Of the nearly 20 million seniors that need some type of caregiving assistance, eight million live in long-term care facilities. The statistics are alarming: one in three US facilities are cited each year for violations; 50% of caregivers admit to abusing residents in their care; 95% of residents say they have been abused or witnessed another being abused.
Penrose Senior Care Auditors is jumping to solve this problem with its new Uber-like app, which makes it easy for families to hire certified professionals to check on their seniors in assisted living communities and report back to them real-time.
“Our new app, called the Penrose Platform, is revolutionizing oversight of assisted living communities by putting knowledge and control in the hands of the senior’s family members,” says Rhonda Harper, CEO and Founder of Penrose Senior Care Auditors.
More often than not, senior care communities are short-staffed, and among those who are there, many are under-paid, under-trained, and burned-out.Harper’s own personal story made her launch the service. Even though her father was placed in a $5,800 a month new, upscale assisted living studio unit, he wasn’t treated as advertised; quite the contrary.
“I soon learned that if I wasn’t there on a regular basis caregiving services weren’t being done. I had to take a stand for seniors and their families by creating a service to oversee assisted living communities and report back to family members,” she said.
Harper observed that seniors with no or infrequent visitors often bore the brunt of inadequate care. More often than not, senior care communities are short-staffed, and among those who are there, many are under-paid, under-trained, and burned-out.
In order to benefit from the Penrose Platform, families go to the company’s website or download the app, select a senior care auditor based on their profiles and reviews, and determine how many visits a month they want. The Penrose Platform houses, in part, a 7-Factor Senior Care Audit comprised of 150 items that are assessed by Penrose Senior Care Auditors. The auditor completes the audit while onsite and before leaving generates findings and suggestions report that is immediately emailed to the client.
The service is now in beta, with the full-scale launch coming in early fall.