FAQs

What sets Harbor House apart from other providers?

People

Harbor House Better People Providing Better Care is more than just a catchy slogan. The most distinguishing characteristic of Harbor is its people. The care specialists at Harbor are committed to your happiness and comfort. They are systematically screened and interviewed for their natural characteristics of care and compassion. They take part in individual training to learn how to best meet your needs and develop lasting relationships. We work with various health care agencies to provide hospice care and other support services so that residents may live out their days in a familiar and comfortable environment.

Programs

Harbor continues to pioneer the state-of-the-art Safe Harbor program in the care of medically frail and cognitively impaired individuals. Harbor programs have been frequently emulated by organizations as a model for optimal elder care.

Principles

Harbor's mission to Provide Loving Family Service through Inspired Leadership is found in everything we do. Our family oriented organization welcomes all residents and their families to become part of the Harbor Family. We are dedicated to serving you and providing the dignity and respect you deserve while creating a cheerful, loving place to call home.

Design

The residential, architecture and interior design of Harbor House locations provide a small, secure, warm setting, which residents can call home. Harbor House provides private rooms that residents can personalize with their own furnishings and belongings. The friendly favorites are welcome here—furniture, dressers, family pictures and mementos creating a warm and comforting new home. The private rooms are just steps away from the living room and dining room serving up home cooked meals and socializing with the rest of the Harbor Family.

What is the Safe Harbor Program?

Harbor House The Safe Harbor Program is Harbor House's innovative program for the care of residents with memory loss. Safe Harbor, developed in accordance with the Alzheimer's Association's Guidelines for Dignity, has been enhanced over the years, incorporating best practices in Alzheimer's care from around the world.

Residents live in a safe, secure home dedicated to these residents and their needs. Harbor House was specifically designed and developed for residents needing memory care. These include internal walking paths leading residents back to the living room, Harbor House also uses contrasting colors that help residents differentiate between counters, floors, walls and doors more easily, and the utilizes exit door alarms to ensure resident safety.

Designed to create pleasant days in what often feels like a confusing world, activities revolve around familiar, everyday tasks and pastimes, capitalizing on the abilities of each resident. The Safe Harbor program utilizes sensory stimulation to help calm residents, to help evoke pleasant memories and to help residents feel comfortable in the world around them.

How is the Harbor House staffed and how are team members trained?

The Harbor House staff level in each home is based on the particular needs of the residents in that home. A comprehensive assessment is completed on each resident at the time of move-in, and every six months or change in the resident’s condition or abilities. These assessments provide guidelines for staffing levels based on the specific needs of the residents.

Staffing levels are generally higher at Harbor House than they are in other assisted living facilities, and are adjusted as the level of resident needs change. Harbor House team members receive comprehensive training developed by Harbor specifically relating to the care of residents with Alzheimer's disease and related memory impairments. The training is part of the Safe Harbor Training Program and enhanced through on-going, specialized training through the year.

Will the resident have to move when the disease progresses to the final stages?

Harbor House can often care for residents with Alzheimer's disease through the final stages of Alzheimer's disease. It is our hope and aim that even residents with this particularly relentless disease will not have to move again after coming to Harbor House. Harbor House and the Safe Harbor Program are dedicated to providing a warm, comfortable, familiar and safe environment for frail seniors through their last years. In fact, we work with various health care agencies to provide hospice care and other support services so that residents may live out their days in a familiar and comfortable environment.

Is the Safe Harbor Program covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance?

Assisted living, even for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other memory impairments, is primarily private pay. While Medicare does not cover assisted living care, Wisconsin has a few innovative funding programs that continue to expand across the state. These programs include the Family Care Program and Community Options Program (COP) Medicaid waivers that will cover assisted living costs for financially qualified residents. These are state and federal funds designed to pay for care services. Each county has criteria and limited funds for this program. Consult with the Harbor House Director or your local Aging and Disability Resource Center office in your county for more information on these and other programs. Although costs of assisted living and Alzheimer's care are generally paid by residents or their families, private insurance coverage of assisted living costs is typically covered by the plan. Review your individual policy with your insurance provider. We are also willing to review the policy with you to see if our specialized services may be covered by your policy.

What makes the Harbor House Safe Harbor Program different than other Alzheimer's care programs?

Harbor House The Harbor House difference starts with Harbor's philosophy of care that focuses on encouraging independence, nurturing the spirit, preserving dignity and involving family and friends. Dedicated caregivers are given comprehensive and on-going training in a program designed by Harbor House to address the needs of residents with Alzheimer's disease and other memory impairments. Individual service plans are created with assistance from the family paying particular attention to each resident's interests and skills including occupation, accomplishments and hobbies. All this is provided in a small, safe, comfortable and familiar environment.

What types of therapy are used in Safe Harbor Program?

The Safe Harbor Program focuses on a philosophy of creating success stories one small victory at a time. The program utilizes music therapy, aromatherapy and sensory stimulation that create a cheerful active place to live and an environment that helps remind them of pleasant memories and promotes independence. Validation therapy offers reassurance and encourages staff to enter each resident's world reducing residents' anxieties associated with confusion.

Does Harbor offer respite and hospice care?

Harbor Senior Concepts, LLC homes offer short-term respite and hospice assisted living care as space permits, welcoming every resident with equal warmth.

What services does Harbor offer the families of residents with Alzheimer's disease and related memory impairments?

For the family and friends of residents with Alzheimer's disease, and for the general public, Harbor offers a comprehensive resource library and cooperation with community resources available on the care of those with memory impairments and the care of the caregiver. A support group is often available locally as well. Each Harbor House also works closely with its local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, many acting as community education resources for the association.