What To Look For In A Senior Living Facility

Senior living facilities have somewhat of a bad reputation among people, but many of those opinions are stuck in the 1980s. Most senior living facilities were designed for older people who cannot live on their own anymore. There are varying levels of senior living facilities, but most are designed for people who need help with everyday activities such as cooking or home maintenance but do not need constant supervision. 

At the same time, senior living facilities offer a way for seniors to connect with other people their age, engage in activities in a safe environment, and have the support they need when their children and grandchildren have grown up and/or moved away. 

Ensuring that a senior living facility is a good one can be difficult, especially for people who have not gone through the process of looking for one before now. In some ways, it is like looking for a college. When you are talking to a representative from the facility or you look at their website, they try to highlight all of the benefits of living in a facility while hiding any flaws. However, there are a few things you may want to look for in a senior living facility that will tell you all that you need to know:

First Up: Think About How The Staff Treats You

Every interaction you have with a member of the senior living facility staff should tell you what you need to know about how you will be treated if you live there. Do you feel welcomed by the staff? Were they friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know you? We’ve all been in situations where someone feels like they aren’t being genuine in their niceness. You cannot only look at the staff members you talk to directly. When you walk around, think about how the other staff members interact with you. Are they nice? Do they greet you? Ask if you need anything?

Another thing to think about is whether or not you have been permitted to meet everyone on staff. If you weren’t able to meet with someone, you may want to find out why. It is important to ask about the people who will be directly interacting with your loved one.

Size Should Be A Consideration When Choosing A Senior Living Facility

There are many different sizes of senior living facilities, mainly depending on the size of the community they serve. Size matters when it comes to almost every aspect of senior care, including costs, personalization, and professionalism. The number of beds a facility has won’t really tell you much – instead, look at the ratio of professionals to residents.

Now, larger facilities may have more bells and whistles that seem appealing. For example, they may have an indoor spa area or a swimming pool. Even so, the ratio between medical professionals and residents could be extremely large. When this ratio isn’t a good one, it is a breeding ground for neglect, accidents, and medical malpractice.

Be sure to ask about not only the ratio in the entire building but in a specific unit, if that is appropriate. For example, senior living facilities that cater to people with dementia need to have a smaller ratio than those that are just for the elderly.

Check Out An Activity If You Can

Senior living facilities tend to focus a lot of their marketing on the different activities that they have – but do people actually go to them? Most people do not want to do activities alone. First, you want to check if the activities actually occur and if they are safe and fun for someone like your parent or yourself. Does bingo have prizes? Is that morning yoga class led by someone who actually studied yoga? Are the crafts interesting and fun or are they basic coloring? While you can’t check up on every activity, you should be able to get a good feel for it when you check out a few.

Of course, then you want to make sure other people actually go to them. This will tell you more about the quality of those activities and whether or not it will be worthwhile to go. In general, if the staff goes to get the residents of the facility, more people will attend, so you may want to inquire about that as well.

These are just a few things you want to look for when you are choosing a senior living facility. There are so many more things to look into, but these can give you some insight that you may not have had before now.