Local nursing administrator dispels some common myths about retirement communities

If you still think of retirement communities as unwelcoming, clinical places, you’d be surprised to learn that today’s communities are nothing of the sort. Misconceptions like this continue to exist. We spoke with Lauren Coyle, licensed nursing home administrator and nurse at Bethany Village, to learn more about today’s retirement communities and what people may get wrong about retirement living. Bethany Village is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) in Washington Township that offers independent living, assisted living and nursing care on its 100-acre campus.

A Home, Not a Hospital

One the most prevalent misconceptions is that nursing facilities are more like a hospital than an actual home. “I think the perspective that a lot of people might have is that [they’re] these institutional wards where there’s four beds in a room and there’s these shower rooms. That is not at all what a nursing home looks like right now,” she says. “Bethany was actually very early and ahead of the industry curve. In the early ‘90s, we built an addition to our building where all the rooms were private and most of the rooms have private bathrooms.”

“Each of those units has a very home-like atmosphere where there’s a central dining room with a smaller group of people. It kind of embodies that more homelike environment.”

Dining Options Aplenty

While some may envision their high school cafeteria, retirement community dining has improved and diversified over the years. Today, residents often have many options prepared by trained chefs.

“In our rehab unit, we do a satisfaction survey and it’s not uncommon for someone to rate that at a five and say how exceptional the food was, that it was better than they ate at home, that they gained weight while they were here because the food was so good,” Coyle says. “We offer the opportunity for residents and families to provide us recipes to actually prepare for our whole facility.

“We generally offer two selections for lunch and dinner every day that are like main course options. But then we also have over 20 select options that they can choose outside of those two main entrees for each of those meals.”

Independence for All

A resident may live in assisted living or nursing care, but they can still choose what they do each day and have a say in activities.

“Each unit has a life enrichment coordinator that designs activities for that unit’s residents’ specific preferences,” says Coyle. Special activities have included tail-gating parties for a resident who’s a Colts fan and making a temporary beach at Bethany Village for a resident who previously went to the beach each year with family.

“We are very person focused,” she says. “Just because you’re in the nursing facility doesn’t mean you can’t still maintain the quality of life you had when you were not in the facility. I think that it is important to know that we are very much about residents living their best quality of life, whether that be through activities or making sure that they have the proper access to health care.”