July 8, 2024

‘Why Am I Here?’ How HCPs Can Answer Patients’ Questions About Moves, Other Transitions

About Brookdale Senior Living

Brookdale Senior Living offers multiple care levels for seniors in more than 600 communities nationwide. Brookdale helps you find the right care plan for yourself or your loved one. With amenities such as transportation services, salons and private dining rooms and activities such as gardening, fitness classes and trivia nights Brookdale caters to a wide range of interests and needs.

Why am I here? Although that question is often posed existentially, many seniors ask it in response to a major life transition that has occurred or is looming—a move to a senior living community, for example. Life, as we know, is a series of transitions. But for seniors accustomed to a certain way of life, a transition out of that routine and reality, even if unavoidable, can be abrupt and unsettling. Difficult decisions and painful conversations often become necessary. Much of this responsibility often falls to the patient and their family. However, healthcare professionals can play an important role during this crucial time: answering questions; explaining rationales and options; and helping to frame the conversation with expertise, insight and empathy.

A move to a senior living community is a common transition, but it still might require some explanation. Such a move typically results from a need for increased care, a different type of care, or more options for social engagement than a senior’s current living situation can provide.

As a healthcare professional, you’re a trusted resource whose expertise and patient relationships can aid in decisions that can have tremendous benefit for the physical and mental health of those in your care. Families frequently seek out the expertise and opinions of physicians during times of transition. Whatever your level of involvement, your input can contribute to better outcomes—a goal that Brookdale Senior Living shares with you.

This blog post, the first in a two-part series, will explore the role HCPs can play in:

Assessing senior patients’ needs and preferences
Selecting the right senior living community to meet those needs and preferences

In part two, we’ll delve into actual planning for the transition, including coordination of care, practical arrangements and follow-up—and how to answer patients’ and families’ questions.

2 Prerequisites Throughout the Process

From the outset, there are two fundamental necessities to help the process go as smoothly and painlessly as possible:

1. Involvement of family and caregivers. A successful transition depends on a climate of trust between the senior patient considering a move and those who have the closest relationships with that individual. The decision-making process will include the consideration of a variety of factors, some of them objective and others subjective. Hard facts are important, but so are opinions and personal preferences. Family and caregivers need to make it clear that the senior’s physical, mental and emotional well-being is their top priority.

2. Emotional support. Empathy is a must. Whatever the reasons for the transition, seniors’ fears and concerns deserve a sensitive and caring response. Common concerns include care coordination, cost and simple fear of the unfamiliar. As an HCP concerned about patients’ physical and mental health, you can recommend or help facilitate counseling if the patient and family are interested.

Keep in mind that if your patient has significant cognitive decline, you might find yourself conversing in more detail with family and caregivers than with your senior patient. Either way, your approach should exemplify the same diligence, compassion and desire for a positive outcome. The trust you inspire during these pivotal times can help caregivers more confidently make the transition to care advocates.

Breaking the Ice

If you are the senior’s primary care physician, your existing relationship likely gives you an advantage as you approach any conversation about a transition. If you do not have a long-standing patient relationship, you might have to do a little more front-end work to earn trust.

Here are some essential elements to successful transition conversations:

Thoughtful advance planning. Ideally, important decisions are not made under duress. When possible, it’s best to start discussing the transition before it becomes necessary. Exhibit patience and respect as you help the senior become comfortable with the idea of change.
Thorough research. When senior patients and their families start asking questions, you want your answers to be informed and up-to-date. Staying in contact with senior living communities in your area can help ensure you’re informed on what care levels are offered, contacts for scheduling assessments, and room availability. In-person visits to communities will help you to have real-life examples to share, such as detailed descriptions, positive stories and conversations with residents so that you are able to feel confident about your recommendations.
Listening. Your knowledge and insights are important, but so is your patient’s voice. Be attentive to what they are saying. Ask questions to gauge what type of living environment might be a good match for your patient, recognizing that cultural fit with a senior living community can be as important as meeting clinical needs.
Honesty and transparency. Again, trust is essential, whether the topic is the senior’s healthcare or social needs, advantages and disadvantages of a particular community, or finances. A representative from a well-run senior living community should be happy to partner with you in navigating these conversations and filling in the details.
Follow-up. Remember that informed decisions require careful consideration, and that takes time. Multiple conversations with seniors, families and representatives of senior living communities may be necessary.

Common Questions and Brookdale’s Role

There are dozens of questions that a senior might ask about the subject of moving to a senior living community, and your honest and informed guidance can help them make a wise decision. You should expect a lot of questions related to why a move might be appropriate, the options available, who would provide the patient’s healthcare, what life is like in a given community, social engagement opportunities, and financial considerations.

Navigating the complexities of such an emotional and important choice can feel overwhelming and like a significant “extracurricular” activity in addition to your clinical duties—and, to be fair, it is. You might not have the bandwidth to be involved in every step of the process. Partnerships with trusted senior living providers can give you and your patients the benefits of firsthand knowledge, fostering relationships that inspire confidence. That way you are part of a larger team helping the patient to make a decision that could contribute to good health and well-being.

At Brookdale Senior Living, we embrace the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with HCPs to meet the needs of senior patients. We have worked successfully for years with case managers, nurses, physicians and other professionals to coordinate care, monitor needs and progress, and maintain ongoing communication.

Learn More

Are you a physician who wants to learn more about why Brookdale Senior Living is a smart choice for your patients? Not only do we offer social engagement opportunities, but we also provide your patients with personalized care, medication management, and help managing chronic conditions to help them stay healthier longer. Let’s work together.