The right assisted living home addresses the needs of its residents through excellent services such as round-the-clock nursing care, transportation to and from appointments, housekeeping, laundry, meal prep, and enrichment programs designed to enhance their quality of life. Determining which facility to move into is a distinctly personal choice. Seniors must factor in many things including location, costs, amenities, access to religious services, and anything else pertaining to the needs they have most at the moment. A good assisted living home sees its residents as whole people with physical, emotional, mental, financial, social, and spiritual needs.

What Features Make a Good Assisted Living Home?

A good assisted living home offers certain features. Knowing what they are helps narrow your search so you can find the right option for you. Having a list of must-have features helps you eliminate homes that are nothing like what you need in a residence. Here are some of the things you may find in an ideal assisted living home:

• Excellent Care
• Stellar Reputation
• Premium Services Provided
• Safe Location
• A Homelike Atmosphere
• Personalized Care Plans
• Nutritious and Delicious Food
• Respect for the Individual

When the staff at an assisted living home answer the demand for high-quality, personalized care and provide a safe, loving environment for residents, they’re likely to attract people to their facility. Other factors that may help you make your final decision as to where you’ll live is where the home is located, which services are provided, and the reputation of management and staff.

Negative reviews deserve attention, too, as there may be a turnover of staff or new owners of a facility. Having a tour of the homes you’re interested in living in helps clear up any unanswered questions you may have about the place you’re planning on moving into. Spending time with current staff and management gives you a feel for how things are operated.

Finding a Local Assisted Living Home

There are many ways to find a local assisted living home. Among the easiest is to look for online reviews written by other residents and their families. Ones with registered profiles with photographs and names are ideal because they’re often the most authentic.

You can also ask friends for suggestions on places to live as many people move to assisted living homes after they reach a certain age. Speaking to your medical doctor about your plans to move and asking for recommendations may also provide you with the direction you desire. Oftentimes, professionals in a community have working relationships with assisted living homes and can refer you to the ones they feel provide the best services.

The Difference Between an Assisted Living Home and Assisted Living Community

An assisted living home differs from an assisted living community in many ways. The first is the size of the facility. A home is smaller in size and more intimate in its level of care. Staff is able to give residents their undivided attention with ease which isn’t necessarily the case with an assisted living community.

Communities are far larger and offer more services to residents. It’s not unusual to consider each like their own small cities with their barber and beauty shops, banks, sundries, shuttle services, exercise programs, and even personal chefs. Seniors who want to be surrounded by other people their age en masse opt to live in a community opposed to an assisted living home.

An assisted living home may be more exclusive, harder to get into, and cost more than an assisted living community. You may find it useful to be on the waiting list for the location that you’re most interested in moving into. That way, when a space becomes vacant, you’ll be first in line to receive notice of its availability.

Putting What You’ve Learned to Good Use

Now that you know the difference between a home and a community, you’ll be able to start the search for the perfect assisted living facility to move into. Based on your unique needs and lifestyle, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of services created to help you thrive as an individual. From regular therapies to full-service meals and laundry facilities, you’ll have exactly what you need to feel right at home wherever you choose to live.