What to make of our assisted living experience?

Did they do an assessment before Mom moved in? Were you candid about her impairments at that time?

Escorting to meals is usually either a standard service or available for a fee.

How did Mom get along where she was before the move? Could she go from room to room OK? Do you feel that given more time she will be able to do that again?

What is the AL suggesting for her?

She was living in the family home with my brother. She was able to manage okay caring for herself. He moved in about 6 mths after my dad died, and while he did the best he could for the last few years, he just was unable to manage the care necessary to deal with her declining abillties, especially when they accelerated the last year. I was candid with the facility about her sight difficulties and on the four occasions I met with them in the past two years, they told us that the sight problems would not be a problem. It's not been a good experience. She'll be moving to a different AL facility nearby, and we're hopeful. She had her first appointment with her new doctor up here, and it went very well. The doctor thinks she's doing pretty good and the new facility will be better for her. We're both hopeful.

If she gets lost in two rooms, she is not an ALF candidate. They have to be able to get to meals. Best of luck to you at the new facility.

The question that I'm having a hard time answering is this----where do vision impaired elderly- otherwise okay, go for assisted living?

I don't base this on experience, but getting lost because of vision problems seems more likely to improve as one settles in and learns the areas, whereas if the cause was dementia it would likely get worse.

It is too bad the current ALF couldn't have done better screening concerning how Mom would fit in. I hope the new place works out great.

There is more to the equation than vision loss with mom.
She knew her way around her house from years of imprinted memory. Long term memory is extremely durable.
Now she needs to acquire new information and she cannot retain it. There's no short term memory. Very common in the elderly.

So again, what is a blind senior to do? She is otherwise "too competent" for nursing home, but not "independent" enough for assisted living.

You may want to consider looking into a "Family-Type Adult Home" in your area. They provide long-term care to individuals who require 24/7 assistance and/or supervision, they are more apt to assist patients with navigating their surroundings and they're SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than traditional corporately structured assisted livings. Adult Homes can only accept a maximum of 6 patients, so the care ratio is literally 1:6 at maximum. That's GREAT in comparison to the typical 1:20 ratio of assisted livings. The caregivers provide assistance with activities of daily living (ex. dressing, grooming, bathing), provide live-in sleeping accommodations in private or semi-private rooms, provide 3 meals per day + snacks, medication management, activities, and so much more!!! You may want to look into it. Good luck!

She may not be medically ready for a nursing home but if she can't get around in an assisted living facility due to vision loss the nursing home is the next step. However, I think 1 week isn't much time to let her get acclimated. I've been in my place for 2 years and still don't know which way my weird faucet turns to get hot water. ;-)