In February 2019, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics released a report that assessed the long-term care service needs of 28,900 residents* in assisted living or similar residential care environments.
According to the report, the number one need for assistance in daily living was bathing, with more than 63 percent of all residents in residential care requiring help. More than 55 percent needed assistance with walking or locomotion, 48.2 percent needed help dressing and 40 percent needed help toileting.
More than half of these residents had hypertension (51.2 percent), nearly half of them (42.4 percent) had Alzheimer’s or other dementia, and 41.9 percent had heart disease. Additionally, more residential care residents (21.4 percent) had falls compared to adult day participants and nursing home residents.
The majority (83.6 percent) of the residential care communities included in the report offered pharmacy or pharmacist services to their residents. This is where we make our greatest impact on residents’ lives. When we know that the majority of assisted living residents, we serve are 85 years old, need help bathing, have hypertension and some type of dementia, we know where to start to help improve their quality of life
At Guardian Pharmacy Atlanta, we serve more residential care residents than any other type of long-term care resident. On an ongoing basis, we gather information about those we serve. It is through surveys like this that we can better understand those we serve in order to deliver the highest quality of care possible. For more information on having Guardian Pharmacy Atlanta serve your residents, please call us at 770-635-3301.
*Survey sample: Over half of these residents surveyed were 85 or older; 6.6 percent were younger than 65. Seventy-six percent were women; nearly 23 percent men.
