Does anyone have any positive experience with assisted living centers?

Assisted Living means just that, assisted.
It is independent in the sense that you need to be able to be mobile
and that you need to know where you are going,
meaning that you have to have enough memory,
to be able to navigate the facility.

Our 86 year old probably needed more, as she waited to go home everyday, she did not realize she was in an assisted living, she did not know where she was and had to stay by the phone, so she did not miss the call that said she was going home. When she was sick with the flu, no one checked in on her or made her eat a little something, they deposited her food tray in her room, she had gone down to 97 pounds, by the time she was pulled out of the facility(by someone who had managed to get a different power of attorney).

We wish her POA's had found a small one, but her AL resembled a honey comb she really had to navigate, as she was in the second or third cell in and that meant 2 or 3 hallways of rooms on each side(of knowing which hallway to navigate as each floor and section started with five (entrances) hallways) and an elevator trip to get to the roaring fireplace with appetizer snacks, that their adds showed on television.

She could not navigate and was trapped.
That would be an important feature, the size.
Her facility did not post anything, that is sure a plus.
Her facility, had the ability to keep their rooms locked, the people who gave trays had a pass key, the nurses had a pass key, so it could seem to our 86 year old that she were locked in, so she could not happen to see someone, passing in the hall or have company, by chance.

Also our 86 year old was an immigrant although she had been in America for 50 years she ate only ethnic food, the food she cooked, suddenly there were no schnitzels, spaetzle, pannekuchen, sourkraut, etc. offered on the menu, these are somethings to think about...

Had her POA's really thought about not only her safety, but her well being, she actually might have stayed in an assisted living facility because she might have actually felt like she was home. We also do not know what we will be doing, as I am graduating college in a few weeks and will have to get a job, I have been her caregiver, since 2006, her full-time caregiver since 2007 and her court appointed non-paid caregiver for the last year.
Let us know how your search goes as I know it is a process we may have to take on. Our 86 year old has gained her weight back and doing well, but needs 24 hour care.

All good suggestions above but one thing you need to do is keep a eye on is what goes on during the late evening and overnight shifts.Most facilities are for profit and many are short shifted overnights,weekends and holidays.Visit often and during off hours.If possible have siblings drop in unannounced and not on a regular time schedule.Many times you don't even need to wake you loved one up,just a small kiss and a hug will do.If you get a lot of negative feedback or the cold shoulder from the staff beware and prepare to move on quickly.We kept our mom at home as long as possible but numerous times when we were in rehabs I would wander the AL sections late at night and it was a madhouse,especially the dementia units.We ended up in the later stages of dementia in a nursing home and that was nothing but serious and profound headaches for three years.I had done my homework and toured probably 30 facilities and that place was one of the better ones (five star rating) so I ponder to this day what the bad ones were really like.Remember too the care level at some places can change very rapidly if just a few key staff members leave suddenly.Treat the caregivers and nurses with respect and bring them little treats as often as possible and use lots of kind words.

My mother loves the assisted living home she is living in. There is no buy in at this home. It is a month to month lease.It is a well known company and very affordable. She has stated many times she wished she had moved there long before she did.

Yes, talk to the other residents. And not just one or two. Speak to at least 3 or 4. Also, if your parents money is limited, it might be a good idea to try and get a facility that is Medicaid approved, so that they can possible stay there once they run out of money. We moved my Mom and her lifetime friend into Assisted Living in Janaury and unfortunately he died in March. His health was very frail, and the nurses at the facility did not take a cold he caught very seriously and he passed away in his sleep. Anyway she is alone there now with dementia. She likes it overall, complains and crys about being lonely, but on the other hand, she like the food (dining room 3 times a day), the other residents are very nice, the CNAs that deliver her medicine (3 times a day) are very nice and the activity director is wonderful. My complaints, the nurses (only 2 for over 50 residents) are overworked and/or not attentive to residents, because they spend so much time accessing what "level of service" each resident should be on. As a family caretaker, it is hard for me to know what meds Mom is on since the nurses are so unwilling to work or report to the family. This facility requires that all meds be ordered by their own nurses thru one specific pharmacy, so we are paying a whole lot more in drug costs than necessary.The activities at this facility are very limited and no activities for dementia.

My mother has demensia and was adament about staying in her own home, but she wasn't safe even with four children and someone downstairs helping out. We found a group home that specializes in demensia patients, has 6 residents (including mom) 2 to 1 care, 24 hours, great food, and takes medicade. We split up the week and visit her at least 5 times a week. It's very cool also because they have an online log that they post to after every shift and you can read how she's doing. At first I thought they were only posting the good stuff because she seemed to be doing so much better then when we were actually visting her at the home, but then they started posting the stuff when she was acting out also and I figured out she does a lot better when we're not there and was saving the antics (crying, begging to 'go home', saying she was going to kill herself, they don't feed me here, they don't like me) for when we visited. All in all, we feel blessed because she is safe and all of her needs are taken care of.

Where we live in MA, there are a few assisted living homes which are very good and which also do take state insurance (MassHealth) so that when the $ runs out, the residents are able to stay. This is the exception, but it's out there. I am also looking into this option for my MIL. She is needing more frequent care and I am not sure how much longer I can continue to provide it.

There are some nice ALFs out there and they aren't all terribly expensive. It has been such a blessing to have our mother in an ALF. Her health has improved because she now has regular meals, never misses her meds, and even participates in a resident-led exercise program. She gets manicures and pedicures at the in-house beauty shop for free. Sure, the place looks a little depressing --- that can't be helped when so many people are very old and frail, and there isn't a lot of money to keep things spiffy. They depend on volunteers for social activities and entertainment, so there isn't much going on, which is too bad; some places do better at that. Mother was depressed at first because "everybody is so old." Well, yes. But she's safe!

Here's what we do to make it better for her: we hired a nice lady to be on call to drive her to her medical appointments, weekly hairdo, or just take her out for a drive. She charges $10 an hour and uses our mother's own, familiar car. She texts us a weekly statement of # of trips, where they went, and hours, but otherwise it's understood that the trips don't have to be urgent or important---if Mother wants to visit her old home, or drive around, that's OK. Mother has subscriptions to the local newspaper and favorite magazines, and she has her own phone. Although we live a long way away, we call several times a week. She has a few friends who visit her and so far some some out-of-town family member or friend has visited every month.

Shop around, visit places, above all watch how the staff interact with the residents. Are they kind? Alert? Does the place smell OK? Is the food tasty and attractive? Are there at least a few other residents at the same level of function, so she has someone to talk to?

And if you live in the same town as your parent, even better. You can get by regularly. As time goes on, Mother is realizing that in many ways she's more independent now than she was at home, with part-time help, or living with me.

When we started looking into asst. living for my mother-in-law, we looked at a half dozen at least and had a deposit on 3 of those. We opted for the smaller one in the end. It does NOT take Medicare people, so when her money runs out, she'll have to be moved. But we thought it was worth the risk of that happening because we liked it so much. She has macular degeneration and dementia, so putting her into a huge facility was scary. This way she never gets lost. ha Anyway, I would spend a little time talking to the residents too. Take advantage of the option that most places will give you, having lunch on them at the asst living place. Sit and visit with the people and see what they're saying. Also, some of the places we saw had retirement/asst. living/memory care either attached, or really close by. That's another thing to keep in mind as your folks need more care. While we had my father-in-law in Adult Foster Care for awhile before he died and worked great for him, it wouldn't work for her since she likes taking her walker out and walking the halls, which isn't an option usually for foster care since they're a residential house. One place we looked at had paint peeling and the carpets were pretty bad. I remember thinking, 'what are they spending all this money on, cause it's sure not maintenance?' In that case it turned out that the food was being raved about by the residents. So apparently they were spending less on upkeep, and more on the menu. Go figure. Keep your eyes and ears open when visiting, you'll find a good one I'm sure.