Proactive Approaches to Senior Safety
Are you looking for a community that supports senior living in Chicago? Elderly individuals may face various safety risks due to factors such as aging, declining physical and cognitive abilities, and changes in their living environment. Searching for an assisted living or memory care community involves a variety of decisions but should ultimately give peace of mind that you choose the right community with extensive safety and security measures for your loved one.
If you or a loved one is seeking a community for senior living in Chicago, Mount Prospect Senior Living should be at the top of your list to visit. Along with spacious homes, vibrant social activities and luxury amenities, Mount Prospect Senior Living is also at the forefront of senior safety.
In this blog, we will cover general senior safety, the amenities included in the community, the innovative safety technology employed by Mount Prospect Senior Living, and how these features benefit all residents, guests and care staff, created to improve quality of life for all who live in and visit the community.
General Senior Safety and Security Concerns
Mount Prospect Senior Living offers tailor-made safety solutions to ensure senior safety. Senior citizens have many safety challenges and obstacles, but our team provides a safe environment for residents in our care. We take a proactive approach to safety management, working closely with our care team to personalize security plans to anticipate safety concerns and reduce the likelihood of accidents as much as possible.
Seniors are at a higher risk of falling, and those with dementia fall twice as much as those without dementia. At Mount Prospect Senior Living, our care team undergoes extensive training on caring for seniors, including fall risk management and how to prevent and reduce falls in safe senior living communities.
The community offers secure outdoor patios and green spaces for residents and guests to enjoy at their leisure. For those in assisted living and secure memory care neighborhoods, the access to sunshine and fresh air can help boost dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain, leading to improved mood and reducing feelings of loneliness or isolation.
In addition to outdoor amenities, Mount Prospect Senior Living offers family lounges designed to help families visit privately in a healthy, safe environment. Specially curated lounges, for both assisted living and Generations memory care residents, offer comfortable spaces for families to enjoy themselves.
Innovative Safety Technology
Healthe ENTRY™ System
The cutting-edge Healthe ENTRY system at Mount Prospect utilizes safe UV wavelengths to reduce harmful pathogens for residents, staff and visitors, reducing bacteria and creating a safe environment. The technology works with sanitizing lights scanning the surfaces of bodies and belongings of anyone who passes through it. This technology is located at the main entrance, stopping harmful contagions before they reach the inside of the community.
Temperature Monitoring Kiosks
In addition to the Healthe ENTRY system, Mount Prospect is equipped with Accushield touchless thermal temperature sensors that allows our team to screen associates, residents and guests for elevated temperatures, working to limit resident exposure to illness.
These kiosks integrate visitor sign-in, body temperature scans and pre-screening questions about COVID-19 risk and exposure. Additional features of the system include .2 second response time for recording temperatures, with undeniable accuracy, from up to 29 inches away.
The senior safety system also offers an extra layer of safety and security by capturing visitor photos, logging contact information and community tours, managing consent forms, and collecting data and analytics for leadership to review. The software’s signature “Love Meter” tracks the least visited residents in the community, allowing the care team to better manage and care for the residents who may feel isolated due to lack of outside visitation.
Microbicidal Paint
The CDC estimates about 1 in every 25 U.S. hospital patients will contract an infection while in the hospital. Since bacterial infections can complicate other chronic health conditions in seniors, it is important to reduce risk for residents and staff in the community. One of the ways that our community reduces this risk involves the use of special microbicidal paint.
We also limit exposure to harmful bacteria through microbicidal paint coating handrails, one of the largest touchpoints in the community. The EPA-registered paint kills more than 99.9% of bacteria within two hours of exposure on the painted surface. This coating will continue to kill 90% of harmful bacteria even after contamination. The paint is effective for up to four years as long as the surface is maintained.
Electrostatic Handheld Sprayer
In order to guarantee thorough disinfection and sanitization of all surfaces within our community, Mount Prospect Senior Living employs an electrostatic handheld sprayer. This device disperses charged droplets, ensuring the chemicals adhere to every surface, providing unparalleled 360-degree coverage. This approach ensures a quicker, safer and more uniform cleaning and disinfecting process.
Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization (NPBI™)
Contaminants in the air can cause poor health outcomes and a lower quality of life. In senior living communities, residents are vulnerable because of age and chronic health conditions, and it is imperative to make the air quality environment in these communities as safe as possible.
Utilizing an ozone-free air purification technology that seeks out and neutralizes pathogens, including norovirus, MRSA and SARS-CoV-2, this system operates effectively in spaces of any size. Integrated into our communal HVAC system, it enhances the efficiency of our HVAC filters and personal protective equipment (PPE), safeguarding both staff members and residents from potential illnesses.
From fall prevention strategies to creating age-friendly living environments and fostering social connections, there are many practical steps that can enhance the safety of older adults. By compiling these safety solutions, our team can mitigate the risks associated with aging but also empower seniors to lead fulfilling and independent lives.
At Mount Prospect Senior Living, we don’t just offer a sense of security for a senior in Chicago – we are proud to offer tried-and-true, proactive and inventive strategies to improve quality of life for seniors. Collectively, all of these solutions present a strategically safe environment for residents to give peace of mind to families when they entrust their loved ones with our team.
Interested in hearing more about Mount Prospect Senior Living’s safety protocols? Contact us today to schedule your tour and see how our community is at the forefront of safety and security measures for seniors.
