A roadmap of what to look for when visiting Senior Living communities.
Whether you are starting your search exploring memory care, assisted living facilities or Independent living communities, we can help you get clarity on the communities that are best aligned to you and your needs.
Starting the research process for senior living options can become overwhelming really fast. There are lots of options out there which can lead to confusion and overwhelm, but we are going to help you sift through the noise to find the best options for you.
Start your research online
The first step to finding a great option for you, is starting your research online. Look at the various websites and what they have to offer. Are there any communities that intrigue you more than others? This is how we start to whittle our list down.
Please note, that visiting a community in person is the best way to truly get the best impression of what they have to offer. Online research is a great place to start, but don’t stop there.
What is your urgency level like?
It’s important to tackle your level of urgency in this conversation, as that drives this decision.
Are you in the middle of a health crisis and need to find an option NOW?
Are you proactively exploring options for down the road?
Find your top choices
Once you’ve explored many options online, start deciding which ones are your favorite to look at. Depending on your sense of urgency, you might look at 2 options, or 8 options. But regardless, there are 2 rules I always encourage in this situation.
- Always look at more than one option, so you don’t feel “stuck” with anything
- Never tour more than 2 communities in 1 day
- Ideally, I’d suggest just 1 community tour per day (if you have the time)
I’m an advocate of people feeling empowered with choice, which is why I always advocate for families and seniors to look at more than one option.
When touring, a lot of information is given in a short period of time. This can lead to slow processing and confusion about what is included and what is not. This is why, ideally, I suggest you only tour one community per day. It gives you time to explore, learn and experience, without going to a second option and getting the communities blurred together.
Prepare to ask Questions
I’ve included quite a few questions to ask in my PDF at the end of this blog post. I’ve included questions to help you get a better idea of what to expect once you move in. In addition to that, there are some great questions, to help you understand how stable this community is.
Stable community signals
On your tour, you get introduced to residents and staff
A sign of a healthy, thriving community is when you take a tour and you get to meet many of the residents and staff onsite. It is possible for a great community to forget their introductions if due to training they have a skeleton crew, or a super big activity that has drawn residents offsite. But the majority of time, when you tour you should be meeting a variety of residents and staff.
One of my favorite questions I would suggest asking as you meet residents and staff would be:
“How long have you been here and what do you like about it?”
This is a great question to ask both staff and residents.
Staff Longevity
This can be another great indicator of a thriving community, and a community with consistent CARE for their residents.
Why does staff longevity matter? It provides consistent care. Think about it, if every month they are hiring and training new staff, often that might mean, that their new caregivers are learning. AKA they are making mistakes. And mistakes happen, but consistent new caregivers, means less stable care for your loved ones.
Clear Communication about next steps
Another way to tell a thriving community from one that isn’t, is how clearly they share next steps and their process. When you meet with a team member that readily shares what you can expect moving in the first day, the first week and the first month, means they know their product.
When you meet with team members that are new, and there isn’t as much staff consistency, it’s easy for the team members to NOT share what to expect with the move in process.
Confident Expertise
Another way to tell thriving communities apart, is their sales team member is an expert in Senior Living, in navigating Dementia and in helping aging adults through the change process. The senior living sales professional should be your guide to how to navigate all things related to this change. If they aren’t an expert, they will most likely know who to direct you to to help.
Closing
I hope this blog helps you understand what to look for when touring senior living communities. Below is a PDF guide that I would encourage you to print out and take with you on your tour.
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