What Separates a Good Senior Community from a Great One?

A superficial answer will vary depending on who you ask! Every individual is different and prioritizes different things.

There is a wide variety of senior communities throughout the country.

Those built in large cities may need to confine most of their activities to indoor events such as mahjong clubs or painting classes; but communities in suburban or rural areas have more freedom for a wider range of outdoor activities. May are even built adjacent to golf courses!

Someone who loves to play bridge or who loves to golf will seek out a community that offers those amenities.

But, generally, many residents will be satisfied with a “good” community as long as it has a well-designed living space, easy access to nutritious food, and skilled medical staff.

Senior Communities Remove Stress

The reason many seniors relocate to a senior community is to prepare for the future. Most seniors these days are active well into their late seventies or early eighties. But health decline could potentially be just around the corner; it’s easier and much less stressful to move from an independent bungalow into an assisted living apartment in the same grounds – rather than having to uproot from the home of decades very suddenly and without any planning.

But if you visit a few retirement communities and several have the amenities you desire … how do you choose between them?

What makes a good senior community “great”?

The Staff Makes All the Difference

Seniors living in assisted living facilities are vulnerable and should be tended to by staff that are, across the board, caring and attentive – as well as skilled at what they do.

The problem? The two do not always go together.

Staff must always keep the “human” element in mind. They must get to know each and every resident; learn what they like and dislike; learn their foibles and what gives them pleasure and what causes fear.

This of course goes to all staff – from those in charge of amenities to the most important of all, the nursing and medical staff.

How Will You Know?

As you visit senior communities in search of the best one for you, it’s important to do more than just take a tour of the facility. Ask to talk to several of the residents, and see what they have to say about the quality of the care they receive.

Check newspaper archives for any articles about the communities that you’re exploring. Have they made the news in the last ten years? If so, did they do it because of their great care or as a shout out to their community service – or for less wholesome reasons?

Getting to know the activities and events offered to residents is a good way to learn about the care that the staff take for the mental wellbeing of their residents.

If there’s plenty of entertainment, for example; bridge clubs that cater to those who have difficulty seeing the cards, or outings for the mobility impaired: that’s another sign that the staff of the community take their responsibility for resident wellness – both mental as well as physical – seriously.

And it’s that level of consideration that turns a good senior community into a great one.