This article was originally published as a cover story for the January 2023 issue of Security Business magazine. When you share, don’t forget to mention Security Business magazine on LinkedIn. @SecBusinessMag on Twitter.
Although new facility construction rates have dipped during the pandemic years, it is highly likely that new construction projects in the United States will again be independent living or assisted living facilities in 2021 and 2022.
The Association of Commercial Property Developers (NAIOP) says senior housing is one of the most attractive sectors for real estate investment and is projected to strengthen and accelerate over the next decade due to an aging population. reporting.
“Developing high quality and desirable senior living communities is more than just bricks and mortar and a return on investment. It is about creating spaces where people feel safe, supported, connected and cared for,” says NAIOP. explained in the report.
Additionally, the report notes that research by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NCREIF) shows that the senior living industry is fragmented, with more than 50% of the market being small owner/operators owning fewer than 10 communities. indicates that it is controlled by About 60% of the existing inventory is over 17 years old and not designed to meet the needs of today’s customers.
“There are two elements to the market. One is what I call the Nursing Home level, which has a lot of older facilities. I will explain.
President and CEO of Arizona-based integrator ECD Systems. “In the community, when you’re 70-75, you move out, you’re in apartment life, you’re taken to the next level, where you get a little bit of care, you move on to the next level, and so on… eventually. To the level of nursing home types, and that’s what we see most being built right now.”
This is where Security Integrators can play an important role. We create unique, state-of-the-art solutions for new facilities and upgrade older facilities to help these communities and facilities stand out in the often overheated competition of residents.
arc of care
In order to best serve the independent living and assisted living markets, integrators often need to understand that it goes far beyond a single facility, and that operators of these communities are involved in the assisted living journey. You should understand that each stage has different goals.
“These communities have something of an arc of care: moving from independent living to assisted living.
Skilled Nursing, and dementia/memory care, and even hospice,” said former alarm company owner and sales representative for various security industry manufacturers before founding the American Dementia Association. Kevin Jameson explains.
“There may be people who are living independently but who develop or have cognitive impairment, and this also applies to assisted living,” says Jameson. “Another thing to superimpose on that arc is that there’s a cognitive impairment arc. Someone may have cognitive impairment, but it’s mild, and it stays that way forever. You may have cognitive impairment, but it progresses over time and it won’t be the same a year from now or five years from now.”
A hurdle for security integrators is the wide variety of residents, from those looking for a wide range of amenities related to independent living, to the comfort and care required for assisted living, to the intensive needs of skilled nursing personnel. how to respond to Memory care and hospice.
Brendan Kamps, physical security consultant at H. Stephen Jones and Associates, explains: “People have to live here, so we try not to make it feel like an institution. A design that matches the interior [with technology] is a big deal. Another point that is often overlooked is making sure everything is intuitive. As people get older, making things as less confusing and second nature as possible is another big thing.
In the race for residents, it is important for integrators to be able to provide a way for people to transition smoothly from one stage to the next while staying in the same facility. Using this as a case basis for proving return on investment (ROI) can lead a facility or operator to choose a more robust or higher cost technology her solution.
“[It helps] If we could use technology to help someone live in the community a little longer,” says Jameson. “Technology also helps give signals that a person may have to move to another type of community or setting with a community.”
Basic security needs across the arc
Security baselines are essentially the same across the care arc, Kamps said, including basic access control, video surveillance and analytics, personal alarm and nurse call systems, and fire and life safety. However, that baseline can be constructed based on memory his care and higher level needs.
“It’s also important to make sure the software is easy to use,” adds Kamps. “Many of the larger operators have a constantly changing front desk staff, so we don’t want to present them with overly complex systems and interfaces.”
Jameson offers a unique perspective on the role of dementia/memory care and security. “That’s what drove me to do what I do. I realized there was a lack of information about dementia. People had a lot of misconceptions. is one of the reasons why I have continued to work. [security] Because I think there’s a lot of crossover between organizations and companies that I’ve known for decades and technologies that I know.
“There’s a basic block-and-tack that works in many cases, but there are subtle aspects of cognitive impairment that people don’t really understand until they start working on it,” Jameson adds.
The first step in memory care is mitigating what the industry calls “elopement.” Jameson points out that this isn’t really “wandering.”
“Escape is the act of leaving your living space unnoticed or trying to escape,” explains Jameson. “When I want to hang out in the streets, I do it for relaxation and enjoyment, like wandering in the woods. increase.”
“It is important to understand building and life safety regulations when designing solutions to prevent elopement from memory care units,” adds Mark Berger, president of Securitech. It is important to know his IBC and NFPA codes associated. These codes are used to indicate delayed or controlled exits to emergency doors when “the clinical needs of the person receiving care necessitate containment” or “when the special needs of the patient necessitate specialized treatment.” This is because it allows the use of locks. Protective measures for their safety.
As with all code requirements, Berger adds that you should be familiar with local restrictions and requirements, and he consulted with door experts such as Architectural Hardware Consultants (AHC) to discuss proposed solutions. I’m suggesting to make sure your code is compliant.
Beyond basic technology, Kamps says the next emerging technology is video analytics. This enables fall detection and other data collection mechanisms for resident/patient safety. “Passive technology is becoming more common on the front lines,” says Kamps.
To that end, new sensor solutions and even cutting-edge LiDAR solutions can find a place in the assisted living market.
beyond gadgets
Bradley, who says his primary industry is in healthcare, adopts a different security integration mindset when it comes to hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living.
“There is a lot of competition in these markets right now for low and cheap products.The life cycles of these products are not very long. We have a lot,” said Bradley. I will explain. “What is generally happening in healthcare is moving from a model of building products and then putting a little software on them, to a model of building software and trying to achieve the goals of patient care and health tracking. And then it’s about understanding what a hardware device is, you need it to power your software, and it completely upends the traditional “put things on walls and people” thing. ”
Bradley explains that in healthcare, emergency records management systems (EMRs) contain all patient records. HIPAA does not allow universal access to that information, but generalized entry into the software in nursing homes (e.g. Grandma attended exercise class today) is a way for families to make life decisions. important data for
“You can’t know that with sensors,” says Bradley. “We need software that pulls that information. Somebody types in that grandma attended, she schedules this, and this is what her schedule looks like. Here we design the software first, then the sensors and other technologies can be used to enrich the data, such as whether someone ate today and where they ate (cafeteria or their room).
“These are not sensor-driven,” he adds. “They aren’t products. It’s the software that powers that information delivery.”
According to Bradley, nursing home owners and managers use this kind of software every day because it’s an integral part of record keeping. By flipping this kind of traditional integration model, he says, he has revolutionized the way he serves the healthcare market.
“If you can show them how they can take it, [patient] It then ties in traditional systems like security and nurse calls and aggregates that information into patient portals so patients and families can keep an eye on things. Then it’s a decision, with AI, which is really the next level,” says Bradley.
Based on record keeping, activity, sensor input, etc., AI can issue an alert that, for example, a patient or resident has not followed their normal routine in the last three days and investigation is required.
“That’s what we’re going for. We need software for everything,” says Bradley.
“If [an integrator is] It’s not about the network, the servers, the software, and how to implement it all, you’re going to be left behind,” warns Bradley. “Yes, it requires a different mindset, but it is just another version of long-term care.
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Business Magazine, a partner publication of SecurityInfoWatch.com. Access the latest issue, archives and subscribe at www.securitybusinessmag.com.
