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Does anyone have experience searching for a senior living facility (independent living, assisted living, nursing home, hospice, room & board, adult day care, memory care) for a loved one....did you find that there was a lack in facility reviews online?
Having gone through this myself recently, twice, wanted to see if others felt the same frustrations and found the need for more customer reviews on these facilities to help narrow down the options for the families.
A quick 4 question Yes/No survey in the link below will help me figure out if there is a need for such a service.
Maybe it was just me, or maybe others feel/felt the same?
Thank you in advance for the help and apologies if I'm not supposed to post surveys.
The problems with surveys will always be bias...people don't tend to submit them unless they were very pleased or very displeased. Not much in the middle, and the middle is where the majority of experiences tends to occur. It also comes down to the individual experience and emotions too. When we looked for an ALF for my dad we toured about 15 of them, all that seemed to meet the needs he had. We felt the staffing was adequate, the physical place was comfortable and well designed, there were no glaring problems. HE was the problem, not the facility. He turned a decent situation into a nightmare for the staff and for us. So, if I had to fill out a survey for the place it would not necessarily reflect the reasons why it didn't work at all.
Maybe instead of a customer survey the need could be better addressed by improving/elaborating on how these places are evaluated by professional agencies/organizations. FWIW.
In Georgia you can review actual investigation reports of facilities. Patient names are redacted. GaMap2Care
When we looked at a facility for my mom, it was based on personal inspection and references. Online Medicaid reviews often are skewed by comments about food or activities and those are very subjective.
In Georgia you can review actual investigation reports of facilities. Patient names are redacted. GaMap2Care
When we looked at a facility for my mom, it was based on personal inspection and references. Online Medicaid reviews often are skewed by comments about food or activities and those are very subjective.
Even the state reviews/inspections are somewhat of a joke IMO. They come out every year, and they do an entire area at a time. After they get to the first facility, every other facility in the area knows they are there (it spreads like wildfire) and knows to get ready for them. We start getting reminders to wear our badge at all times and make sure your paperwork is caught up and don't have more than so many people in the gym at once...the maintenance guys will be in to check our hot pack machine and microwave. they will bring in an extra activities person so they can get rid of the posse of residents clustered around the nursing station with nothing to do....by the time they arrive, we've had 2 or 3 weeks to be ready.
They look through the charts, speak to a few residents, stay for about 3 or 4 days. The things they write up are not normally "big" things, they cite us for things like not having the required amount of clearance between the things on a shelf in the closet and the ceiling....one time Therapy got cited because I had a balloon tied to the ceiling for patients to hit while they were standing, and it was apparently a "fire hazard".
So looking over the inspection reports is not nearly as helpful as it could be. You really have to read customer reviews, of which there are many now, and go see the place. Look at the residents. Do they look well cared for, do they look happy? My mom's place. many people were milled about the common areas laughing and talking. where in others the common areas were deserted.
I already knew the place was clean, I could see that, I had the food (most places will feed you and parent when you tour), and I knew they had a nurse 24 hours a day (one place I looked at had one on-call only in the overnight hours). I don't think there is anything I needed to know from an inspection report.
Even the state reviews/inspections are somewhat of a joke IMO. They come out every year, and they do an entire area at a time. After they get to the first facility, every other facility in the area knows they are there (it spreads like wildfire) and knows to get ready for them. We start getting reminders to wear our badge at all times and make sure your paperwork is caught up and don't have more than so many people in the gym at once...the maintenance guys will be in to check our hot pack machine and microwave. they will bring in an extra activities person so they can get rid of the posse of residents clustered around the nursing station with nothing to do....by the time they arrive, we've had 2 or 3 weeks to be ready.
They look through the charts, speak to a few residents, stay for about 3 or 4 days. The things they write up are not normally "big" things, they cite us for things like not having the required amount of clearance between the things on a shelf in the closet and the ceiling....one time Therapy got cited because I had a balloon tied to the ceiling for patients to hit while they were standing, and it was apparently a "fire hazard".
So looking over the inspection reports is not nearly as helpful as it could be. You really have to read customer reviews, of which there are many now, and go see the place. Look at the residents. Do they look well cared for, do they look happy? My mom's place. many people were milled about the common areas laughing and talking. where in others the common areas were deserted.
I already knew the place was clean, I could see that, I had the food (most places will feed you and parent when you tour), and I knew they had a nurse 24 hours a day (one place I looked at had one on-call only in the overnight hours). I don't think there is anything I needed to know from an inspection report.
A lot of these reports aren't scheduled inspections. I have read reports on this site that are investigations of complaints and incidents where people are interviewed after the fact-- resulting in disciplinary action.
For instance, I read one report that found a dementia/glaucoma patient was not given her medication for several days (including blood thinners) -- it even detailed the dosages missed and what dates and whether they were morning or evening doses with food or not with food.
A lot of these reports aren't scheduled inspections. I have read reports on this site that are investigations of complaints and incidents where people are interviewed after the fact-- resulting in disciplinary action.
There are a lot of times the state is called for various incidents, multiple falls by the same resident, etc. I didn't know these were available as online reports or on state surveys, however.
For instance, I read one report that found a dementia/glaucoma patient was not given her medication for several days (including blood thinners) -- it even detailed the dosages missed and what dates and whether they were morning or evening doses with food or not with food.
I'm not really sure whether that info is all that helpful, or not. If there are multiple, frequent incidents at one facility, yes, but otherwise every facility is going to have occasional issues (because most have the state minimums in terms of staffing). The nurse who didn't chart that patient's glaucoma med (or however it happened) could be the charge nurse at a different facility down the street by the time someone reads that report.
I'm not really sure whether that info is all that helpful, or not. If there are multiple, frequent incidents at one facility, yes, but otherwise every facility is going to have occasional issues (because most have the state minimums in terms of staffing). The nurse who didn't chart that patient's glaucoma med (or however it happened) could be the charge nurse at a different facility down the street by the time someone reads that report.
Even the state reviews/inspections are somewhat of a joke IMO. They come out every year, and they do an entire area at a time. After they get to the first facility, every other facility in the area knows they are there (it spreads like wildfire) and knows to get ready for them. We start getting reminders to wear our badge at all times and make sure your paperwork is caught up and don't have more than so many people in the gym at once...the maintenance guys will be in to check our hot pack machine and microwave. they will bring in an extra activities person so they can get rid of the posse of residents clustered around the nursing station with nothing to do....by the time they arrive, we've had 2 or 3 weeks to be ready.
They look through the charts, speak to a few residents, stay for about 3 or 4 days. The things they write up are not normally "big" things, they cite us for things like not having the required amount of clearance between the things on a shelf in the closet and the ceiling....one time Therapy got cited because I had a balloon tied to the ceiling for patients to hit while they were standing, and it was apparently a "fire hazard".
So looking over the inspection reports is not nearly as helpful as it could be. You really have to read customer reviews, of which there are many now, and go see the place. Look at the residents. Do they look well cared for, do they look happy? My mom's place. many people were milled about the common areas laughing and talking. where in others the common areas were deserted.
I already knew the place was clean, I could see that, I had the food (most places will feed you and parent when you tour), and I knew they had a nurse 24 hours a day (one place I looked at had one on-call only in the overnight hours). I don't think there is anything I needed to know from an inspection report.
Thank you for the response. In terms of customer reviews on these facilities, are you referring to the general reviews that pop up when you google the facility? And all the senior living sites like: a place for mom, yelp, care.com...or was there a particular site you were able to rely on for the reviews?
Thank you for the response. In terms of customer reviews on these facilities, are you referring to the general reviews that pop up when you google the facility? And all the senior living sites like: a place for mom, yelp, care.com...or was there a particular site you were able to rely on for the reviews?
I didn’t read reviews. I just went and looked at the places and talked to people. Most of them are very very similar especially if they’re in the same price ranges. There’s not going to be one $5000 a month assisted-living that’s great and and one down the street that’s awful. You only get into awful when you got into some of the nursing homes.
We didn’t have unlimited choices either. My mom had limited funds and she had to go into a place that would let her pay privately and then remain there once she transitioned to Medicaid. We hired a geriatric care manager to locate places for us, and she had given us a list of about half a dozen places. We went and looked at them from there I just tried to see where my mom would be most comfortable. Again the care is very similar among all the decent places that had pre-accepted her and agreed to let her remain once she spent down. Some of the places would let her stay in her own apartment after Medicaid, some would make her share an apartment. The place we chose provides free transport to stores and medical appointments for their residents. That was very important because it meant I would not have to take her to the doctors and dentist and all the other places she has to go, because I work full-time. Those were the differences that were important.
If I were looking now, I’m sure I would read Google reviews and yelp reviews, but also take them with a grain of salt. You could ask 10 different residents every day how was lunch? And half of them will say it was terrible, the food here is awful. And the other half will say it was delicious. Better to ask the facility i if you can have a meal there with your mom while you’re touring. Go up to the women who are sitting in the chairs in the corner chatting, and ask them if they like it there.
One place I loved, it was very small, only a few dozen apartments and everyone seemed to be gathered in common areas, there was a show while we were there. It seemed very family like to me. However my mother hated it. She said “it looks like a place where everyone’s in each others business”. Yesterday, I recommended a particular assisted living facility that I’ve worked in many many times and I think is the best place I’ve ever worked in. It’s fabulous. The resident (there for rehab) said oh yeah I looked at that place I didn’t like it at all. To each his own that’s why you can’t just go by reviews.
There can't be enough detail in a review to give you a real idea of what goes on. If you visit during the day, the staffing is at peak and dwindles to nonexistent after the last shift at 9 or 10 pm. They don't report a lot of things, such as falls, unless it results in a trip to the ER or a mobile X-ray unit being ordered. I saw two families pull patients out for neglect due to prescription mix-ups. I routinely saw medications and food not being provided before rehab. I had to show up and handle those tasks because they hindered my ability to have productive therapy sessions when I was called in by the therapists. A lot of it depends on the state of the patient, especially how active and social they are. If they want to be left alone because of social isolation or pain, the level of care will be less than normal as the CNAs will move on to work with other patients, especially if family is present.
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