Topic: Do you manage a 55+ independent community? How do wellness checks work in your building?

Do you manage a 55+ independent community? How do wellness checks work in your building? If a family member calls and is worried about their parent, do you go check on them? Call the police? Is this covered in your lease? Can residents opt in to have you check vs calling police? Thanks!

Families should always be referred to the local police department for all wellness checks (do not offer to call for them) Be nice and explain its policy. The police are equipped to handle the emergency if necessary. You or your company do not want to be responsible. Plus you never know the person calling might be someone they do not want to talk to-family or not.

So yeah, no wellness checks for me.

I have always knock and check

Rhonda, just on your own?

Jordan Else Yes, but the communities I have worked at are very close knit where the whole community is like a group of friends and family. They look out for each other, if I don’t check a neighbor usually will. If they don’t answer, I have maintenance go in with me

Jordan Elsei thought the same thing.

Rhonda Gilliam Davis you should always bring a police officer. If you find them and it's not in a good way, you can get yourself into some real trouble. Always best to wait for the police,unless you hear then screaming

We call police for wellness checks, we assist in unlocking the door. Many years ago the on-site teams would do the wellness checks. When you do them yourselves you take the chance of walking into some very traumatic situations. This is something that could mentally and emotionally impact you or your team. These situations have a different affect on a particular individual and would not risk it.

Sherry Lim agreed, but its also part of the multi family housing industry. Everyone has to go through it unfortunately if you are in the business long enough.

Debbie Haskell it’s been 23 years for me and I have done my fair share of wellness checks that involved a lot of deceased people. Fortunately, I feel that I can handle these situations but there are so many that cannot and that is 100% ok. As a Regional now, I would never expect nor have any of my team members do a wellness check. I do not believe that anyone should have to put themselves through this no matter how long in the industry. There are trained and equipped alternatives such as the police, fire department, etc. I completely understand there are situations out of our control that any of us could end up dealing with seeing deceased residents but I definitely try to make sure they are few and far in between.

I have done them with my manager before some with good results and some with bad. I was told by management that you should call the police and have them do the wellness check. Something’s you might not want to see could be there. Trust me you never forget those things either

James Clayton exactly this!

James Clayton I completely concur. Having previously managed a 55+ independent property for 5 years, I can say I have seen things that I will never unsee and wish I'd known calling the police was an option way before I did. I always grab the resident's file and assist with the unlock then wait outside.

My property is 60+. We know the residents well and their habits . If they don't answer the phone or door. We enter to check on them. I did this last night and found one of my residents face down in the floor deceased. I called 911 and stayed outside with the family until first responders arrived. The family did not want to go in and they shouldn't in the event of a crime. If, when we open the door, it appears to a crime and not a natural death, we go ahead and call 911. A couple of months ago maintenance and I found a lady deceased in her bed. Sometimes you just need to go in. At times waiting for the police can be detrimental. If the person is alive and needs CPR, you can perform it while waiting for emergency personnel. Of course we secure the unit afterwards.I have, in my 45 years in this industry, found deceased by natural causes, suicides and murders.

Connie Christopher Rowan Clay in my opinion it is easier to call the police rather than go in. I've also found people and it's not great! Calling the cops also eliminates any issues with you entering if there was any type of crime or suspicious activity!

Alysha Lorraine thank you for your opinion. As I stated, if we open a door and it appears to be a crime scene, we don't enter. I've worked high crime, distressed communities for 35 years. Many were some of the worst communities in Dallas and Fort Worth. I've worked on properties with many different gangs, prostitutes and drug dealers. The Dallas Police and other police departments have commended me for my abilities to clean up communities and my abilities to handle many situations. I have a good relationship with my police department and medical personnel in my city I've worked low income for the last 10 years with five of the 10 years being senior communities. So far, even with crime scenes, I've not had any problems with how I choose to perform welfare checks. I believe I will continue with how I perform my checks until my retirement, which is only a short time away. Again, thanks for your opinion.

Connie Christopher Rowan Clay my comment was not intended to tell you you should do anything different. I was simply pointing out that the OP may not be comfortable with finding someone. I'm sure you are great at your job. You do you!

Not 55+ but I was taught that we do not do wellness checks. If we do come across someone deceased that is going to stay with us forever. The sight, the smell and to be blunt that’s not something I’ve ever read in the job description. If the family wants to do a wellness check, yes, call the police. Because that is their job.When the police get there, take an ID and provide them with the key or accompany them to open the unit.Again though, you have no idea what you’re walking into. If it’s death by natural causes, suicide or murder. As well did they have pets? Let’s are known to do awful things as well if it’s been x number of days without food or water for them. Again, no.

Allie Gartside my cousin is a pm and has walked in on this exact situation. Older lady had been gone for a week and when she did the wellness check her cats had eaten her face

Allie Gartside agreed! I've seen things I wish I hadn't. Don't do it!

We don't manage 55+ but our portfolio is diverse. Across board, we do not preform wellness checks. We or the family must call 911. We'll provide access to emergency responders, but we will not put our staff in harm's way physically or mentally.

i managed senior buildings and at first we had very relaxed policies for wellness checks. if a family or neighbor was concerned and wanted a wellness check we did it. Works fine until you get neighbors who are crossing lines, overly worried , forget that the resident in question told them they were going to the daughters for the weekend etc. We were keying into people's apartment right and left. I decided ( as regional manger) we needed more structure - we decided as a team that we would check parking lot for car and also call the contacts in the file to check with them and at that point if the family and neighbors were still that concerned we would call the police and let them do the wellness check - we would unlock or provide the key. We realized this helped cut down on the neighbors who were jumping the gun and being overly worried. Also, we used to have the "i'm okay" door hanger system and we had floor captains who would check for the door hangers in the mornings.

I'm not a 55+ but I have done 2 wellness checks this year and both have been deceased. Family/friend has to call the proper authority, and I will assist by opening door or approving entrance via window etc. I stay to lock/secure the unit once the authorities have left.

After doing a wellness check and seeing something no one should see, I will never do one again. I tell my residents or staff to always call the police or see if our courtesy officer can do it, who is an officer.

This was also 15 years ago, so many companies now have more policies in place for things like this. I have tried to call a resident and knock on the door but that is the extent.

We knock/call, check cams to see if there has been any recent activity, if not, call police and let them in to check. In 24 years, only one was found deceased.

Have an addendum that lists an emergency contact as a "Hold Harmless" that has permission to enter the apartment if there is an emergency. For welfare checks, ALWAYS call the police to enter before anyone else. The police will handle any situation and let you know when it is okay for anyone else to enter the apartment.

We will call and knock but only police/fire/medical can go in. We have a good reason that I won’t go into here.

What state are you in? If a family member is concerned and is the emergency contact, then yes we do well checks, however if there is no answer and I am unable to enter the unit we will call 911

One thing missed about wellness checks without the police, or at least I didn't see it......, resident is fine... was away and no one realized... you go in without police... resident finds out. Says they had valuables taken. Also, you don't want to give the wrong people information about your residents. 55+ usually has a few where family members are disowned and now you are giving them information about a resident. Just had that yesterday where someone was fishing for information on a person who hasn't lived here for months but tried to act like they were close family with him. Always be safe than sorry.

Police should ALWAYS be called on a wellness check. Even though life and death are apart of our industry it is traumatic and you never know what may have caused the accident or death no matter what type of community. Emergency contacts or family members should call PD for a well fare check. We love our residents, if you’re in this industry and you don’t care about the welfare of others it’s the wrong industry. However to keep it fair across the board and to avoid trauma to staff or possible interference in a death or trauma scene a wellness check by family, emergency contacts should call PD for that check. If it does end up a bad situation you covered yourself across the board by treating everyone equal and not interfering.

We do not do wellness checks... the residents family needs to call the police

Regardless of anyone's policy or opinion, I'll just say, do you really want to see something you wished you hadn't but now can't unsee...I've been there and I can tell you...call the cops. Don't go in yourself!

I have many seniors in my LIHTC and I will not do it. I also won’t let their family do it if I can help it. I have had ugly situations at my property as a manager and now as a Regional and just no. The police should do it if there’s a valid concern. Call the emergency contact and if they haven’t heard from them in a few days, have them call the police. Also, we will never, ever let family go in or encourage them to go in. They don’t need to see it either. We encourage they call authorities who are trained to deal with it.