Our Activities team, led Ms. Woodward, developed the “Fitness Fun” program with activities designed to keep our residents active and engaged. These include group calisthenics, guided walks in and around Copley, gardening, dancing, and other activities. Even simple things like encouraging residents to walk to the cafeteria at mealtimes rather than take a wheelchair can go a long way to increasing quality of life.

Regular outings are big social events here which usually have some sort of physical element such as walking. Other activities at Copley include cooking, arts and crafts, and cognitive games and puzzles. These are great ways of keeping the mind active as well.

The most important thing is that we do these activities together. Copley is a little community, and we encourage everyone to participate and interact socially. I like to think of our community as that neighborly house we all envision retiring in, but with all the comfort and convenience Copley offers.

Activities are important for our short-stay residents, too. Getting rehab after surgery or an injury can be difficult physically, mentally, and emotionally. This is especially true when you are away from home. Our professional Activities staff at Copley helps the time pass a lot faster.

If you have any questions about our Fitness Fun program or any of our lifestyle programming, please feel free to contact me anytime. We can even arrange for a tour so you can see for yourself how Copley keeps residents active and engaged. 

Visits Keep Loved Ones Young

by Steven Tyer

The families of our residents often ask me what they can do to help their loved ones. It’s one of the easiest questions because it’s simple: visit as much as possible.

We do our best to provide a family atmosphere here at Copley.  We offer engaging activities to encourage socialization among our residents. But nothing replaces family, and that’s why visits are so important. This is particularly important if your loved one has lost a spouse. The grieving process is intensified with the stress of life changes and particularly moving into a new “home.”  Visits from familiar faces help alleviate the feeling of loneliness.

Visits also keep residents engaged with the world around them. This includes emotionally engaged as well as mentally engaged – it’s all interconnected. Planning future visits gives them another activity to look forward to. Try to plan for outings if possible; not just visits at Copley. It may take some extra arranging depending on a medical condition, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is well worth it.

When you do visit, make a point to bring something to show: a grandchild’s artwork from school or pictures from a recent vacation. You can also bring family photos on visits from when they were younger, or old letters and cards to help them remember earlier days.

Bringing a pet is a great idea, especially if he or she used to have one themselves. You’ll often see dogs walking the grounds at Copley with residents, or simply sitting up on their bed. We are learning more and more about the therapeutic value of pets for long-term care residents and our short-term guests recovering at Copley.

Visits from family members – and pets – help keep loved ones young and the family bonds strong. If you have any questions about planned visits to Copley at Stoughton, ideas for activities, or our pet policies, please feel free to contact me directly. I’d be happy to discuss!

 

Making Copley Home for the Holidays

by Steven Tyer

You can always tell the holidays are coming at Copley. We’ve finished putting up the decorations, and nine of our talented artist residents have put together the finishing touches on our annual Winter Mural. The unveiling, which has become a Copley tradition, was held on December 12th this year.

December is a special time; the decorations, the festivities, the endless comings and goings of family. We go to extra lengths to recreate that holiday feeling for our residents and short-term rehab guests. Cheryl Woodward, our Activities Director, amazes us every year with her decorating and in addition, she spends an incredible amount of time making every holiday a unique celebration by arranging a variety of events. This month’s activities included a visit to the Enchanted Village, several sing-along events, Christmas socials, a gathering with Rabbi Foust, bilingual services, and other religious observances and festivities.

We know it is not easy being separated from family and loved ones during the holidays.  So we do what we can to ensure that Copley is our residents’ home away from home.

From all of us at Copley – Happy Holidays to you and yours, and our best wishes for a healthy, peaceful 2019.

What It Means to Be the “Best”

by By Steven Tyer

Last month, the U.S. News & World Report released its list of the “Best Nursing Homes in the United States” – and Copley at Stoughton is proud to make the list! In fact, we were one of just 736 facilities in the country to be rated “High Performing” in both Overall rating and Short-Stay Rehabilitation out of 15,000 facilities.

What I like most about these awards is that they are based on hard numbers. Many awards are subjective including awards based on a voting system. Don’t get me wrong – it is rewarding when your clients and their families vote you as number one! But what makes the U.S. News rating system different is that it uses existing and publicly available data from several official sources so that their rankings are much more objective. These sources include federal Nursing Home Compare, health inspections, quality star ratings, and nurse staffing figures, among others.

The U.S. News gives ratings in two categories: Overall rating and Short-Stay Rehabilitation. Copley at Stoughton is one of the less than 5% that received a “High Performing” rating in both categories.

Of course, the deeper story is how we do so well to score so highly in all those areas in the first place. It doesn’t happen by accident.  Contributing to our success is the fact that Copley is locally owned and operated, so we have a deeper connection to the community we serve. Additionally all our employees are in-house – we do not contract any services. Not only does this create a work environment where our staff is committed to our residents and rehab guests, it also allows us to manage more effectively. We also base our nurse staffing figures on what is best for our clients, not just what is best for our bottom line. Budget is always a concern, as it should be, and we certainly run our skilled nursing facility efficiently. But we won’t sacrifice patient care through staffing cuts or lower quality of care to meet our budget goals. Quite the opposite – we set our budget based on what we need to provide great care.

It’s these client-centered decisions that we make every day that help make the difference.

There are certain expectations from skilled nursing care facilities, and of course quality of care is at the top. Or at least that’s what we believe at Copley at Stoughton. We are honored to be recognized as High Performing in both categories – it feels like a validation for all the hard work we’ve done over the years. Shouldn’t every facility operate at the best level possible for their clients? That’s been our philosophy from the beginning.

Find out more about the U.S. News & World Report rating system.

No Math Can Measure Family

by Steven Tyer

The other day I noticed Cheryl, our activities director, helping one of our residents with one of her creative projects.  Cheryl has been our activities director for over 10 years and it struck me at that moment that many of our staff have been at Copley for a decade or more.   Jill C., Jenn E., Kathy C., Chris S., Claire F., Marie R., Jill O., Evelyn R. and Gislene F., have all been at Copley for over 20 years!  I work with another group of 15 seriously dedicated staff that have been at Copley for over 15 years.  I personally will be at Copley for 8 years this coming February and still feel like the new kid on the block.  It is a great feeling to have as the administrator since staff turnover is notoriously high in healthcare facilities.

So what makes us different? Cheryl has said that Copley at Stoughton feels more like a home than a workplace, and that we all feel like family rather than co-workers and residents.  I’ll admit, this fills me with pride. It’s a validation that our philosophy of care has a positive impact on our employees as well as our residents.

Copley at Stoughton is one of the last privately owned nursing homes in the state. More than that, we do everything we can to hire directly from the community. As many of you know, I was born and raised in Stoughton. I think any care facility works best if it’s community-based – care-focused programs built by the community, for the community. Long-term care facilities owned by large companies have a completely different focus. It’s not that they don’t care about their residents; they do. But that type of environment changes the experience for the resident and the employees as well.

The reason you see such a high staff turnover in this industry is that you can get burned out too easily. Long-term care and rehabilitation can be emotionally exhausting for care professionals. Organizations need to provide support, not add more stress. We have an open door policy here for our employees. We want to know how they are doing, and how we are doing to make sure their needs are being met and they feel appreciated.  We are committed to providing a level of support to our employees so they know we value them professionally and personally.

The bottom line for me is that you cannot quantify care. When staff focuses on providing outstanding care rather than all the care that fits within a budget, our residents are in better hands. And when administration treats staff like family instead of replaceable parts in a system, you get great staff members who treat our residents like family, too.

 

Importance of Community

by Steven Tyer

I recently had the distinct honor of receiving the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce “Business Person of the Year” award. It was truly humbling to be recognized by the Chamber. I am privileged to have the good fortune to have a career centered on my community.

Copley at Stoughton is one of the few locally owned and operated Skilled Nursing facilities in the state which gives us the luxury of having strong personal connections with our staff, residents and their families as well as control over how our facility runs. They are our neighbors, friends, past teachers and coaches, and our families.

Serving our community members with whom we share values and experiences allows us to make the process of post-acute rehab much more personal. There is a mutual understanding, respect and a genuine concern over each and every person who is with us – short or long term.

Serving our community is a major part of Copley’s mission. We are proud to be able to support the SOLA initiative, Stoughton school field trips and many other town programs. We focus on the values of community, and that is what we strive to uphold inside and outside our doors.

Whether someone is looking at Copley for themselves, a family member, or is just curious about post-acute Skilled Nursing as a career, our doors are open to any and everyone to visit. Stoughton has given us a wonderful home, and we hope our efforts to support the community continue to show our gratitude.

 

Common Misconception

by Steven Tyer

It was just an average morning as I stood in line at the local Dunkin’ Donuts waiting to order my coffee when I noticed a group of friends catching up. There were two younger people in their late 20’s and one older gentleman. I overheard the gentleman updating the group about a loved one who was now living in a Skilled Nursing facility. The collective response from the younger ones was “oh, that is so sad.” Obviously, this response caught my attention and I felt immediately bothered by it.

There are common misconceptions associated with nursing homes. The mainstream media seems to only focus on stories of homes with less than desirable environments offering sub-par care. But not all homes are created equal and while I cannot speak for every Skilled Nursing home, I can speak for Copley. We invest a majority of our energy into making sure the activities, events, outings and meals we provide for our residents are mentally, socially and physically stimulating. Many elderly people living at home lack social engagement, physical activity and proper nutrition because their age and bodies limit how much they can do. For many of our residents, they are actually given the opportunity to do MORE when they enter Copley. Here they are given the support and resources they need to safely and successfully make the most of their life.

In fact, just last week, a group of both staff and residents from Copley spent the entire day at the Massachusetts State House advocating on behalf of all our staff and residents. We had a wonderful day travelling through the halls, visiting our elected officials.

We have regularly scheduled art classes that challenge our residents and outings to local restaurants, casinos, and shops. Our beautifully furnished patio gives our residents a place to enjoy fresh air and sunshine. We regularly host parties and outings for our residents and their families and offer delicious made-to-order meals daily based off of specific nutritional needs. Our goal is to create a sense of community so everyone who enters our building feels like they are our part of our family.

While there are common myths associated with long-term care, the reality is that with a little research, you can find a home that is welcoming, caring, safe, stimulating and one where smiles far outweigh frowns. To my friends at Dunkin Donuts, I invite you to stop by and visit us at Copley and see first we’re far from a sad environment.

There’s No Place like Home

by Steven Tyer

After a stay in the hospital, you’ll most likely feel eager to get home, but post-acute care is often necessary for a successful rehabilitation. While we are committed to getting you back on your feet and home as soon as possible, our goal is also to make sure your stay with us is comfortable and your rehabilitation successful.

Why would you want to spend your time recovering in a hospital setting, when Medicare gives the CHOICE to stay somewhere else? Our Rehabilitation Program contains separate physical, occupational, and speech therapy areas and is equipped to deal with a range of conditions resulting from elective orthopedic procedures, injury or debilitating acute/chronic illnesses. If you have a planned procedure and rehabilitation is needed for recovery, it makes sense to choose a facility in close proximity to family and friends with amenities that will help aid your recovery both mentally and physically.

The mission of our rehab program is to help our guests reach their maximum capabilities, independence, and enjoyment of life. We offer, for residents who would like to participate and are feeling up to it; cooked-to-order meals served in our dining room where guests’ families are welcome to join, a beauty salon/barber shop so guests can get back to some of their normal activities, daily practice going up and down the stairs, assistance with bathing and getting dressed, a furnished outdoor patio to get some fresh air and much more! By partaking in these activities our guests are preparing themselves for a successful and smooth transition home.

As a private, locally owned company, our senior management team is on-site, giving us the opportunity to assure a clean, safe and individually focused experience for each and every individual. Yes, we offer the same as what most other Skilled Nursing Facilities offer but what sets us apart as an individual facility is that our management team has as much experience as anyone in this industry, we do not outsource any of our services, we have wonderful relationships with the local hospitals, physicians, and our referrals, which often makes our guests double as our neighbors!

With the healthcare industry always changing, there is nothing worse than having to make a medical decision under stress, so prepare in advance by researching your different options. Our best customers are the ones that visit us for no reason! We encourage you to come in for a tour to learn more about Copley and get some of your questions answered before you or your loved ones need to make a decision for post-acute care.

Give us a call at 781-341-2300 to book your tour today!

Taking Away the Anxiety

by Steven Tyer

Whether you have been planning it for months or it is unexpected, admitting your loved one to a Skilled Nursing Center can be an emotionally challenging and anxiety-ridden process for the entire family. Our main goal is to reduce as much anxiety as possible for our residents, guests and their families by reminding them that the choice is always theirs when it comes to choosing a skilled nursing center that is the right fit.

As the Administrator, I witness families go through this tough transition all the time, but recently I had to play two roles here at Copley, one as the administrator and one as a family member of a guest. I spent a considerable amount of time a few months ago in our Adams unit, while my mother faced a terminal illness.

The professionalism and compassion of my staff members that I have been speaking about for years was something I got to witness from the patient/family standpoint. Being a direct recipient of my staff’s love and care made me appreciate them on a level I never have before. The outpouring of laughter, tears, handholding, and hugs that my family received was truly appreciated and what we strive to show every single guest and family member that enters our facility.

I have some pointers on things to pay attention to when you are faced with having to admit our loved one in a Skilled Nursing Center. I encourage everyone to look at many different options before making any decisions. It is important to look beyond the physical appearance of the building (although the appearance is important) and pay closer attention to the people in the facility.

The Residents- Do they seem happy and content? Are people visiting? The way the residents feel is a great indication of the care they are receiving.

Are your questions being answered? A Skilled Nursing Center that has nothing to hide will be transparent and responsive to all your questions and concerns.

Who made time to speak with you? If the admissions director or facility administrator didn’t make time for you, who did? It is important you do not feel ignored or rushed out the door.

Overall Impression- Ask yourself if you would feel comfortable admitting a loved one to recuperate or spend their days remaining there based off of everything you witnessed.

My experience with Copley from the “other side” was something I will never forget and it made me appreciate my employees even more. Copley may not be the perfect fit for you because of specialized needs or location, but there are other places that can provide you with a wonderful experience and I encourage you not to settle for anything less!

We are more than happy to talk to you and answer any questions you may have to help ease your anxieties during this tough decision/transition. We take pride in being a local source for the surrounding communities. Give us a call at 781-341-2300.

The Dreaded Flu

by Steven Tyer

“Flu activity in Massachusetts has spiked yet again, reaching the second-highest level the state has seen in at least the past decade.” The Boston Globe reported on February 8th.

Your first thought reading this may be “well I got the flu shot so I am fine” … wrong. The vaccine was reported by TIME Magazine to only have 17 percent effectiveness against the viral strain this flu season, meaning we need to remain cautious while we wait out the rest of this flu season.

Every year I remind visitors about coming into Copley if they are having any flu-like symptoms.  Once illnesses like the flu or Norovirus are introduced to an environment such as Copley, they can infect almost everyone in record time.  It is very serious when an elderly person contracts one of these viruses. As we age, our immune systems become weaker, making us more prone to these illnesses. Please, if you have symptoms we ask until your symptoms have subsided not to visit our facility.  It is critical for our infection control protocols to mitigate the spread of these illnesses to our residents.

Here are some ways you can be mindful during flu season:

  1. Even it is not 100% effective, getting your flu shot in early fall can still protect you against multiple strands of the virus.
  2. Avoid close contact with others.
  3. Keep your hands away from your face. ANY surface could be infected.
  4. Clean communal surfaces and items DAILY and wash your hands after touching any. I.e. light switches, doorknobs, telephones, keyboards, etc…
  5. Wear surgical gloves and a mask while caring for someone who is ill and AVOID direct contact.

And for those who have been hit already, here are a few ways you can lessen the pain of your symptoms while you wait it out via WebMD:

  1. Fluids, fluids, fluids. Water, tea, juice, sports drinks, and broth are all effective in keeping your respiratory system hydrated.
  2. Ibuprofen can save the day when it comes to those dreaded body aches.
  3. Calm that cough with over the counter cough meds.
  4. Breathe in steam. Fill your bathroom sink with hot water and a few drops of peppermint essential oils. This opens your airways up, easing congestion and making it easier to breathe!

Stay healthy this winter and remember to visit when you’re feeling better!