News & Events

Scarborough, Maine, January 5, 2009 – Piper Shores, Maine's first and only nonprofit lifecare retirement community, today announced they have become the first retirement community in Maine to be recognized by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the Continuing Care Accreditation Commission (CCAC) the nations' only accrediting body for continuing care retirement communities. Piper Shores earned Exemplary status for demonstrating its strong financial position exceeding CARF-CCAC's 75th percentile.

Additionally, Holbrook Health Center, the skilled nursing care component to Piper Shores, was awarded Exemplary status for its innovative Life Stories, Tree of Life and Intergenerational programs. These programs, the first of their kind in Maine, represent a new standard in retirement and skilled nursing care.

"Delivering person-centered care to the seniors at Piper Shores and Holbrook has really made a huge impact on our entire organization and has been very rewarding for everyone – our staff, residents and their relatives," said Deb Riddel, executive director at Piper Shores. "We are honored to receive this recognition from the CCAC and proud to represent Maine as a pioneer in the field of senior care."

CARF, founded in 1966, is the only accrediting body that establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve their programs and services. To be accredited, organizations must demonstrate ongoing innovation and continued conformance to standards. This means they must be committed to continuous quality improvement in their governance and administrative structures, fiscal practices, and the care and services they provide to older adults.

Founded in 1985 and acquired by CARF in 2003, CCAC accredits continuing care retirement communities and aging services networks across the country. Accreditation involves the successful completion of a rigorous application and reporting process followed by a comprehensive on site survey of every aspect in the care center. As part of the review and accreditation process, there are over 670 standards with which a community must be in full compliance.

For many years, the prevailing thought in elder care had been to develop care programs starting with a diagnosis first (i.e., a patient with Parkinson's or dementia) and then modified a little for the individual resident. By contrast, caregivers at Holbrook customize their residents' daily regimen, dietary plans, activities and many other aspects of their care, based on their individual likes, dislikes, history and interests.

"We've successfully turned the old paradigm for care on its ear and the results have been amazing," said Maureen Carland, administrator, Holbrook Health Center at Piper Shores. "The response to the Life Stories program has been overwhelmingly positive for everyone involved. Residents feel like they are being listened to and understood better, and their families are reminded that the caregivers at Holbrook are taking a very active role in getting to know their loved ones."