• Caring, Professional and Courteous – 96% of our clients rank us “Excellent”
• Quality Met Expectations – 93% rank us “Excellent”
• Staff Reliable and Punctual – 93% rank us “Excellent”
• Management Available, Responsive and Efficient – 93% rank us “Excellent”
• Recommend Our Services – 92% rank us “Excellent”

The way it works is that participants, usually seniors living alone, sign up and their letter carrier will place a “Carrier Alert” sticker in their mailbox which will alert all letter carriers to watch mail for any signs of distress, such as an unusual accumulation. If the carrier finds an accumulation of mail, and the sticker has not been covered to signal that the participant is away for a few days, he or she will notify Assisted Living Services, Inc. (the designated sponsoring local social services agency). The agency will have access to the emergency contacts previously provided and call them.  If they are unable to reach anyone listed our staff will contact the Meriden Police Department who will dispatch an officer to check on their well being.  The program is a simple and  low-cost way to help seniors age-in-place safely and should be implemented within the next few weeks.

The mission of the program is to educate the community about healthy aging and senior life services and to raise public awareness of issues important to older adults, their families, community members and organizations.  As a SEA member, we educate ourselves and others on an ongoing basis, but this year is particularly informative.  The keynote speaker is  Dr. Mary Tinetti, Chief of Geriatrics – Yale New Haven Hospital.

Dr. Tinetti is the Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine.  She was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and received a Genius Grant from the foundation in recognition of her extraordinary creativity, energy, and commitment to research.  Dr. Tinetti has also devoted much of her research to fall prevention for the elderly and has been responsible for finding multifaceted risk reduction strategies.  She says, “Falling doesn’t have to be an inevitable part of aging because it is preventable.”

Assisted Living Services, Inc. will be participating during the event so please stop by our table in the Main Tent with questions and concerns. Additionally, our sister company, Assisted Living Technologies, Inc. will be in the Wellness Tent and from there you can learn about our state-of-the-art technology products and services to keep your loved one safe at home.

Included in this free event, you will be able to enjoy Healthy Food Tastings, attend Wellness Demonstrations, laugh with acclaimed Humorist & Impressionist Mark Verselli, a Connecticut native, and listen to Speakers on Health & Humor.

Bring your friends & family for this fantastic event!  Hope to see you there…

Our own Ron D’Aquila RN, a Quinnipiac grad and co-owner of Assisted Living Services, Inc., provided students with an overview of homecare trends, explained about the various types of homecare services, and discussed recent strategies to transition patients from institutional settings to home and community-based settings, such as The Money Follows the Person Program).

Brian Luckhardt, Technologies Specialist from our sister company, Assisted Living Technologies, Inc., then explained how various technologically advanced products could help elderly and disabled clients age-in-place.  He explained that the company identified four key areas impacting seniors and the products associated with addressing those key areas. The four areas are:

• Falls
• Personal Safety
• Medication Compliance
• Remote Monitoring

Brian explained how each of the products worked and gave students the opportunity to ask questions about implementation, costs, and even ethics.  There was some very interesting dialog among the students.

In closing remarks, Ron congratulated the soon-to-be grads and praised them for choosing a career path of helping others.  He also offered words of advice to embrace technological advances and the significant impact they will have on patient care, and even be entrepreneurial in their own practice to identify ways to develop or enhance technologies to better serve patients.

Assisted Living Services, Inc. (ALS) recently announced that we have developed a program called CarePlus which blends both care and technology to better serve Connecticut’s elderly or disabled population.  “We did a significant amount of research and we are convinced that advanced home care technologies that help elderly folks safely stay at home is the wave of the future – but we are not going to wait for the wave. We are making it happen now” says to Ron D’Aquila RN, Vice President of ALS.

How Does the Program Work?

The agency will provide a Personal Care Assistant who is formally trained as a Certified Nurses Aide to clients in 8 hour, 10 hour or 12 hour shifts during critical times when the client absolutely needs someone at home, AND a state-of-the-art Remote Monitoring System from BeClose for when a caregiver may not be necessary, such as bedtime hours.

The system, which ALS installs for free, consist of a kit with a variety of wireless motion and contact sensors, a wireless cellular base station, pendants, and emergency buttons.  The system then records the activities of the senior in a very non-invasive way and when it detects problems it can signal a call center or loved one via phone, email, or text.

Remote Monitoring can address the primary issues impacting seniors who wish to age-in-place, such as medication compliance, falls, nutrition, and wandering or personal safety.  One example cited by Ron D’Aquila, a former emergency department nurse, is the common occurance of urinary tract infections in seniors.  “Many times seniors wait too long and end up with all sorts of complications which often lead to preventable emergency department visits or hospital admissions.  A primary symptom of UTI’s is urinary frequency.  With Remote Monitoring we can notify a caregiver when a senior who typically uses the bathroom at night once suddenly uses it 4 or 5 times – so that we deal with a potential problem before it leads to an emergency.”

Another example is personal safety for the senior. Who would not want to know why an entry door was opened in the middle of the night?  The system has a great dashboard that allows caregivers to check on a loved one anytime using a secure web page.

Assisted Living Services, Inc. is offering the “Care Plus” program for one low fee of $19.50 per hour (minimum 40 hours per week) – which is actually a rate that is well below the average in Connecticut for a caregiver alone – according to a report done by the State of Connecticut Office of Policy Management which indicates that the average for just PCA Services for 2011 to be $21.84 per hour.

Competitors might criticize that this is a “shot in the foot” since it would be more profitable to encourage clients to obtain 24 hour care than to augment care with technology.  The reality is that in the majority of cases this will enhance care, reduce costs to the client thereby extending their ability to remain at home, and increase the peace of mind to family caregivers that cannot always be present to see how their loved one is doing.

Assisted Living Technologies, Inc. is a sister company that was formed two years ago with a product line of technologically advanced products that help seniors age-in-place, such as automated medication dispensers, fall recognition and avoidance devices, personal GPS locators, and of course Personal Emergency Response Systems and Remote Monitoring Systems.

To learn more, or sign up for the Program, visit our CarePlus Website.

Each month we recognize employees who “Go over and above to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”  We visit each personally, or invite them to the main office to present them the award and a $100 bonus.  This is part of our Quality Assurance Program, and we thought you would be interested.

Gerri Mongillo

Gerri has worked as a Homemaker for our agency for nearly six years.  In that time she has demonstrated time and again her commitment to provide great services to her clients.  She is never late, never calls out, always finishes her assignments and does “little extras” to make her clients happy.  Whenever we call Gerri to see if she can help with a new assignment she always accepts it willingly.  She is a great team player!

Alex Acheampong

Alex has worked with the same client for almost two years now as a 12 hour shift Personal Care Assistant.  We always have received great feedback from the family that the care he gives their dad is nothing short of exemplary.  Alex has excellent judgment and is trusted by the family to keep them informed about their dad’s care or any changes they need to know about.  One family member has used the term “we adore him” in referring to what they think about Alex.

Justice Barnes

Justice works as a Live-in Companion.  He has become a “good friend” to the elderly gentleman he has cared for and according to the client “he could never do it without him.”  On a recent visit by our owner, Sharon D’Aquila, the bond between caregiver and client was heartwarming to say the least.  Justice makes sure his client is safe, always well groomed, and cared for, and does an outstanding job keeping the household in order.  On a further note…here is a prime example of the type of employee Justice is, when he received his award he wrote to all of us “I would like to thank the management and staff of Assisted Living Services for recognizing me as EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH for FEBRUARY 2012.  My commitment is to work diligently to enhance the quality of life of our clients.  And further, to continuously be a part of the company’s shared values in attainment of its goals within the care giving community.”  Justice Barnes

In the photo is our client Mrs. L who is using her 100 years (honesty!) of experience to challange her Live-in Caregiver to a game of Scrabble. Tom Daly, MS, Director of Live-in Services, found them competing during an unannounced Quality Assurance visit this week.

The Alzheimer’s Association, Connecticut Chapter 2012 Education Conference is being held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in Cromwell on March 27, 2012.  Assisted Living Services, Inc. has been an exibitor / sponsor to this event for many years and each year it just gets better and better.

The event is offered to caregivers of those effected by the disease and professionals who are in the field – such as Geriatric Care Managers, Social Workers and Discharge Planners, and Physicians and Nurses.  There are a wide variety of course offerings to sign up for such as “Innovative Approaches for Behavioral Disturbances in People with Alzheimer’s,” “Life Care Planning,” and “At Home Care.”

Follow this link to the Alzheimer’s Association, Connecticut Chapter site to learn more. Hope to see you there!