A master plan should be a living, breathing document that’s used time and time again—not something that sits on a shelf and no one ever looks at, says Craig Piper, a principal at SMRT Architects and Engineers (Portland, Maine).
“We want it to be a useful tool, not just something that you’re just going through the motions and saying ‘I got that off the checklist,’” he says.
The key to getting a plan together that’s useful, sets up a clear vision for the future, and gets buy-in from key stakeholders starts with doing your homework. Piper and Deb Fournier, RN-BC and chief operations officer at Maine Veterans’ Homes (Augusta, Maine), will discuss the master planning process and share case study examples at the Environments For Aging Conference (April 18-21, Baltimore )in the session, “Defining Tomorrow: An Innovative Approach to Long-Term Care Facility Assessment and Master Planning.”
Here, Piper previews some of the important steps to take during the master planning process:
- Phase 1: This process is all about understanding the community’s goal of the master plan, who’s going to be involved, how long it’s going to take, and how it fits within your organization’s strategic vision.
- Phase 2: Piper calls this the “assessment phase” where you try to garner as much information out there that’s available, from what your physical plant is like to your resident rooms. “It’s boots-on-the-ground, understand what’s there,” he says. This step also involves looking at demographics and where a community’s population is coming from, as well as getting input from staff, residents, and families on what they like, what they think is missing, and existing impediments to providing care.
- Phase 3: This is the synthesis phase where all of that information is pulled together to start developing priorities, identifying opportunities, and figuring out how the goals can be implemented. Will they be short term or long term? Multiphased? Piper says that in the end, you want to provide a road map for the future and ultimately recommendations.
This process can take as few as three months to more than six depending on the scope and how quickly people can jump on it. And while it may seem like a lot of work, Piper says skipping steps can lead to problems.
For example, during the demographic study for the master plan for Maine Veterans’ Homes, the assumption was that the population of veterans in the area would continue to increase over the next several decades.
However, the team found that demographics research pointed to an actual decline in the number that would need to be served over time. Without this understanding, Piper says, Maine Veterans' Homes would have been building beds that aren’t needed.
Piper says master planning is also an opportunity to look at new best practices, evidence-based design strategies, and other studies to find new ideas and ways to deliver care.
“It’s an opportunity to step back from your day-to-day, look to the future, and plan how you can fit within the newest trends,” he says.
For more on the Environments for Aging Conference in Baltimore, April 18-21, including session descriptions and registration details, visit EFAconference.com.
