What’s the Difference Between Assisted Living, Long-Term Care, and Hospice?
We can view assisted living, long-term care, and hospice can be thought of as three separate stages or phases of care for seniors. At our senior living community in beautiful Ocean City, New Jersey, we provide apartments and services for older adults who want a medically and socially secure community in their retirement years. UMC provides something known as the “Continuum of Care” for these residents. Many residents come to us fully independent, wanting to experience the social benefits of living in a community setting with their peers. As time goes on, mobility levels and medical needs change, and residents may need more help. At UMC at The Shores, they can progress along the continuum and receive the services and assistance they need, while remaining in the beautiful senior community they call home.
You may start out enjoying the independent lifestyle available at The Shores. You’ll not only have a beautiful apartment minutes away from New Jersey’s best beach for families, but you have access to all that The Shores offers, including meals, entertainment, plenty of opportunities for socializing, and any help you may need with activities of daily living (ADLs). Your rent includes much of these extra amenities, and if you need further assistance, you will only ever pay for services you need. Let’s take a closer look at our base assisted living model for more independent seniors and how that could escalate to long-term care and hospice if needed.
The Assisted Living Model
As time goes on, many residents find their need for assistance with ADLs increases. You may have a recently diagnosed medical condition, or require monitoring or an extra helping hand due to memory loss or mobility issues. This is an easy fix when you reside at UMC the Shores. Since you’re already a member of the UMC Family living at The Shores, , all we have to do is increase your care level as appropriate. This increase could include more daily check-ins with our caregivers or customized physical therapy sessions on-site with one of our dedicated therapists.
Long Term Care
At many non-UMC assisted living communities, you will unfortunately find they have little or no ability to deal with medically frail residents or those with multiple, complex medical conditions. When residents at other communities reach this stage, they are forced to transfer to different, dedicated long-term care or nursing facilities, regardless of how long they’ve been living at their assisted living community. This does not happen at United Methodist Communities at The Shores. Our long-term care program in Cape May County consists of around the clock care that includes nurses, medical management, and customized care services.
Residents that qualify for our long term care program typically have serious, late-stage chronic conditions or a rapidly changing health status. Some of the more common conditions include post-operative wounds, stroke, injuries, diabetes, infections, Alzheimer’s, cardio-vascular ailments, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and respiratory ailments.
Hospice Care
At UMC at The Shores, our Bridges hospice program is designed to bring comfort to not only the residents, but also their family members. For residents who have been medically deemed to have less than six months to live, the priority becomes attending to their complete comfort and holistic needs. Our approach incorporates a comprehensive team responsible for medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support. The resident and family’s desires, dignity, and quality of life are the absolute focus.
Hospice care in Cape May County, NJ
UMC at The Shores houses a dedicated neighborhood called Bridges at The Shores for hospice and palliative care. Our multi-disciplinary team ensures that residents are as comfortable as possible, while meeting their medical needs and providing mental and emotional support for the entire family.
For more information about Bridges at The Shores, if you have any other questions about palliative or hospice care, or you’d like further information about UMC’s continuum of care please contact our team today!
