Questions You Should Ask About Assisted Living Facilities

• The right facility can provide companionship and good life experiences. Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images

  Choosing an assisted living facility is an important emotional process. Selecting the right home has a major effect on the quality of an elderly parent's life. A properly selected home that suits her personality and needs can be a source of companionship and new learning experiences that bring contentment and security to life. There are important questions family members should ask when visiting and interviewing facilities and their staff that will help in the selection process.

Level of Care

• Levels of care vary greatly between facilities. Some focus on providing living quarters, meals and activities while others provide levels of care akin to a hospice with medical staff and equipment. After taking the time to determine present and future medical needs with your parent's doctor, you can find the level of care that best suits the situation. Observe the condition of the residents in the home to see if they appear well cared for. Ask if there are doctors on staff and on site and what levels of care do they offer. Also ask if the facility handles medical emergencies and how far it is from the nearest major medical facility. Ask if your parent has to change facilities if her health deteriorates. You will also need to ask if the facility meets state and local requirements.

Costs and Services

• To provide consistent care and stability for your parent, it is important to know how much the facility costs and what types of payment they accept. You need to know if they accept Medicare and Medicaid, or are privately funded. Ask much extra over Medicare and Medicaid costs you may have to pay. You also need to know what is included in the monthly fee, along with what is extra and how much these extra services cost. While a facility may seem affordable, it may not be once you factor in all of the additional services and costs that your parent may need to lead a quality of life that makes them happy.

Meals and Activities

• Mealtime, along with shared activities, is a large part of the daily social life within any home, but particularly in an assisted living facility. Meals need to be enjoyable and well planned. Poor quality or poorly prepared food sets the stage for uncomfortable daily experiences, since meals take from an hour and a half to three hours out of a person's day. Good food leads to good conversation and better health. Quality activities lead to better socialization and mental health. Activities create opportunities for exercising minds and bodies, social bonding, discovering commonalities within the community and a feeling of accomplishment that elderly residences are used to in their adult life outside the facility. Find out if activities are for all levels of mobility or if they are only for those who have greater mobility.

Atmosphere

• The overall feel of a facility will tell you a lot. Ask yourself if this feels like a place where you would want to live. Listen to the honest answers you give yourself. Observe if the residents look happy and if they are people you would want to spend time around. The cleanliness and order of the facilities are also important. If the facilities are dirty and messy during a scheduled visit, they are not clean on a daily basis. Observe how the staff and residents interact with each other to see if there is mutual friendliness and respect.