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Monthly Archives

March 2020

COVID-19 Update 3

By COVID-19No Comments

Dear family and friends of Castle Senior Living,

We wanted to give you a quick update during this tumultuous time.

Castle Senior Living remains committed to protecting the health and safety of the residents we serve. We are extremely grateful that at this time, there are no positive cases of COVID-19 at any of our locations, this includes residents and staff.

We also wanted to take a moment to say how much we truly appreciate our hard-working staff and all healthcare workers during this time of lockdown. So many have gone above and beyond the call of duty and for that we are extremely grateful.

Castle Senior Living continues to follow CDC recommendations for long-term care facilities to protect and prevent the spread of this disease. The CDC, Wisconsin Assisted Living Association, Wisconsin Department of Health Services and other health agencies are providing regular updates to us and we will continue to communicate expectations as things change.

All visitation is still restricted at all of our communities. We ask you to refer to our previous update for guidelines or to contact the Castle Senior Living administration team with any questions.

We know that this is a difficult time and ask you to consider a telephone call or a video call to stay connected with your loved one. For help setting up a video call, we ask that you contact your facility administrator.

If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please reach out to the Castle Senior Living administration team.

Restricting All Visitation

By COVID-19No Comments

Dear family and friends of Castle Senior Living,

Castle Senior Living is committed to protecting the health and safety of the residents we serve. And since older adults are at a higher risk of complication when exposed to the COVID-19 virus, we ask that you remain mindful of the seriousness of the situation.

We are following the CDC recommendations for long-term care facilities to protect and prevent the spread of this disease. The CDC and other health agencies are providing regular updates to us and we will continue to communicate expectations as things change.

Effective Immediately: To protect our residents, we are at this time restricting all visitation to our communities.     

  • No visitors will be allowed in the facility except for certain compassionate care situations, such as end-of-life situations. Use of alternative methods for visitation (e.g., phone call or video conferencing) should be coordinated with the facility.
  • Signs have been posted at the entrances to the facility stating that no visitors may enter the facility.
  • Decisions about visitation during an end-of-life situation will be made on a case-by-case basis, which would include careful screening of the visitor for fever or respiratory symptoms. Those with symptoms will not be permitted to enter the facility. Those visitors that are permitted must restrict their visit to the resident’s room or other location designated by the facility. They will be reminded to frequently perform hand hygiene.

We all have a shared responsibility to protect those who live in our communities, many of whom could experience serious complications if exposed to the COVID-19 virus. Our residents remain our priority.

We know that this will be a difficult time and ask you to consider a telephone call or perhaps FaceTime to stay connected with your loved one.

If you have any questions or need special accommodations, please reach out to the Castle Senior Living administration team.

Coronavirus Update

By COVID-19No Comments

Dear friends:

At Castle Senior Living, the care, health and safety of our residents – and everyone else who walks through our doors – has always been our #1 priority. Nothing that happens will change that.

There have been many questions from families coming in to our Administrative team, so we thought it was best to inform everyone what steps we are taking to prevent and treat as needed for the spread of the Coronavirus. Castle will follow the respiratory guidelines from CDC and county Health Departments just like we do for the flu. We will continue our standard precaution measurements of hand washing per normal. If someone has the list of symptoms and/or side effects of coronavirus per guidelines such as fever, cough and  shortness of breath then they will be in isolation and testing done per guidelines and MD orders.

Here are some specific actions being taken:

  • Castle Senior Living facilities will have stations (hand sanitize/isolation equipment for visitors if needed) at the doors.
  • Signage may be posted if quarantine is needed on the entrances of each unit/building/public visitation area, etc. It all would depend on a true case of the virus occurs at a Castle Senior Living location and what the county Health Department would have us do.
  • We will work closely with the Health Department in each county to ensure that we are following CDC guidelines and procedures correctly.
  • There will be monitoring on infected residents and proper cleaning procedures done.
  • Meals will take place in rooms with Styrofoam containers being used, to be able to be thrown out.
  • During an outbreak no resident from hospital or outside community will be allowed to admit to an isolated facility. Everyone sent out to hospital/outside facility must be made aware that our building is on isolation, etc.
  • Staff will also be monitored for signs and symptoms with proper procedures taking place for them, including not being allowed to work in the facility.

You can always visit the guidelines from the CDC or from the Wisconsin DHS  which will explain everything in greater depth.

We continue to follow the CDC guidelines which states: “Visitation should be limited further to only those who are essential for the resident’s emotional well-being and care. The facility should send communications to families advising the COVID-19 has been identified in the community and re-emphasizing the importance of postponing visitation. Ideally, visits should be scheduled in advance during a limited number of hours. Any visitors (that are permitted after screening) will be restricted to their visit to the resident’s room.” Castle Senior Living will be limiting outside services for residents at all locations that can be postponed during this time. If any of our locations is put on a quarantine or has a confirmed case of Coronavirus, we will notify the POA’s and families of the situation.

We hope that this helps to ease everyone’s concerns at this time and will stay in communication with any updates or changes. As always, if you have additional questions please reach out.

Sincerely,

The Castle Senior Living Administration Team

The Importance of Taking Medications Properly

By Senior LivingNo Comments

The physical changes that older Americans undergo as they age influences how medications are absorbed into the body. It’s important to know the medicines that you are taking in order to benefit from them and be well.

Did you know the risk of drug interactions is high, especially among older adults? This can happen when two medicines consumed react against one another. Certain drugs sometimes have a bad effect on a medical condition and could cause more harm. Other times, there’s a bad response to drugs when eating or drinking, or taking drugs while drinking alcohol.

Drugs have side effects. While most reactions are minor, some remedies can seriously affect your health. Keep track of your medicines and how they make you feel. Follow this short checklist:

  • Stay in touch with health professionals – Write down a list of scheduled prescription and over-the-counter medicines and share it with them. Be sure to ask if the drugs are truly working well for you. You may not need to take them any longer or could possibly reduce the dosage.
  • Don’t stop taking drugs – Are you skipping doses because you have trouble swallowing tablets? Ask about crushing the pills or take a liquid medicine instead. Taking a drug four times a day? Perhaps there’s a medicine that you can take less often. Not remembering to take your medications? Your doctor can suggest ideas, such as a pill box or a calendar.

Castle Senior Living offers residents an in-depth, full-service medication management program. Our electronic medication administration record is directly linked to a local pharmacy, which coordinates the medicine, packaging and delivery. Once on site, a registered nurse oversees the management and distribution of the drugs. All Castle staff must complete a course to become state certified in medication administration. The medicines arrive individually packaged and clearly labeled with a name, date, and dosage information to help prevent errors from happening.

Medicines are necessary to treat illnesses or diseases in older adults. Staying properly medicated is crucial to improve overall mental health and physical well-being.