5 Steps to Take to Find a Residential Care Home
Last Updated: July 29, 2019
Residential care homes come in many shapes, sizes and specialties. Most communities have several care options available to seniors, recognizing the variety of needs, personalities and values of those seeking a new retirement home. The main thing they all have in common is the hope to provide a new living space that meets the particular needs of the residents, while still feeling like home.
Finding the right residential care home for you or a parent or senior loved one is a big step and one you don’t want to rush into. To help you identify the best possible care option available in your area, we recommend you take it step by step:
Step 1: Consider what you need (and what you want).
Before you even start to look at what’s out there, take some time to think about what’s most important to you and your family. What aspects of your day-to-day lifestyle do you most want to maintain? What values do you have that you hope fellow residents would share? Is there a particular type of medical care you need?
What you need is crucial, but what you want matters too. The rest home you choose will have a lot to do with what your life looks like in the coming years. You don’t want to settle on a place that means giving up any part of your life that’s important to you.
Step 2: Research the residential care options located nearby.
Now that you’ve clarified for yourself some of the most important features to consider in your search, find out what your options are. A quick search at SeniorAdvisor.com will give you a list of the residential care homes in the geographic area you aim to live in, along with a helpful snapshot of what they offer, what they cost and what other residents have thought of them.
Spend some time browsing these options to see how they match up with what you’re looking for. But you haven’t made it this far in life without knowing that a good match on paper doesn’t always tell the whole story. Use this step to narrow down your options, but avoid making any final decisions until you’ve completed step three.
Step 3: Take the time to visit all your options.
Schedule a visit to each of the residential care homes your research suggests should be in the running. Try to pay attention to all the little things while you’re there. It’s easy enough to check off all the big boxes of what’s important to you, but the little stuff plays at least as big of a role in how much you’ll enjoy life each day.
Do the residents seem to laugh much? Is the atmosphere comfortable and clean?
Step 4: Visit your new home and move in.
The visits should give you the final information you need to make a decision. Was there one place on the list that felt the most like home to you? If more than one was promising, was there anything from the checklist and your notes to make one stand out above the others?
Consider what matters most to you in terms of what each rest home has to offer and make your decision. After much careful consideration, you should have no problem feeling comfortable and at home, once you move in.
Step 5: Write a review to help out other families.
Once you’ve settled in, why not help the next person starting a residential care home search? Take five minutes to leave a review on SeniorAdvisor.com and let people know what they can expect if they’re interested in considering your new home.
Begin your search today. Find a residential care home in any city nationwide and read the reviews on SeniorAdvisor.com.
Kristen Hicks
Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.