Hello everyone. Me and my mom came to a decision that it might be time for her to move to an assisted living community. We already found a retirement community here in Ontario called Seasons Retirement (https://seasonsretirement.com/assisted-living-al-on/) and so far we love what we’re seeing on their website so we’re planning to go on a tour on one of their locations. I’d like to ask for some of the things that we should look for or ask about when touring an assisted living retirement community. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
Some only have nurse’s aides overnight .
It's very important to find out exactly what is covered in the monthly fee. Does it cover medication reminders if necessary, stand by assistance with bathing, help with dressing, meal delivery to room, diapers? Find out exactly what services are covered and what services are charged as add-on extras and at what price.
if there are a lot of job vacancies that can be a red flag for 2 reasons: 1) in the short run they may well be short staffed until/unless they fill these vacancies, so care could suffer.... 2) the vacancies may be due to high staff turnover which could reflect something negative about working there for the staff...... Not necessarily bad, but might be a reason to pause.
Also, if there are a lot of vacancies / openings of rooms, especially if other assisted living places in town are full, that could possibly be a bad sign too, and you may want to probe into why they have a lot of open rooms.
The biggest question I would have is this...
Does this facility offer Memory Care?
If not would it not be better to select a place that does have MC so that if the need arises you will not have to move mom again, particularly at a time when a move can cause a decline. And that may happen even if it is to another part of the building. (but the move would be easier on you)
If there are other places in the area, its not a bad idea to visit 3-4 and compare them
see this recent thread on the topic:
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/tips-for-choosing-an-assisted-living-center-485486.htm?orderby=recent
Look through the entry packet. It will bring questions to mind page by page.
Ask about expected rises in costs yearly. Ours were clearly written out. 3-5% yearly unless something strange up (then covid hit). Ask about levels of care and when you meet them.
Good luck. Just visiting will bring questions up as you go.