Assisted Living: Questions I Wish I Had Asked

Is it time to find an Assisted Living community for your loved one? To be faced with an aging parent, spouse, or sibling who needs help is like being in a foreign country where one does not speak the language. Inspired by the author's personal experience of finding her normally sharp consumer skills compromised during an emotionally challenging time, this book is chock full of what you need to consider and ask of any prospective facility.

What does assisted living really mean? How much will it cost as your loved one declines? What are the parameters for medication management? What do caregivers do and what is not in their scope of practice? How are caregivers trained? How will you know if your loved one's needs are changing? How will the staff know when a resident needs help if she or he cannot communicate verbally or remember how to use an emergency call button? These are just a few of the more than 200 questions in this book, divided into categories about care, staff, emergency procedures, services, dietary concerns, accommodations and costs, activities, transportation, family communication and more.

Armed with answers to these questions, which you will ask when you visit a facility, at the very least you can manage your own expectations, from the beginning and then as things change.

There is so much you cannot control -- give yourself this one important advantage by gathering the information you need.