If you're thinking of transferring your aged loved ones to a senior care facility, you'll be glad to know you have numerous viable options. However, this vast selection can overwhelm and leave you indecisive about the best residence for your elderly (and budget).
There are many questions to ask ahead of choosing a home; read these five tips to help you find the ideal senior care facility and ease some initial arrangements.
1. Identify your senior's needs and preferences.
Determine what your aged loved ones need and want and use those criteria to choose the best senior care facility for them.
Here are some things to consider:
● Location and proximity. Do your elders prefer residing in the suburbs, downtown, the same city as your family, or a neighboring one? Will the place make physical visits convenient and low-cost?
● Health and special dietary requirements. Does your senior currently have any condition needing close monitoring 24/7? Do they require kosher diets, diabetic-friendly meals, etc.? Are the meals in the facility tasty?
● Social needs and preferences. Does your loved one opt to be with lively, engaging senior communities, or places more suited for introverted personalities and cater to fewer residents? Can the residence give flexible visiting hours for their family and friends and foster life-giving relationships within the place?
● Amenities and entertaining activities. Does the residence hold leisurely activities, such as bingo, movie nights, workshops, and others? Are the recreational amenities your seniors enjoy available?
● Dependence level. Can your aged loved ones constantly move around all rooms in the house and do ordinary things autonomously?
● Safety. Is the residence well-maintained, with no damaged, worn-out equipment that can be hazardous and uncomfortable for seniors? Are the exit doors, fire extinguishers, and other safety mechanisms accessible?
Additionally, ensure that your residences:
● Are compliant and regulated by government entities;
● Follow cleanliness standards;
● Have welcoming, compassionate personnel, and
● Maintain high staff retention.
2. Learn about the different types of senior care facilities.
The retired home market today offers various residence kinds and care levels. Study the options and see those that best fit your loved one's needs and improve their senior well-being:
● Adult day centers. Community-based venues offering meals, socialization, and -- on some occasions -- medical supervision when needed.
● Skilled nursing facility (SNF) / Nursing home. Provides professional nursing care for the bedridden, those with complex behavior issues, and other seniors requiring intensive, hands-on care and round-the-clock attention;
● Independent living. For elderlies who don't require support but find their home maintenance no longer feasible or desirable. Offers meals, activities, and other amenities.
● Assisted living. Assists seniors in daily living activities (e.g., dressing, bathing) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), such as setting doctor's appointments, etc. Also called personal care.
● Memory care for those with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and other related mental decline disorders.
● Continuing care retirement community. Offers various care levels to accommodate seniors' progressing needs. Partly independent living, assisted living, and SNF.
● 55+ retirement communities. Age-restricted senior care communities with housing options for elderlies over a specific age. Ideal for those wanting to reside with others of similar age ranges. (Consider also niche-restricted communities.)
3. Assess your financial resources for care facilities.
Senior living prices vary according to its available services and your elderly's needs, so you must determine your budget range based on your available financial resources. Sit down with your elderly parent (or another family member) and a financial advisor to see at the onset how much you can allot monthly for the living expenses.
Depending on the facility's location, below are some monthly price estimates for various senior care homes:
● Assisted living. $3,500 to $10,500
● Independent living. $1,500 to $4,000
● Memory care. Almost $2,900 to $9,300 in communities. Additional $1,000 to $4,000 on top of fees by assisted living residences.
You should also factor in the monthly increasing living expenses, such as food, rent, medication, transportation, utilities, and others. Additionally, when going over your contract later with your chosen residence, ask about the services included in your monthly fees and expenses that call for extra charges.Inquire about the changes in its monthly rates in the past five years. Keep in mind that fees usually increase on an average of 3% to 4% annually (but not higher).
If you're short of finances for bringing your parents and grandparents to senior care homes, try applying for payment aids, such as:
● Veteran benefits;
● Social security;
● Publicly funded programs, e.g., Medicare and Medicaid;
● Long-term care insurance;
● Life insurance;
● Annuities, pensions, and other retirement income sources;
● Real estate and other assets you can sell or leverage;
● Local government programs;
● Contributions from family, relatives, etc.
4. Begin searching and contacting residences.
Once you've determined your ideal type of senior care facility, start searching in your local area. You can ask your family, friends, relatives, doctors, financial advisors, and other trusted persons for recommendations.There are also online platforms you can use to find your ideal facility. Happy Seniors is working on creating partnerships with distinguished local institutions nationwide in preparation to launch their extensive search tool.
Once this feature is officially launched, enter any keyword indicator (e.g., your preferred location) in the search box, apply filters, and receive relevant results.
Happy Seniors will reveal the presented facility's essential details: location, pricing, availability, weekly activity schedules, gender ratios, and other essential information that you would normally have to spend a lot of time digging up. These functionalities make your search for the ideal facility a breeze. With a centralized tool like Happy Seniors, you don't need to spend too much time, money, and effort contacting numerous options and driving back and forth for initial arrangements.
5. Explore reviews, ratings, and testimonials.
Finally, ensure your senior care living options are safe, enjoyable, and fitting for your loved ones. Do that by exploring what others say about the housing facility.
When checking out ratings, don't just look at the general figure or number of stars. Look into how other people rated the residence for staffing, home quality, and other aspects. See also if the facility's current residents, their families, and other people recently wrote honestly positive reviews. You can even ask the people you trust the most for feedback about their experience with an elderly care home you're considering.
Over to You Now
Finding the ideal senior care facility for your loved one is not easy, but these tips, plus modern platforms, can incredibly streamline your search and selection.Take time to decide on the most suitable facility that genuinely cares about your aged loved ones, preserves your family ties, and doesn't break your bank. After all, your elderlies deserve continuous loving support and the best assistance for their age and conditions. Give them precisely that, and you won't regret it.
