What to Know About Finding the Perfect Senior Housing Placement Service
At We Care Senior Solutions we understand the importance of finding the perfect Senior Living Community for your loved one. That’s why we offer our expertise as a senior housing placement service to help you filter through the seemingly endless list of options. By taking care of all the important factors, you can relax and feel confident in your decision. The problem is there are so many factors to figure out on your own, which ultimately leaves you feeling overwhelmed.
It shouldn’t be so hard to find a community that helps your loved one live a more fulfilling life day after day. But we understand how emotional these decisions can be, which is why we have helped families just like yours deal with aging family members for more than 25 years.
Keep reading to learn more about finding the perfect Senior Housing placement agency and assisted living facility for you or your loved one.
What is Assisted Living?
We first need to talk about what Assisted Living is and what it means. Assisted living usually falls into the category of long-term care and includes services like board and care homes, assisted living facilities (aka ALFs), continuing care retirement communities, personal care, and nursing homes. The range of services within these facilities is vast. Some include medical services, and some don’t, some include housekeeping and others do not. Some include extra services that require much more attention and special care, like Alzheimer’s disease.
Assisted Living
ALFs are for people who do need daily care, but they do not need as much attention as what might come in a nursing home. Usually, an ALF can have as few as 5 beds and as many as 200. There are different levels of care in an ALF, and if you pay for more services you can get them. An ALF will have common areas that residents use and then residents will sleep in their own bedrooms or apartments. Most of the time you can expect three meals a day, help with medication, housekeeping, security, and overnight staff as well as some social and recreational activities.
Source: NIA.NIH.GOV
Choose a great Senior Housing Placement Agency
Trying to find an assisted living facility that fits your specific needs is a hard thing to do. This is also a really big decision, and it’s our belief that you shouldn’t have to make this decision on your own or without all of the information.
Benefits of Using a Placement Agency
You Get More Information – A good placement agency will be consistently collecting information from communities on pricing, the number of residents and available beds, proximity to health care, and current reviews from family, residents, and employees.
Saves you time and money – When you work with a placement agency you won’t be spending time touring facilities that you don’t need to see. This alone will save you tons of time, energy, and money.
You’ll make a better financial decision – Although placement agencies are not financial advisors, a good one should help you evaluate your financial situation and point you toward making the best decision about your next step.
The benefits of a placement agency can be very helpful in your search and remember they are usually at no cost to you.
What to Avoid When Choosing an Assisted Living Community
This process can get tiring and it’s not a trip to Disneyland. So there are three things to remember when embarking on finding an assisted living facility:
- Don’t Choose For You
- Ask More Questions Than You Normally Would
- Take Your Time (if you can)
Don’t Choose For You
Depending on who is making the decision there are some pretty common mistakes people make. If you are choosing for your mom or dad, make sure you are choosing the facility based on their needs and not your needs. Sometimes what happens is adult children overlook some seemingly small things to make sure their mom or dad is closer to them. If you can, make sure you talk about the details with your loved one.
Ask Lots Of Questions
Tour the community and ask a lot of questions. Just because a location has great reviews, is bigger, and is priced higher does not mean it’s the best choice. When you’re there… does it feel like a place you’d be comfortable in? Do the residents look happy? Do your best to talk to a lot of people and dig deep when asking questions.
Take Your Time
Like we said earlier, what you’re doing here is hard. There will likely be times when you want to throw in the towel and pick a community. Don’t do that. Take your time and work through the tough emotions. This will keep you from making rash decisions.
Some Common Questions About Assisted Living Placement Agencies
How do assisted living placement agencies get paid?
Most agencies do not require the client to pay them anything. The agency is incentivized to help the client find the absolute best home for them and their situation. The housing community will usually have an agreed-upon amount of money that they will pay the placement agency.
What is the process like to work with We Care Senior Solutions?
Here’s how we do it — First, we’ll find a time that works best for your family to get together via phone or zoom to discuss your particular needs. Then we’ll help determine the best fit for your family based on your location, care needs if any, and financial abilities. Once we review those needs, we’ll book tours with the top communities that would be the best fit — all with no cost to you.
Once we find and agree on a facility, we’ll be available to you and your family through move-in and beyond. We really want to be sure that you have a phenomenal experience with the Assisted Living Facility that we’ve helped you choose.
