Personalized Support in a Place That Feels Like Home

The services each resident receives depend on their individual care plan. Our team may provide assistance with:

• Bathing, dressing, and other personal routines.
• Medication administration and reminders.
• Home-cooked meals and nutritious snacks.
• Daily activities and meaningful engagement.
• Mobility and movement within the home.
• Maintaining familiar routines.
• Communication with family members and care partners.
• Observing and reporting changes in a resident’s needs or well-being.
• Other day-to-day support identified through the care-planning process.

Our goal is to provide the right amount of help without unnecessarily taking over. Whenever possible, residents are encouraged to make choices, participate in their routines, and maintain as much independence as they safely can.

Our assisted living services support people who can benefit from help with everyday activities while continuing to live in a residential environment.

Caregivers provide dependable assistance based on each resident’s care plan. Support may range from reminders and occasional help to more regular assistance throughout the day.

Because every resident is different, we begin with a conversation and assessment rather than a standard package of services. This helps us understand the person’s abilities, routines, preferences, and goals before determining how our team can best support them.

We provide memory support for residents living with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other forms of memory loss when their needs can be safely supported within our residential setting.

Our approach may include:

• Familiar daily routines.
• Patient reminders and redirection.
• Reassurance during moments of uncertainty.
• Consistent communication approaches.
• Meaningful activities based on the resident’s interests and abilities.
• Familiar caregivers who take time to understand the individual.
• Ongoing communication with families and healthcare providers.

Memory needs can vary significantly from one person to another. Before admission, our team considers the resident’s cognitive, behavioral, medical, mobility, and safety needs to determine whether the home can provide the appropriate level of support.

When appropriate, a resident may be able to remain in their Cardenas Friendship Home while receiving hospice services from an outside licensed hospice provider.

Our caregivers can continue providing the daily assistance, familiarity, and emotional support included in the resident’s care plan. The hospice provider remains responsible for the specialized clinical services, equipment, medications, and nursing care associated with hospice.

We communicate with the resident, family, hospice team, and other care partners so everyone understands their responsibilities and the resident’s changing needs.

The ability to support hospice care depends on whether those needs remain within the home’s staffing, training, equipment, and care capabilities. This is reviewed individually and may need to be reassessed as a resident’s condition changes.

Our current care model includes a registered nurse on call 24 hours a day, along with weekly registered nurse visits.

Nursing oversight may support:

• Review of resident health and care needs.
• Communication about changes in condition.
• Coordination with physicians, pharmacies, hospice teams, and other providers.
• Guidance for caregivers following an established care plan.
• Review of medication and care documentation.
• Recommendations when a resident may need additional assessment or support.

An RN being on call does not mean that a registered nurse is physically present in the home at all times. Families should discuss any need for continuous or specialized nursing care with our team before admission.

Some residents receive services from professionals outside Cardenas Friendship Homes. Depending on the resident’s needs, this may include a primary physician, hospice provider, home-health professional, therapist, pharmacy, specialist, or case manager.

Our team can communicate and coordinate with approved outside providers so that daily support in the home aligns with the resident’s established care plan.

Outside providers remain responsible for the professional or clinical services they deliver. Their involvement does not automatically mean that every advanced care need can be safely accommodated within the home. Our team must still determine whether the resident’s overall needs are compatible with our staffing, training, environment, and service capabilities.

Our current care model includes a 1:5 staff-to-resident ratio. This smaller residential setting gives caregivers more opportunities to become familiar with each resident’s routines, communication style, preferences, and changing needs.

Safety is supported through:

• Individualized care planning.
• Assistance with daily activities.
• Consistent medication routines.
• Familiar caregivers and regular observation.
• Communication with residents, families, and healthcare providers.
• Nursing oversight and weekly RN visits.
• Reassessment when a resident’s condition or abilities change.

No care environment can eliminate every risk. Our responsibility is to understand each resident’s needs, provide the support identified in their care plan, and communicate when a different or more advanced level of care may be necessary.

Being clear about what we can and cannot provide helps protect residents, families, and caregivers. Cardenas Friendship Homes is not equipped to provide every form of advanced or highly specialized care.

We are unable to provide or directly manage:

• Feeding tubes or tube-feeding care.
• Intravenous fluids, medications, or other IV therapy.
• Complex injections that require specialized nursing administration or monitoring.
• Transfers or mobility assistance that consistently require two staff members.
• Personal pets as part of the standard residential arrangement.

This list may not cover every circumstance. Admission and continued residency depend on an individual assessment of the person’s complete care, mobility, behavioral, cognitive, medical, and safety needs.

In some situations, an outside provider may be able to perform a specialized service while our team continues providing day-to-day support. However, outside-provider involvement cannot replace the staffing, equipment, or clinical capabilities needed to safely support the resident between visits.

As needs change, we will communicate with the resident, family, case manager, and healthcare providers. When the home can no longer safely meet a resident’s needs, we will help those involved understand the concern and plan appropriate next steps.