Often there are many stages to transitioning from an independent living arrangement to an assisted living arrangement. Let's examine what to pay attention to when visiting assisted living facilities. Going to a facility can be done well in advance of the real move and it can help make the physical and mental adjustments easier.
If assisted living communities need to be licensed, have someone from the facility show you where it is displayed. Look to see if it is current and that the correct address of the facility is listed on the license itself. Ask about other state regulations regarding the organization and its staff. Have them provide you with their latest compliance reports.
Find out about institutional procedures. Knowing about the admission requirements will help you in filtering out the facilities where your parent cannot be qualified. Inquire about how a change to a resident's medical needs affects their care, their living arrangements and their cost of living. If a person takes a vacation or has an extended stay in the hospital, ask if their living area is held open and for how long. Question if there are additional fees for transportation, haircuts, or personal items.
The caregiving staff is, perhaps, the most important asset in a care home. Observe how well the staff interacts with the residents. Look for warm back and forth communications. One measure of quality of care is the staff to resident ratio, examine how many people are working a common or living area and how many people they are expected to care for. The ratio may be state regulated, if so, that information should be available to you.
Indirect care can be assessed by surveying the community as a whole. Walk around the community to see how well maintained the grounds are. Take some time to look into some of the living areas and the common building areas, inspect the overall condition of the walls, carpet, and lighting. While examining the grounds, also pay attention to the residents, are people appropriately clothed for the season. Note the levels of the resident's alertness are they interacting with others or are many of them confused and left alone.
Personal independence is a major benefit in these care institutions. Many provide a sliding scale of assistance. As the resident gets older and needs more help they are moved to more advanced care areas. However, there are some broad areas that help a person feel as if they have control in their environment regardless of the amount of help needed. Socialization rights are important to know. Rules about visitation allowances and independent access to locations outside of the community should be understood.
Independence issues also include having control of time and space. Will the resident have the ability to eat and sleep on their own schedule or will they have to maintain the facility's schedule. Will the resident be able to decorate their living space or will the room be standard institutional furnishings. Will the establishment allow for any pets or are they forbidden. All of these can create just the amount of personal independence to make this a comfortable home.
Often a community of this type will provide meals in a cafeteria-style room or they may deliver to the living quarters. Find out if both are available. If you can, ask to see a menu schedule and eat a meal at the facility. Pay attention to the variety of food, or lack of it, and the quality of the food itself. Strike up a conversation with a staff member or a resident and see if any time limit is imposed on meals.
These suggestions are by no means a complete assessment tool. But regardless of if you are in Arizona or Vermont, these ideas should be of help. Begin an online search to start locating assisted living facilities in your area.
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