Navigating Senior Living Options: Guidelines for Finding the Right Senior Living Community

By Melanie Stevens, WayMaker & Kelly Graffius, Senior Advisor

Choosing the right senior living community is an exciting and important decision to make. From location to safety & security and from healthcare options to lifestyle and dining opportunities, each senior living facet will contribute to your sense of health, happiness, and well-being in the years to come.

We've put together the most essential features to look for in a senior living community and the questions to ask yourself to use as a guide as you navigate finding the right community for your needs and preferences.

We recommend drawing on your family and a local senior advisor to help evaluate your choices and tour the facilities.

Location

One of the first features to consider is location. Does the weather all year round support your lifestyle, health, & well-being? Are you near family and friends? Are you near a highly-rated hospital, a good primary physician, a dentist, and an eye doctor? Are there orthopedic, psychiatric, therapeutic, and holistic practitioners close by??

Levels of Care

Senior living communities often specialize in a specific type of care — independent living, assisted living, memory care, and long-term care. Communities that offer multiple levels of care are sometimes called life plan communities or continuing care retirement communities. Consider a senior living community that offers you the level of care appropriate to your current needs as well as potential future healthcare needs.?

For example, today, you might be interested in independent living within a senior living community with amenities that are appealing to you at this juncture in your life.?

However, in the future, you may require assistance with things like meals, bathing, meds, and transportation. You might require memory care or even long-term care.?

Knowing what kind of care is available in the senior living community you select and having options in place for the future can prevent a stressful move down the road and help alleviate worries.

Housing Choices

Senior Living Communities differ vastly in their interior and exterior appearance and design. Make sure you feel comfortable, peaceful, and at home in your new living environment as well as on campus, both indoor and outdoor settings.?

Some senior living communities accommodate all of the residents in one building in an apartment setting with community living spaces. Others offer cottages in a neighborhood setting within a large senior living campus.?

Senior Living housing floor plans should match your lifestyle and offer safety and mobility features. Look for an open living room space to entertain family & friends — a well-equipped kitchen — a space for your hobbies — non-skid floors — excellent natural lighting — ample storage — laundry facilities — and central air and heating. A well-designed living space invites beauty, connection, relaxation, inspiration, and engagement.

Be sure to find out if all the floor plans accommodate electric scooters and wheelchairs.

Shared spaces are also very important. You want them to inspire connecting with your neighbors and a sense of community.? Look for beautiful & comfortable lounges, appealing dining rooms, and inviting outdoor living spaces to enjoy one another's company.

Security?

Another essential factor to consider is security.? Is the community in a safe neighborhood? You should feel safe to enjoy activities and take walks without worrying. Are there proper security measures in place? Is there a check-in area for visitors? What about security officers, cameras, lighting, emergency response systems, and, most importantly, a nearby emergency room?

Accessibility & Safety

Accessibility and safety are important features throughout the layout of the campus and within the living spaces.? Look for walkability, elevators, widened doors, stairlifts, and wheelchair ramps. Safety features like handrails and grab bars are also vital.

Another accessibility feature is for your family when they come to visit. You want to make sure there's a space to visit in your home environment and on campus. Find out if there are guest room accommodations available for families. If not, be sure to look for places locally for your family to stay and appealing things to do together around town.

Food and Dining

Whether you are looking for nutritious, well-prepared, and delicious foods for your daily meals or you look forward to evenings out at an elegant restaurant, be sure to look at the dining options in the community.

Look at the formal dining rooms & cafes, along with their menus on the campus. Are there any small grocery stores on the campus??

Then we suggest looking at the restaurant opportunities and grocery store options nearby in town.?

Take note of the kitchen set-ups in the living spaces? — independent living kitchens are fully equipped as compared to the limited kitchenette set-ups in assisted living. Make sure the kitchens work for your lifestyle.

Social & Wellness Activities

Creating a new beginning after downsizing includes shaping an enriching lifestyle in your senior living community. Take a look at what various communities offer in the way of social & wellness activities like an on-campus fitness center, massage therapy, and amenities like classes for yoga, chair yoga, pottery, painting, crafts, and regular card games. Do they have a clubhouse for social gatherings?

Lifestyle and Culture

In your quest to find the right senior living community, you’ll want to be sure the culture and lifestyle within and nearby the community are a good fit for you. You want to live in a setting where you can flourish and enjoy the things that bring meaning to your life.?

If you have a pet, make sure the community is pet-friendly. If you like to garden, make sure there's space for you to plant and tend your garden. Or maybe you love to golf, find out if they have a golf course nearby.

Look for your favorite restaurants, entertainment, religious and cultural events, bookstores, libraries, continuing education opportunities, hair & beauty, spas, and other shopping opportunities nearby in town.

The Cost and Value of Retirement Communities

It’s vitally important that you and your family sit down with professionals to discuss all the financial costs and fees associated with the various senior living community models and your wants and healthcare needs.

You’ll want to evaluate where you are financially and what you can safely afford for senior living, both for your current wants & needs and your potential long-term healthcare needs.

We suggest working with a certified senior advisor and a financial planner to help you better evaluate the cost and value of the various senior living community options, both short-term and projecting further into the future.

The Tour

Once you have narrowed down some senior living communities that may work for you, it’s imperative that you schedule a tour with them.

We strongly suggest that you tour the facilities during mealtime and arrange it so that you can sit down and have a meal with the other residents. That way you can sample the food, get a feel for the culture, and have an opportunity to speak freely with other residents about key concerns.?

We also recommend doing ‘unscheduled’ visits at other times of the day so that you can get a sense of the rhythm of the community outside of meal times. Are there a variety of activities scheduled that residents are attending or are residents staying in their rooms all day??

When you tour and visit, be sure to ask the staff about their leadership team. Ask the staff about their turnover among leadership, nursing, and nursing assistants. Ask them what they like about working there and what they'd like to see improved.?

Closing Thoughts

We hope these guidelines help you explore your options and select a senior living community that best suits your needs with confidence.

Ultimately, finding the right senior living community is so much more than a beautiful place to reside — it’s about discovering a vibrant community to become a part of as you light your way to new beginnings!

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WayMaker Downsizing & Move Management

Guiding Your Journey. Lifting the Burden.

Honoring Your Life Story.

Lighting Your Way to New Beginnings.

Your Journey is our Mission.

For more information, go to WayMakerDMM.com or reach out to Melanie at (770) 954-6622.