Academy Point at Mystic

We recently moved our mother into Academy Point in Mystic. Staff is exemplary! Everyone has been warm and welcoming and makes themselves available to assist residents and family members. In less than two weeks there, my mother is already saying how much she loves it. She is participating in lots of activities, which she wasn't doing at home. Academy Point was also the only assisted living facility I visited who seemed able to manage my mother's dietary restrictions without a problem.

From the beginning of my search for a dementia unit for my mom, the administrative staff were great with spending time meeting with me and my mom. They provided time and attention in giving me information, answering questions, meeting and assessing my mom. They were professional and kind. The facility has a home like feeling. The memory care unit, being in an assisted living versus a nursing home does not have an institutional feel. The nurse manager of the harbor unit is very knowledgeable in the area of dementia care and has been very helpful in facilitating my mom’s medication adjustments in order to obtain better control of her symptoms as well as getting medical equipment she needed. Some down sides to the unit I have found are: on the second shift, they need more staff to be attentive to the residents and better meet their needs. The 4pm-8pm activity aide position seems to be vacant and the two aides on that shift are too busy with dinner and evening care to do any activities with the residents so they are basically just sitting unattended in the living room area waiting their turn for evening care. They definitely need another staff person on that shift. Another area I think could be improved upon is the utilization of nursing staff. There is one nurse on second shift and she is responsible for passing medications to residents in the entire facility. This leaves no time for any other type of assessment or interaction with residents which adds to the feeling at least when I’m there visiting, that the staff is stretch a little thin to provide the type of caring attention that these unfortunate souls need and deserve. I am not able to visit earlier in the day but plan to make some time to visit my mom occasionally at that time to see how the care is at that time. Placing a parent or loved one in a dementia care unit or any type of care facility is a heartbreaking thing because you always feel that they are not getting the type of care that if possible you or other family members would provide. Academy Point while not perfect is the best option I found in my search for dementia care for my mom but it remains a very difficult thing to see her mind and body and quality of life deteriorate so.

My only criticism is that they need to do a better job cleaning bathrooms, in particular the toilets. Some people need to have them cleaned after each movement.