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Assisted living facilities can protect their residents and caregivers with these five security measures.
Making the decision to seek out assisted living facilities for our loved ones can be both an emotional and a stressful experience. After all, family members want to make sure their relatives will be properly supported and comfortable, but it can be difficult to know for which amenities and features to search.
Of course it’s important to ensure that caregivers are appropriately trained, kind, and understanding. It’s also important to check that the community itself is clean, comfortable, and filled with creature comforts. However, one aspect of assisted living that can be easily overlooked is the quality of on-site security systems.
When it comes to trusted and effective security systems for assisted living facilities, residents deserve to be supported by a reliable and adaptive network of connected devices. These devices are designed to allow caregivers to provide dedicated protection and assistance around the clock.
For families currently seeking out an ideal assisted living facility, here are five smart security measures worth requesting or about which you can inquire:
1Smart Surveillance Cameras
The average ratio of caregivers to residents in assisted living facilities across the US is around 1:8 (1 caregiver to 8 residents.) This means it is important that staff are also supported by a reliable surveillance camera network. The network should continually monitor entrances, exits, and communal areas to detect and allow staff to respond to potential issues.
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These configurations can be adjusted remotely by staff allowing for real-time monitoring of ongoing events, as well as automatically detect and catalog footage that contains humans. This helps security teams easily locate specific video events if a worrying incident should occur.
2Multi-Level Access Control
It is common for assisted living communities to accommodate between 27-33 residents, each with their own private rooms and access to communal areas. Additional staff quarters should be secured to prevent residents from coming to harm, though it’s vital that access to these spaces is controlled appropriately. Residents with dementia or memory loss may have trouble navigating traditional lock systems.
Facilities that make use of multi-level access control can program installed systems with customized permission levels. They automatically grant or deny access to areas based on the holder’s credentials. This means potentially dangerous locations can be permanently secured behind staff-assigned key cards or mobile-based credentials to prevent residents from accidentally opening the wrong doors.
3Integrated Alarm Systems
As discussed, the average assisted living facility will be home to more residents than dedicated caregivers. This can present a few difficulties when it comes to planning and executing emergency responses like lockdowns and fire evacuations. This is especially true if some residents are affected by memory loss.
By installing and operating an integrated on-site alarm system, security teams and staff can detect, respond to and communicate the presence of break-ins and fires instantly across the entire facility. This creates an easily understood and holistic view of potential threats and dangerous situations. Ultimately, this can speed up incident response times and ensure the safety of all residents around the clock.
4Monitored Visitor Management
While securing potentially dangerous areas from residents remains a top priority for assisted living staff, some areas will need to be made accessible to visitors and guests. It is important to ensure only authorized persons can enter the property and that is done through monitored visitor management.
An effective visitor management system will be convenient for staff and guests. It will also be capable of preventing unauthorized persons from gaining access. Mobile access control systems are a good example of this, whereby visitors are able to register personalized credentials via their smartphones. These devices can then be scanned upon entry to provide staff with a monitored record of access events.
5Personal Emergency Devices
Finally, families weighing their options in terms of assisted living communities should inquire about the usage of personal emergency devices. These handheld alarm systems allow residents to instantly request assistance from caregivers in the event of a medical emergency. Approximately 86% of medical alert system users claiming that such devices have helped save them from life–threatening incidents.
By providing residents with a reliable method of alerting staff regardless of the hour of day, families and their loved ones can be reassured. They would know that should a serious medical incident occur, trained professionals will be on the scene as quickly as possible to provide essential medical assistance.
Security Systems: Safety Served
Making the decision to provide assisted living support to loved family members can be difficult. For people living with memory loss, dementia and other related medical issues, dedicated care and support provided by professionals can help to dramatically improve their overall quality of life.
When choosing an appropriate and trusted assisted living community, it’s important that families consider the security systems in operation equally alongside the level of personal support being offered. Ask about smart surveillance cameras, access control, integrated alarms, and visitor management systems. Plus ask about the use of personal emergency devices to ensure all residents remain protected, safe, and secure.
