How Assisted Living & Memory Care Facilities Can Partner with GuideStar Eldercare
With the number of people aged 65 and older who are living with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) expected to grow as the overall population ages, assisted living and memory care facilities will need to prepare for an influx of residents with complex neurological and behavioral needs.
This health challenge comes at a time when facilities are already stretched. Securing funding and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement has become more difficult, while costs are increasing across the board. Meanwhile, a shortage of skilled nursing staff has led to longer hours and increased burnout for those who serve our seniors.
How GuideStar Eldercare Can Help Treat Assisted Living & Memory Care Residents with ADRD
Specializing in neurology-forward, person-centered care for dementia, we embed our interdisciplinary teams as extensions of your own facilities and staff. We provide clinical support and training to improve quality of life for LTC residents. We are here to help assisted living and memory care facilities meet these growing challenges and build a solid foundation for the future.
Evidence-based Care for Patients with Dementia
Our consultative clinical services bring leading-edge neuroscience to the frontlines of long-term care to provide better outcomes for your residents. We incorporate the latest pharmacology research to prescribe effective treatments while avoiding antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs that may put dementia sufferers at greater risk.
Psychiatry
Our contract partners receive 24-7 on-call support from the GuideStar Eldercare team of qualified psychiatric Nurse Practitioners. Our staff is here to provide guidance and support in caring for dementia patients.
Behavioral Health
GuideStar Eldercare provides clinical psychologists and social workers to provide validated assessments of your patients mood and cognition. We offer counseling and other therapies for dementia patients in assisted living and memory care facilities.
Neurology
Many behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia have an underlying neurological cause. We provide on-site neurological assessments so that you have the correct information to properly diagnose and treat cognitive and behavioral impairments effectively.
Medication Management
GuideStar Eldercare adopts a person-centered approach to pharmacology. The scientific data and our own field experience concur that this approach can lead to better clinical outcomes for patients. Our goal is to reduce the use and prescription of unnecessary medications.
Polypharmacy Review
Polypharmacy is the condition that exists when a patient is taking five or more medications daily. Recent JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) studies estimate that polypharmacy affects more than a third of all US seniors. (McKnights Long-Term Care News)
GuideStar Eldercare works with your staff to assess patients’ pharmacological needs for better coordination of care while avoiding harmful interactions and side effects.
Gradual Dose Reduction (GDR)
For assisted living & memory care residents with proper diagnoses and effective medication management, gradual reduction in their use of antipsychotics or other potentially harmful drugs may be appropriate. Our clinicians have extensive experience with the GDR process through our GuideStar Eldercare Long-Term Care Antipsychotic Stewardship® program.
Future-Forward Pharmacology
GuideStar Eldercare continues to pursue the most effective emerging treatments for assisted living patients with ADRD. From our neurologically based use of SSRIs in dementia treatment to our leading-edge use of cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists for Alzheimer’s disease patients, we follow the science to provide better quality of life for your residents.
Bridging the Gap in Staffing and Training
As assisted living and memory care staff know all too well, higher acuity patients with ADRD require a higher standard of care. GuideStar Eldercare can provide certified training for your staff to help them maintain the highest standards while meeting and exceeding Quality Measure thresholds for ratings and potential reimbursement.
Our depth of clinical experience in managing regulatory compliance through antipsychotic reduction, effective neurological treatment and other best practices makes GuideStar Eldercare a reliable resource for your staff. We specialize in partnering with long-term care facilities to meet and exceed CMS standards and raise overall Quality Management scores and star ratings.
We offer CMS survey preparedness consulting and other collaboration and support to help your facilities improve Quality Measure scores and stay up-to-date with current regulations, documentation standards and best practices for compliance.
Put Our Clinical Resources to Work for You
Assisted living and memory care patients deserve safe and effective treatment for dementia and BPSD. GuideStar Eldercare can assist your facilities in dealing with these complex conditions. By helping to slow cognitive decline for your residents, we can keep more patients in care and prolong the need to transfer them to skilled nursing facilities that late-stage dementia often requires. Reach out to GuideStar Eldercare today to learn how we can partner with your facilities and staff.