Navigating Senior Housing Choices
Start researching and comparing senior housing options as early as possible to avoid making high-stress choices during a medical emergency. Choosing a facility during a crisis severely limits your options because hospital stays for major procedures, like a hip replacement, average only 3 to 4 days.
Key Steps for Selecting Senior Housing
- Consider Assisted Living: These facilities preserve your independence with private apartments, meals, and social activities while providing 24-hour supervision and daily living assistance.
- Check Survey Results: Use the official Medicare Care Compare Tool to research and compare local, Medicare-regulated nursing homes by city or zip code.
- Evaluate Star Ratings Carefully: Remember that the Medicare star rating system may be skewed because it does not fully account for the care of chronically ill residents.
- Tour and Interview: Visit locations directly to evaluate the dynamic between the staff and residents rather than focusing solely on updated interior decor.
- Verify Care Capabilities: Match the specific medical needs of your loved one—such as on-site dialysis or specialized dementia care units—directly to the facility's active programs.
- Prioritize Caregiver Stress: Choose a location and service model that actively decreases, rather than increases, the primary family caregiver's overall stress level.
- Be Ready to Change: Do not stay with a poor selection; if issues cannot be resolved with the administration, make a facility change for your family's happiness.
Choosing senior housing doesn't have to be difficult. Call Elderwerks for your free referrals and guidance 855-462-0100.