Assisted Living Executive to Senior Living Executive

RIchARd P. gRIMES, AlFA president/ceO rgrimes@alfa.org twitter.com/rickgrimes publisher dEBRA J. StRAttON editOr LISA JuNKER ljunker@strattonpublishing.com cOntributing editOr ANgELA hIcKMAN BRAd Y abrady@strattonpublishing.com prOductiOn AssistAnt chRIStINE uMBRELL cumbrell@strattonpublishing.com cOntributing Writers AdAM StONE, WhItNEY REddINg, BRYAN OchALLA Art directOr JANELLE WELch AlFA MediA sAles teAM ScOtt NARug senior sales Manager 312.673.5974 snarug@alfa.org hALLIE JAEgER sales coordinator 312.673.5732 hjaeger@alfa.org publishing OFFices

StRAttON PuBLIShINg & MARKEtINg INc. 5285 shawnee road, suite 510, Alexandria, vA 22312 703.914.9200; fax 703.914.6777 email: editor@alfa.org For circulation information, call 703.894.1805. Insights and critical review provided by the ALFA OPERAtIONAL ExcELLENcE AdvISORY PANEL thOMAS cROAL, cFO, silverado senior living, CFO Roundtable JENNIFER WEISt, director of clinical services, carlton senior living, Clinical Quality Roundtable ALAN FAIRBANKS, evp, bickford senior living, COO Roundtable Judd hARPER, cOO, the Arbor company, COO Roundtable gu Y hEMONd, director dining service, benchmark senior living, Dining Service Roundtable ANNA dE LA cERdA, director of licensing and public policy, emeritus senior living, Government Relations Roundtable ANdREA tEIchMAN, svp and general counsel, benchmark senior living, Government Relations Roundtable gLENN MAuL, svp human resources, brookdale senior living, Human Resources Roundtable ScOtt RANSON, chief information Officer, brookdale senior living, Information Technology Roundtable MIchELLE hAMILtON, svp of Operations, country Meadows retirement, Regional Executives Roundtable AARON d’cOStA, chief business development Officer, pathway senior living, llc, Sales and Marketing Roundtable thOMAS BAKER, svp sales and Marketing, country Meadows retirement, Sales and Marketing Roundtable StEvEN hEANEY, vp of development, brandywine senior living, Regional Executives Roundtable

published by thE ASSIStEd LIvINg FEdERAtION OF AMERIcA, Alexandria, virginia. Senior Living Executive (print issn 2161-6698, online issn 2161-67ix) is published bimonthly by the Assisted living Federation of America, 1650 King street, suite 602, Alexandria, virginia 22314. periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, vA, and additional mailing offices. AlFA member companies receive subscriptions for staff as part of their membership. Free controlled subscriptions are also available to qualified individuals in the senior living business. senior living and other professionals who do not qualify may purchase an annual subscription: $95 for individuals and $125 for institutions. go to www.alfa.org/subscribe for details. pOstMAster: send Address chAnges tO Senior Living Executive, 1650 King street, suite 602, Alexandria, virginia 22314 703.894.1805. printed in usA. copyright 2011. prior to photocopying items for educational classroom, internal, or personal use, please contact the copyright clearance center, customer service, 978.750.8400, 222 rose wood dr., danvers, MA 01923 or check ccc Online at www.copyright. com. Senior Living Executive will not be responsible for the return of any unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. copyright ©2012 Assisted living Federation of America. All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form— print, electronic, or otherwise—without written permission from AlFA.

Words Matter

do you know people in a business where they describe the size of their company by the beds in their facilities occupied by patients who have been admitted and, when they leave, are discharged If you do, they are probably providing much needed services and care in hospitals or nursing homes where those descriptors are apt.

But they are probably not in the senior living business—or if they are, and their sales team is promoting their properties where they house seniors, they probably aren’t doing as well as the senior living community down the street that has fully embraced a resident-centered philosophy of care and service—a philosophy that distinguishes senior living from institutional care.

No one aspires to live in a hospital or nursing home, even if 24/7 care is the best or only option. What seniors want most is to live at home where they know they can enjoy their independence and sustain (they hope) a good quality of life. Unfortunately, despite the tremendous growth of independent living and assisted living as great options, most people still believe the only alternative to living at home is one that requires the loss of their independence, dignity, and quality of life.

In a recent LinkedIn post, ALFA’s Jamison Gosselin expressed his frustration with
the institutional terms too often used by senior living professionals: “Can someone
please elaborate on why, no matter how much we try to change the terminology, some
people still want to call a senior living community a ‘facility’? What other terminology in
senior living drives you crazy when you hear it?”
His post generated a ton of responses. It seems that many other senior living
professionals are equally frustrated that, after 20+ years of offering great alternatives to
institutional care, so many of their colleagues continue to use the same vernacular that
reinforces an image of institutional care in the minds of the public.

Here’s my effort to compile and narrate the many responses (so far) to that LinkedIn post: We are in the senior living business, not the senior living “industry.” We have residents, not “patients,” who live in apartments, not in “units” or “beds.” They don’t live in “facilities” but rather in communities of seniors. They aren’t “admitted” but move in, and they aren’t “discharged” but move out. They don’t tour a “property.” They visit a community to see if they can call it home. They aren’t “put into” our communities by their families or against their will. They choose to live in a senior living community. They live as independently as they are able, are treated with dignity and respect, and enjoy a quality of life that is superior to living alone at home or in an institution.

In the short term, the use of institutional language by your competition can only benefit your company. Seniors would much rather live in your community than in their facility. In the long term, however, it’s probably not good for the senior living business in general. The erroneous belief that senior living and institutional care are the same creates an unnecessary obstacle for frail seniors who might otherwise be better served by a senior living community than by living at home.

Richard P. Grimes, rgrimes@alfa.org, is president/CEO of the Assisted Living Federation of America, www.alfa.org, representing professionally managed senior living communities and the residents and families they serve.