When you decide to move to an assisted living facility, you go there with certain expectations and hope. The place also should look promising to meet your needs and pave the way ahead for the next chapter of your life. Nowadays, you get ample choices in these types of accommodations. However, your aim should be to discover the right community for your lifestyle. You may tour one after another assisted living unit to get a feel of the place. But it is not enough to spot that perfect shelter. You have to know what bothers you most to avoid encountering them in your new habitat.
When you go out to find assisted living in Boise, Idaho, you can ask these most common but apt questions to make sure you don’t leave any scope for disappointment.
What type of accommodations is available?
When hunting for a senior living community, you would want to know about your living quarter, the amount of privacy available, and visitors’ timings. You can have a few memorable belongings, which you would want to carry. So you can ask if you can bring them with you. If you have a medical history, you must clarify the level of assistance they would offer. Usually, these communities provide options in sizes, layouts, and locations of the apartments. Whether you prefer a quieter place or something amid the community action, you can check on that.
You can take a look at the floor plan and select an apartment that resembles your existing abode. If you want, you can even get an idea of the available area. Besides, you have to find out what components would feature in the rent. Would it cover emergency calls, internet, cable, etc.? If you are an online person, having a high-speed Wi-Fi connection would means a lot. So you can also dig into that area and ask if this would be on a sharing basis with other community members.
What are the safety measures for residents?
For every senior, safety can be one of the main concerns. You can ask how the community takes care of people’s safety. You can inquire what they do during emergencies and ensure that a senior reaches out to them for help hassle-free and the staff gets in touch without delay. Then, you can find out what they have done for bathroom security. Do these places have rails or easy entry? Are the floors non-slip? What they do in medical emergencies, regardless of the night and day, is another aspect to explore. You can talk to them about the emergency response plan for events like fire breakout or something like this.
Other than this, you can ask about power backups, background checks of the staff, and night safety checks on residents.
What kind of food options is available?
You would want to learn about the options for food and dining in assisted living. Usually, older people enjoy tasty and healthy meals more than anything. Earlier, these facilities used to serve food at a fixed time for everyone. The menu used to be the same, and even everybody had fixed seats. This trend has changed now. You get excellent dining services in different locations in many places, ranging from cafes to pubs to dining hubs. Plus, meal choices have also increased. So you can expect to grab something mouthwatering and wholesome.
Some people can have specific dietary requirements. For example, there can be vegetarians, vegans, or someone who eats low sodium food. If you, too, have any such things, ask your community if they can fulfill them. Plus, the cooking department should be thorough about the nutrition and willing to cater to your nutritional demands.
It would also be great to know beforehand how they charge for food. Usually, these places have a monthly billing system eliminating the need to carry money every time you visit the dining space. Just get a clear idea of how it functions.
What level of medical care can be available?
If you need medical attention, you would want to continue accessing certain services. Hence, you have to ask the community what conditions they can manage and whether they have everything to handle it. For example, you can be specific about their therapies and services for people with emotional, cognitive, and physical needs.
You can talk to them about medication supply, change of location in the community if required, etc. It would be useful to know if you can keep your prescription medicines in the room or someone would be there to give them. Besides, you can find out how they help with daily needs.
You can imagine all the situations and scenarios to have a ready list of questions like these. The one that covers or promises to cover most of your issues can be the best bet.