Tag Archives: Senior Care

A Hands-On Approach to Care

As the Chief Nursing Officer, Denise McCann is more than a caregiver to the residents at Sagepoint. Driven by the goal of making every resident as happy and comfortable as possible, she is the leader of a team of dedicated and talented professionals who care for the residents. She provides clinical oversight, training and education and support for the team, the residents and their family members.

The Nursing Team’s approach to working with residents stems from Denise’s own philosophy of care.

“Caring for a person with dementia requires compassion and an in-depth knowledge of the disease,” said Denise. “Understanding how the disease progresses allows a caregiver to apply compassion and creativity in care options. We also recognize that we must provide holistic, individualized care not only for the patient but for the family members as well.”

While rewarding, leading a team in an environment like Sagepoint can be challenging at times. For Denise, leadership comes down to communication and a willingness to make a difference.

“I find that communicating often with residents, family members and staff is vital. Asking staff ‘how they are doing’ makes them feel supported and cared for so they can provide the best care to our residents. By seeing and talking to our residents often, I can generally see what kind of day they are having and help direct staff to assist. I feel that having a relationship is important as it helps me to identify if I see any changes in the patient’s status and adjust the staff activities accordingly,” said Denise.

This hands-on approach doesn’t just help her staff or residents; it also helps the families who entrust Sagepoint with the care of their loved ones. She takes the concerns and feelings of family members very seriously, as she knows their support is vital to the care of her residents.

“Moving a loved one into long-term care is a difficult decision for many family members. While they recognize the time has come for professional care, they have questions about their loved one living in a senior living center,” said Denise. “Recognizing how tough that can be, the management team and I work through their feelings – sometimes doubt, guilt or sadness over their loved one’s changing status. These are all feelings that we can work through together. It takes time. Having the family involved is key to building a relationship of trust. We encourage family and friends to visit and participate in activities. We realize that moving a loved one into a long-term care facility is hard, but we strive to make the transition as easy as possible for patients and family members.”

Denise feels how important her role is and how special Sagepoint is when interacting with residents. “When I come in every day and see the faces of our residents and family members that I am so fortunate to provide care for means so much to me.”

For Every Stage of Senior Care, There’s Sagepoint

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Care for an aging loved one can take many stages. For family members and primary caregivers, the decisions about what type of care is right at what point in time can feel overwhelming. But the professionals of Sagepoint Senior Living Services have more than 40 years of experience serving families in Southern Maryland through all stages of aging. When the time is right to seek the best care — and successive levels of care — Sagepoint is the trusted source.

Adult Day Services

Sagepoint’s specially-trained day service providers provide help with daily activities from simple assistance to total care. Services range from administering medications and monitoring of physical conditions to nutrition consulting, weight management and other daily health oversights. Even accompaniment to social outings when family members cannot attend can be provided. We can alleviate many of the everyday worries that families and friends face for aging loved ones.

Home Care

A helping hand, a companion, a confidante. The Home Care professionals at Sagepoint can fulfill all of these roles in the comfort and security of your loved one’s own home. The challenges of daily housekeeping, laundry, cooking, errands, shopping and other everyday activities that most people take for granted can be attended to by our visiting in-home service providers. We get started with a comprehensive needs assessment by our Registered Nurse Case Manager. Depending on case by case needs, our home care professionals can provide bathing and grooming assistance, toileting and ambulation help and feeding assistance. Of course, the simple comfort of daily companionship that people of all ages need is equally important. All of these heartfelt services and more are available from Sagepoint.

Assisted Living and Memory Care

Life is to be enjoyed, at every stage. Everyone at Sagepoint holds that ideal in high esteem, and it guides our care services for your aging loved ones who need a residential setting that truly meets their changing needs and focuses on their safety, security and happiness. Sagepoint’s progressive in-residence care services — including assisted living and memory care — address every family’s concerns and needs on a personal level.

To gain more knowledge about Sagepoint Senior Living Services, please phone 301-934-0222 to arrange a personal tour.

Sagepoint’s Donors Provided Unprecedented Support in 2020

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As a senior care nonprofit organization, Sagepoint has faced deep challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and our financial needs have increased dramatically since the spring of 2020:

Increased equipment costs for supplies such as HEPA filtration, sanitation and technology needs
Regular purchasing of personal protective equipment supplies for staff and residents
Soaring costs of continued weekly testing for staff and residents
Additional staff education to keep up with extensive regulatory changes throughout the pandemic.

However, our gracious benefactors have helped the organization meet these challenges by increasing their generous donations over the past several months to help us counter the effects that COVID-19 has disproportionately had on seniors. For this, we are honored and immensely grateful.

Please visit our website here to learn how your contributions can continue to help Sagepoint sustain the health and well-being of seniors in southern Maryland during these unique times.