Before you spend the money to get a loved one into an assisted care community, you owe it to them and to yourself to do a walk-through, to take a tour. Take a look at what the community has to offer, take a look at the people, and see what is going on there. When you take this tour, here are a few things to look for.
1. Security
This is something that you should have concerns about whenever you’re looking at any domicile, but especially when you’re looking for a care facility for the more vulnerable members of your family. The elder care should have some sort of method of securing the entrances, but they should not make the place feel like a prison. Striking a happy medium is important when it comes to securing the facility, but also making sure that people cannot get in or out without staff knowledge.
Why is this so important? Well, aside from the vulnerability of residents, some residents may be prone to wandering. When elderly members of families wander off without supervision, the results can be heartbreaking, and the best way to prevent such an outcome is to keep them from wandering off the property without supervision in the first place.
2. Socialization
Just because it’s an assisted living community for the elderly doesn’t mean that they want to sit alone in their rooms! Your aging loved one wants to be able to meet with other people, to talk with them, to be able to have some sort of social interaction! If the assisted living community you’re looking at doesn’t have social interaction, then it probably isn’t the right place for your loved one. Social interaction isn’t just good on an emotional level, but it can also be good on a psychiatric and even physical level.
3. Proper Nutrition
Nutrition is very important to the elderly and to make sure that they are comfortable and healthy. Making sure that the facility that you’re looking to admit your loved one to has food that is appropriate not just for their health, but for their dietary and even religious needs, is an important part of making sure that they will be at home in their assisted living community.
4. A Beautiful Place To Live
Nobody wants to live somewhere that looks run-down or depressing. When you take a tour of an assisted living community, you should take a look at the grounds, the property, and the rooms. Do they look like a place where you would be happy to wake up and look at your window, or do they look like somewhere that would depress you to have to see every day? Your loved one will feel the same way.
5. Particulars To Your Loved One
Your loved one may have particular needs or desires that you want to address when you admit them to an assisted living community. When you’re taking a tour is the time to ask if the assisted living community you’re looking into will be able to accommodate your family member’s needs and desires. If they can’t meet reasonable requests, it might be time for you to look elsewhere.
When you’re taking a tour, be sure that you ask all the questions that you may have, and that you see everything that you have questions about. Make sure that there is exercise, socialization, and decent premises. Most of all, meet a few of the workers there, and see if they seem to be passionate about the work. If you find that they are, you’re probably in the kind of place you can leave your loved one without worry.