Best Practices Showcase

Best practice highlighted:Centers for Healthy Living — on-campus, physician-based wellness and preventive care embedded directly into community life, so residents receive coordinated medical, therapy, and wellness services where they live.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Residents get earlier intervention, fewer outside appointments, and continuity between clinical care and daily wellness programming — a model other communities can adapt at smaller scale.

Verification:Moorings Park Communities' three Naples locations were recognized as a 2025 ICAA Leader in Wellness, and the organization has documented national wellness recognition including the Beacon Award for Best in Wellness.

Best practice highlighted:Acts Life Care® — a prearranged continuing-care contract paired with reciprocal access across the organization's campuses, so residents know in advance how future health services are delivered and paid for.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Predictable long-term costs and a documented care pathway reduce financial uncertainty for older adults and the family members who help plan for it.

Verification:Acts operates 28 continuing care retirement communities across nine states serving 10,500+ residents, and publishes an annual report documenting its scale and financial position.

Best practice highlighted:Circle of Friends® — a structured, research-grounded daily program for residents with mild cognitive impairment and early-to-moderate memory loss, built around cognitive exercise, structure, and small-group social engagement.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Gives people in earlier stages of memory loss a program designed for their level rather than placing them in general memory care, supporting engagement and social connection.

Verification:Developed with academic research partners and supported by university collaborations, including a UC San Diego fall-prevention curriculum delivered at Belmont Village communities.

Best practice highlighted:Community-level quality measurement using resident and family satisfaction data, publicly benchmarked community by community rather than reported only at the corporate level.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Families comparing options can evaluate the specific community they are considering, using independently collected resident and family feedback.

Verification:166 Sunrise communities — 71% of the portfolio — earned awards in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report Best Senior Living ratings. Recognition applies to the individual communities listed, not every location.

Best practice highlighted:Clare Bridge dementia care programming — a standardized daily activity framework of six or more planned engagements per day, delivered consistently across participating memory care neighborhoods.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:A predictable daily rhythm of purposeful activity supports residents living with dementia and gives caregivers a clear picture of how each day is structured.

Verification:Brookdale had the most communities recognized on the U.S. News & World Report Best Senior Living list for four consecutive years as of 2025. Recognition applies to the specific communities named, not the full portfolio.

Best practice highlighted:Cognitive Health Center and Dementia Respite Support Program — structured groups for people with early memory loss and mild-to-moderate dementia, paired with respite and counseling for their caregivers under one roof.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Older adults stay engaged in the community while family caregivers receive scheduled relief and mental-health support — addressing both sides of the caregiving relationship.

Verification:The center describes its Dementia Respite Program as the only evidence-based service of its kind in Collier and southern Lee counties, delivered by credentialed staff.

Best practice highlighted:A "neighborhood model" of skilled nursing that organizes residents into small, home-like clusters with consistent caregiving teams instead of one large institutional ward, paired with rigorous internal quality monitoring.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Smaller, consistent care teams and home-like settings support better continuity of clinical care, fewer falls and infections, and lower staff turnover for frail older adults.

Verification:CMS Five-Star overall quality rating — the highest tier in CMS Nursing Home Care Compare — announced December 2024. The rating applies to this Gunnison facility only, not to other locations.

Best practice highlighted:Long-term and rehabilitative nursing care built specifically for veterans, applying the VA's Age-Friendly Health System "4Ms" framework — Mentation, Mobility, Medication, and What Matters — to daily care planning.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Veterans receive nursing-home-level care from staff trained in military culture and veteran-specific health needs such as PTSD and exposure-related illness, closing gaps common in civilian long-term care.

Verification:Overall 5-star rating on the VA's CLC Compare for 12 consecutive quarters, announced August 2025. The rating applies to the Augusta Community Living Center only, not to VA facilities generally.

Best practice highlighted:A multipurpose senior center — meals, fitness, arts, and social-services navigation — that submitted its programming, governance, and operations to formal peer review against national senior-center standards through a multi-year self-assessment and site visit.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Independent review confirms the programs older adults rely on for connection and support meet a national accreditation benchmark for quality, safety, and governance.

Verification:National accreditation from the National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) / National Council on Aging, awarded March 2024. Accreditation applies to this Newport center only.

Best practice highlighted:Support at Home pairs licensed home care, care management, and 24/7 emergency response under one interdisciplinary team, so medical, social, and safety needs are addressed proactively rather than after a crisis.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Coordinated home-based support reduces avoidable hospitalizations and premature moves into facilities, helping older adults age in place while easing pressure on family caregivers.

Verification:2022 Archstone Foundation Award for Excellence in Program Innovation. The award recognizes the Support at Home program specifically, not every Institute on Aging service.

Best practice highlighted:A veteran-specific end-of-life protocol built into hospice care: trained veteran volunteers, pinning ceremonies, staff education on service-related trauma, and hands-on help navigating VA benefits, delivered in partnership with the national We Honor Veterans initiative.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Veterans nearing end of life often carry unaddressed service-related trauma or unclaimed benefits; veteran-informed hospice improves comfort, honors service, and connects families to VA resources during a hard transition.

Verification:Level 5 — the highest partner tier — in the national We Honor Veterans program, announced June 2025. The designation applies to WesleyLife Hospice, not to every WesleyLife community or service line.

Best practice highlighted:A Life Plan Community built directly on the Arizona State University campus as a University-Based Retirement Community: residents hold ASU ID cards, attend classes, and take part in structured intergenerational programming with students and researchers.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Ongoing access to university coursework and student interaction supports cognitive and social engagement, while giving gerontology researchers a real-world setting to study aging.

Verification:First community in the nation certified as a University-Based Retirement Community, announced September 2024, with an ongoing research collaboration with ASU's Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Certification applies to Mirabella at ASU only.

Best practice highlighted:A certified Green House model home operated by Presbyterian Villages of Michigan — self-contained households of roughly 10 to 12 residents with private rooms and baths, dedicated consistent staff, and a shared kitchen and living space, connected to other Rivertown neighborhood services including PACE.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Peer-reviewed research on the Green House model links it to fewer hospitalizations, lower infection rates, and better resident and family quality-of-life scores than traditional nursing home layouts.

Verification:Certified Green House Project home; the underlying model is supported by published Health Services Research studies from the THRIVE Research Collaborative. Certification applies to this Detroit home, not to every Presbyterian Villages of Michigan location. Current verification accessed September 2026.

Best practice highlighted:Membership in the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners' Memory Care Excellence Network, requiring dementia-specific staff training, environmental design standards, and person-centered programming reviewed independently against national criteria.

Why it benefits older adults and caregivers:Staff trained to NCCDP standards manage behavioral symptoms with less reliance on antipsychotic medication, improving resident safety and quality of life while reducing caregiver stress.

Verification:NCCDP Memory Care Seal of Excellence, awarded 2026. The seal applies to the White Oaks at McHenry community only, not to every community managed by Gardant.