Copley at Stoughton

Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

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activities

Summer at Copley

by Steven Tyer

Boating is a favorite summertime activity – particularly here in New England, where there is no shortage of beautiful waterways. You might be surprised to hear that boating is also a favorite activity for many Copley at Stoughton residents. Each summer, we reserve space on a charter boat for a Cape Cod Canal Cruise. It’s the perfect summer outing – all the fun and adventure of a sea cruise, but safely protected from the high winds and waves.

Is this a normal outing for a skilled nursing home? Perhaps not at other facilities, but it certainly is at Copley. One of the myths about skilled nursing facilities is that residents sit around inside all day playing Bingo. Don’t get us wrong, Bingo is popular at Copley, but in the summer months, we feel there is so much more to do.

Outdoor activities start with the facility itself. Our fully furnished outdoor patio is a great place to spend an afternoon with family or to sit and enjoy a book. Each summer season Copley hires a few additional staff for our activities department so our residents can enjoy our outdoor space as much as possible. Residents also enjoy gardening and walking the grounds. Cheryl Woodward, who plans all our activities, posts an upcoming schedule of events so that residents can plan accordingly. We’ve found that the excitement of an upcoming event is almost as important as the event itself! Besides the Cape Cod Canal cruises, there are shopping trips, restaurant outings, and other activities. Cheryl is always on the lookout for new adventures; feel free to call her if you have a suggestion.

These summer outings are important for our residents. Not only do they provide a great way to enjoy the nice weather, but these events also dramatically increase our residents’ quality of life – keeping them active and mentally engaged. As we always like to say, our residents don’t have time to sit around much! 

You can read more about the Copley lifestyle here: https://copleystoughton.com/lifestyle/ and of course, don’t hesitate to contact me personally if you have any questions or to book a tour.

Happy Summer!

Steve Tyer

World-Class Care Doesn’t Mean “Somewhere Else in the World”

by Steven Tyer

We always want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. Too often we’re conditioned that the “best” means something that can only be found in a big city. It’s true that we’re lucky to be in close proximity to Boston, which is home to some of the best hospitals in the country – perhaps the world. But when it comes to long-term care or short-term rehab for a loved one, the best care could very well be right around the corner.

Location plays a big part in selecting these services, but convenience shouldn’t be a priority over quality care and affordability. Luckily, Copley at Stoughton meets all these requirements. In fact, Copley was rated one of the Best Nursing Homes in the United States by U.S. News and World Report. It’s a designation we’re very proud of.

It’s that community connection that is so important in health care. As you know, I was born and raised in Stoughton. It’s not unusual for me to run into previous rehab guests while shopping at Stop and Shop or dining at the Town Spa, thanking me for the care they received and asking if I can help them again or help a loved one. “Of course,” I say. “I’d be happy to.”

Copley is part of the Stoughton culture. The fact that we are a Skilled Nursing Facility as well means that we are a temporary home for people of all ages here for rehabilitation and recovery. We touch the lives of so many of our residents, both directly and indirectly.

Copley’s close-knit feeling of family and community leads to world-class care. I know many people are comforted by the fact that they can get what they need without having to go far. Providing this comfort to our “neighbors” is something we are very proud of too.

MassHealth an Incredible Program for Many of Our Residents

by Steven Tyer

MassHealth is a safety net for many of our residents. The state agency oversees Medicaid, the federal program that provides health coverage for low-income individuals. That includes nursing homes, assisting individuals with the monthly cost of their care that they would not have otherwise been able to afford.

However, there has been an alarming trend in MassHealth funding lately. Perhaps you’ve heard that the rates paid to nursing homes are based on 2007 costs. That means despite rising costs, all nursing homes caring for MassHealth residents still receive payments calculated on costs that they’ve incurred over 12 years ago. Copley has the same cost increases in labor, utilities, and food that you have in your own home – just on a much larger scale.

Tara Gregorio, the president of the Massachusetts Senior Care Association, and Naomi Prendergast, president and CEO of D’Youville Life and Wellness Community in Lowell have “sounded the alarm” about rates being too low. “This is a severely underfunded system,” Gregorio told CommonWealth Magazine’s The Codcast. They are calling for a restructuring of the program and funding based on more current costs. You can listen to the whole podcast and read an article based on their conversation here.

Copley at Stoughton fully supports this initiative. We see the tremendous impact MassHealth has for our residents and their families. But many nursing homes in Massachusetts are on the verge of bankruptcy, which will have an impact on many more residents and the industry as a whole.

Thankfully, that’s not the case for Copley at Stoughton. I credit our staff 100% for the great job they do ensuring our residents receive the care they need. In a previous blog post, I talked about how our staff routinely goes above and beyond budgets to provide outstanding care. This is part of the reason why we are consistently ranked one of the “Best Nursing Homes in the United States.” 

We believe in a strong skilled nursing home industry. We are optimistic that MassHealth will adjust their payment structure soon, thanks to the hard work of people like Tara Gregorio and Naomi Prendergast. But no matter what the outcome, Copley will remain a strong community partner providing care that goes above and beyond.

You can find out more about applying for MassHealth for your skilled nursing care home needs HERE. 

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!

 

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.

 

Employee Spotlight: Cheryl Woodward

by Steven Tyer

Activity Directors at Skilled Nursing Facilities play a vital role in developing and implementing different activities that will engage residents, give them something to look forward to and encourage socialization.

Cheryl Woodward has been our Activities Director for ten years now, planning and implementing the daily and annual activities for our residents. Cheryl lives locally in Taunton, MA and in her free time enjoys painting, decorating, arts and crafts and anything that gets her creative juices flowing.

Cheryl works hard to reconnect our residents with the hobbies they love to make their lives feel fulfilled and meaningful. Each month a thoughtfully planned calendar outlining activities gives residents something to look forward to, which helps tremendously with their mental well-being. There are also many events that occur on a regular basis including coffee hour & word games to keep residents minds sharp, fitness fun to encourage an active lifestyle, painting classes for artistic residents, spa days, restaurant outings, casino trips and more! Cheryl’s favorite activities to plan are the ones that involve bringing the resident’s families together. Some of the annual family events are the Winter Holiday Celebration in December and National Nursing Home Week in May.

Each season, our residents work collectively on a mural that graces the front lobby of Copley. Each resident participating is given one to two squares of a larger picture to complete. The individual paintings are then put together and revealed to the residents in a grand unveiling ceremony. This is one of the most looked forward to events each season as it takes hours of hard work and dedication. Cheryl started incorporating these murals into our activities three years ago, and past and present residents have now completed twelve collaborative murals, and we recently started donating the older ones to town buildings. Our spring 2015 mural entitled “April Showers Bring May Flowers” is on display at the Stoughton Public Library. Be sure to check it out if you are in the area.

Cheryl enjoys working here for many reasons but said that what she appreciates most about her job is how it feels like home. It is not only a comfortable environment, but she loves the people she works alongside and the special bond she has with our residents.