Choosing the Best Assisted Living Home:

Your Checklist

When considering an assisted living residence for either yourself or a loved one, you want to find one that is a bright, comfortable, and inviting place to live. You want a home that provides a variety of stimulating activities and has a history of providing good care to residents. Most assisted living residences work with third party providers to provide additional services such as hospice, home health, and therapy services. Some allow for short-term respite stays and offer adult day care. Many provide specialized care for those suffering from Alzheimers disease and dementia, and others also have nursing home care within the same campus.

Getting started

Contact your local Area Agency on Aging for local ombudsman for information. An ombudsman is an advocate for assisted living residents and a resource for consumers. The ombudsman will provide free information on the facilities, including strengths, and special services, and patterns of complaints received by the ombudsman office.

Obtain a list of facilities in your desired location from the local Ombudsman Program. From that list, select three or four facilities that are in your desired location. It is important to choose a location that is close to those who will regularly visit the resident.

Assisted living residences range in size from three beds to dozens of beds. Consider which environment would be most preferred by the future resident.

Call the residences you are most interested in. Find out if they have any openings, if they have an age requirement, if they serve a special population, and whether or not they offer the level of care required by the future resident. (Care levels vary greatly from residence to residence, so it is important to ask.) If necessary, find out if they are handicap accessible and/or accept Medicaid. Do not wear yourself out visiting facilities that do not have openings, do not offer the services that you need or are out of your price range.

Make an appointment to visit one of more of the assisted living residences that meet your requirements. The facility should be willing to show you around any time, but we suggest you make an appointment the first time. If you like a facility, make a second unannounced visit, preferably at a different time of day - such as a weekend or during an evening meal.