As your loved one prepares to move to a skilled nursing care center, it can be common to worry about a potential loss of autonomy. That’s a fair concern. Your mom, dad or spouse is entering long-term care for help with activities of daily living (ADLs). The good news is that there are still a number of opportunities for them to be involved in decision-making.
At Christian Health Care Center, we strive to give everyone who receives care at our Lynden health care campus as much choice as possible so they can remain active and engaged in daily living.
Since food is one of the more visceral ways we connect as humans, let’s look first at the dietary department.
Personalized food choices in long-term care
Representatives from CHCC’s dietary department visit with each resident when they want help making their breakfast, lunch and dinner choices for the week. Our in-house chef and his team take great pride in creating appetizing and nutritionally balanced meals that make people smile when they are served!
For those with late-night munchies or an early-morning craving for apple juice, snacks and beverages can be served any time of the day or night. One simply needs to ask a member of the care team. During kitchen hours, an “also available” menu is available for chef-prepared treats, and a hydration cart makes the rounds twice a day with additional nutritional options.
Then, there is an omelet bar that features custom-made omelets. The night before omelet bar day, the chef and his assistants visit with residents to talk about what options they’d choose. This is a fun time for engagement and conversation.
Planning meals that taste like home
Through their representatives on the CHCC resident council, those who live in long-term care can be integral to the daily operations at Christian Health Care Center. One of the resident council’s tasks is to assist in planning the food that is served here.
Additionally, anyone new to CHCC is asked what sorts of foods they like to eat, and there’s also a monthly resident-submitted recipe that offers a “taste from home” at mealtime — another of the many diet-related choices available at our Lynden skilled nursing center.
Food is a big part of life — whether here at CHCC or anywhere else — but it’s far from the only area where individuals are offered choice. This theme of choice is something that’s woven throughout all we do here at Christian Health Care Center.
Nursing care is all about choice
The nursing team at CHCC takes time to talk with residents about their care preferences. Perhaps female residents would prefer to be helped by a female nurse or nursing assistant. Perhaps individuals would prefer a bath to a shower, or vice versa. These conversations give each person receiving care at CHCC a chance to feel heard and live a life filled with choice.
Supporting spiritual preferences
Spiritual support staff offer numerous opportunities for individuals to engage spiritually, from worship services to hymn sings to Bible studies. All engagement with spiritual leaders at CHCC is voluntary and not a requirement of receiving care here. Individuals can take advantage of as much or as little spiritual services as they choose.
Christian Health Care Center’s dedication to choices begins at admission, when we make sure that each person (or their family or designated care advocate) knows they always have a voice and can speak up if anything here could be improved. There are laws related to the rights of those living in care centers like CHCC that we strictly abide by. It’s important that all who receive care here feel empowered to speak up, whether they want to tell us they love the omelet bar or if they want to share that they are not comfy with any care provider. We want to ensure that each person is able to make choices about their lives at our skilled nursing center.
If you have any questions about personalizing a long-term care living experience, please reach out to a member of our admissions team at 360-354-4434.