Tender Loving Care Senior Living

Rebecca Campalans

There are no words to express the gratitude I have for the care provided to my father by the TLC family. Prior to TLC my father was in at least three "memory care units" where lots of promises were made regarding the patient centered care that would be provided and the expertise of handling any difficult behavioral problems that come with progression of altzheimer's. As a nurse practitioner I thought I had done my due diligence with researching the facilities. I was wrong. With the covid shutdown in March 2020, many of the facilities housing elderly took advantage of the fact that families could no longer check on loved ones physically and a lot of negligence occurred. My father was moved three times during this time as I tried to find the best care. What did Tender Loving Care provided that these other facilities did not? 1. As with any patient with dementia, moving them to a new facility can be very difficult. The transition can cause them to progress in the dementia and not recover. It can increase behavioral disturbances during the adjustment period. My father was already having issues with agitation when needing to have his brief changed/bathing so the staff already had their hands full when he came over. Dr. McGivney and Kerri were amazing and worked very closely with me to make changes to his medication regimen to reduce the behavioral disturbances to allow the staff to care for my father. In addition, the staff is highly trained to learn how to communicate with the resident in a way that does not increase the agitation. Once he was stable, the doctor would reassess with the goal of reducing medications as needed depending on dad's response. There is not one facility out there that I know that would spend this individualized attention with a patient. The staff is watching the resident daily and reporting back to Kerri and Dr. McGivney on medication response. 2. The staff truly got to know my father and what he liked. When they asked for the list of things he liked they actually used that information to learn how to get him to engage with the community. I would come in to visit and he would be in his "office" writing for work. He would be at the desk reading the newspaper while staff was also sitting with him engaged with acitivities. Staff found out he liked to organize and clean, they would have him helping them and encouraging him, meeting him at his level . This was the biggest differences between TLC and other institutions. My father felt safe, happy , and content here. 3. The amazing backyard/courtyard for the residents. Lots of natural light inside the house. Previous facilities promised he could freely walk outside in the locked outdoor courtyard yet at each facility I would find out from my father they were all locked and huge alarm would go off thus my Dad not wanting to go out. He loved being outside and this was the reason I had chosen those facilities !! At TLC, it was truly open and unlocked so residents could freely go outside in the backyard. This is so critical especially with the COVID shutdown that residents can get fresh air and sunshine. 4. Maintain all the COVID precautions. 5. I could go on and on with all the little things the staff did to let me know how much they cared for my father but there is n't enough space here. Thank you TLC for everything