Meridian Offers Senior Living that Fulfills Seniors’ Lives

Client satisfaction is important in any line of work but when it comes to senior care, making people happy is its own job.

As a regional coordinator for Meridian Senior Living, Maria Kauten oversees the operations of nine local communities, each serving 35 to 150 residents, to ensure that every resident is being given the opportunity to enjoy a fulfilled life.

“It’s about making sure we’re enriching the lives of residents,” Kauten said. “No family wakes up and thinks I’m going to look for assisted living. Enriching activities is our job.”

During the holidays, that can mean arranging a large Thanksgiving dinner not just for residents, but for their families and extended families as well. In addition to providing a homecooked meal, staff serve up philanthropy on the side by extending invitations to local senior centers.

“Not everyone is aware that there is a senior who doesn’t have a Thanksgiving dinner,” said Kauten.“I think everyone thinks seniors have a family, but that’s not true.”

To address the fact that seniors are sometimes forgotten on holidays, Kauten started a Spirit of Giving Tree that invites all to give thanks. Developing programs like this is one of Kauten’s many responsibilities.

In addition to activities already offered like outings to local museums or the Japanese Gardens in Long Beach, communities are gearing up to offer tai chi and yoga, which are especially popular among baby boomers.

Communities also cater to less social residents and those nearing the end of life by offering smaller groups and one-on-one time with volunteers from the community, such as high school students.

“They are older and high school kids don’t always understand them,” Kauten said. “But once they interact, whether reading cards or doing activities one-on-one or in a group, they see how much seniors have to give.”

The effect is so profound that some students keep coming back even after their volunteer hours are fulfilled, Krauten said.

Intergenerational interaction is also extremely important for residents and for Kauten, it also happens to be a family affair, from her daughter rubbing lotion on people’s hands to her mother hanging holiday decorations.

“They have so much wisdom to share and integrating the community is what makes us successful,” she said, adding that an open-door policy allows people to visit anytime.

Kauten and staff members also go out of their way to determine the personal needs of each resident.

“So if someone really enjoys gardening, we ask how can we implement it? We want seniors to continue to enjoy what interests them,” Kauten said. “Instead of making it about the business side, it’s more the about the human side.”

It’s all part of the changing face of senior care that goes the extra mile, said Kauten, who has been in the business for 16 years. In that time, she has seen many in the industry take it up a notch, going from mediocre service to extroardinary.

As such, Kauten is actively seeking an executive chef.

“People may think senior living consists of four white walls with bad food, but we welcome the community to see what we do,” she said.