How to Find the Right Assisted Living Community for You
Moving into assisted living can provide a great opportunity to start a new chapter in your life, but we cannot stress enough how important it is to make sure you choose the right assisted living community for you. If you think you or a loved one might need assisted living (whether now or in the near future) we have some tips to help you find the right one.
What Do You Need?
The first thing you need to consider is the level of assisted living you’ll need. Do you need a lot of help getting around, or do you just need a helping hand with a few daily tasks? The level of assistance you need can help you determine which assisted living community will be right for you, although it’s worth considering that a lot of communities offer different levels for residents with different needs.
On the other hand, if you or your loved one has a degenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, you might want to plan for the probability that you’ll need a higher level of care in a few years than you need right now.
When Do You Need Assisted Living?
Some assisted living communities have a wait list, which is why it’s best to start looking around before you really need to move in. If you need to move in right away, the communities with a wait list might not be an option for you.
Check Payment Options
Your choices will probably be limited by which facilities take your insurance and/or which ones you can afford. Set a budget and cross off any assisted living communities that don’t fit in that budget. If you’re relying on Medicare and/or Medicaid to cover any of your assisted living costs, you’ll want to make sure the assisted living community of your choice accepts one or both of those providers.
Ask Around
Checking online reviews is a great place to start, but they’re not entirely reliable for a variety of reasons (most people only leave reviews when they’ve had an exceptionally good or an exceptionally bad experience, which seriously skews the overall ratings, and some companies have been known to buy favorable reviews). So, you’re better off asking your neighbors, friends and family members if they know of any good assisted living communities or if they have friends or relatives of their own who are happy in an assisted living community – or if they’re unhappy and that way you know which ones to avoid.
You should also ask your doctor(s) if they can recommend any assisted living communities. They might only be able to continue seeing you as their patient if you choose an assisted living community with which they have an affiliation, so check with them to make sure you don’t end up in a community that doesn’t let you keep your doctor (whether because of contractual restrictions and/or geographical location).
Take a Tour
You don’t ever want to put your loved one in a place you haven’t seen with your own eyes. No matter how great the pictures look on their website, it’s always a good idea to go and have a look around yourself. Talk to the staff. Talk to other residents. Nothing beats physically visiting the place for yourself and getting a feel for it. Listen to your gut, and if anything feels off, you’ll know it’s time to move on with your search.
Here at Stillwater Senior Living, we treat our residents like family. Our apartments include studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom suites, and we are pet friendly. They are designed with security features, maximum accessibility, and include walk-out patois with a full range of amenities for the entire family.
CONTACT US today for more information and a tour of our beautiful state-of-the-art community.