Optimal Living Program Redefines Wellness with Real Results

Jason Hazel, PT, DPT: Hi, let’s take a few minutes today: We’re going to talk about decreasing turnover rate and increasing length of stay in senior living.

It’s something that our industry partners tell us is of growing importance. It’s always been important getting more important as we move forward as our older adult population grows exponentially. And, we have the opportunity to serve at a higher level.

I’m Jason Hazel, doctor of physical therapy, Chief Strategy and Sales Officer with FOX Rehabilitation. And in some previous web series and video series, we talk to you guys a little bit about the importance of a wellness continuum in senior living and what physical and occupational therapy and speech-language pathology can do when you partner with a good entity that can provide that within the walls of your senior living community.

Today we want to take it a step further: talk more about our Optimal Living Program that we have here at FOX which is really a concierge wellness continuum that takes a look at things that are really important for older adults and, frankly, for anyone: strength, balance, endurance, flexibility. They’re things that must be maintained to continue to have functional independence.

We’ve built an Optimal Living model that goes beyond the scope of skilled therapies that kind of black hole if you will of what happens at the end of a play and of care. Well, we came up with this idea about Optimal Living and a wellness continuum that extends beyond that period within our senior living partner communities.

We’ve got some pretty powerful data that’s come from outcomes driven by that programming. And there are three key areas I want to hit on today: 1. falls, 2. hospitalizations, and then 3. length of stay within a senior living community.

So I’ll start with falls. We measured one-year post-exposure to the FOX Optimal Living program. What happens to fall rates of residents within senior living communities with this programming? Pretty staggering results: We found not only did you maintain, which is what you think a wellness continuum should do, but we actually improved fall rates. So one year, 12 months post exposure to the Optimal Living programming, we see a 38 percent reduction in falls — 38 percent one-year post exposure.

The next one is hospitalizations. It’s a huge first step out of a community. Someone falls, gets injured, goes to the hospital, assumes that track to a higher level of care, and then that proverbial “one foot out the door.”.

One year post exposure to the FOX Optimal Living program, we see hospitalizations reduced by 35 percent, a staggering 35 percent.

And then on the operational front when it comes to senior living operators, a very important factor when it comes to measuring the success of the business side of the entity is length of stay. We’re seeing length of stay nationally for AL communities at about 21 months and dropping due to the acuity levels of the residents and the residents moving in and their medical comorbidities and complexities that they move in suffering from.

In FOX Optimal Living communities — and This is the big take home — in FOL communities, we have a 30-month median length of stay. That is nine months longer than the national average or 42 percent better.

That’s your take-home message: A functional wellness continuum that improves the functional independence and wellness of residents within your community impacts turnover rate and length of stay in an exponentially positive way.

To learn more about FOX or FOX Optimal Living, please don’t hesitate to reach out at slc@foxrehab.org. Thank you.