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You’ve just visited your aging parents during the holiday season and discovered drastic differences in their health and abilities from last year. It’s time to begin an assisted living search.
Transitioning into senior living can be a difficult process without the right information. One of the biggest questions is determining which level of care is right for your loved one.
Assisted Living Locators offers a Senior Needs Assessment Quiz on its website that can quickly give one insight if it’s time to find a new environment and appropriate senior housing for your aging parent.
The assessment checklist for assisted living search covers several categories, including:
- Safety Assessment: Examine the home environment for potential hazards, assess the effectiveness of emergency response systems, and ensure overall security measures are adequate.
- Mobility Analysis: Evaluate the senior’s capability for movement, both indoors and outdoors, and the need for or use of mobility aids.
- Nutritional Evaluation: Review the senior’s dietary habits, including meal preparation skills, adherence to nutritional requirements, and special dietary needs or restrictions.
- Mental Status Examination: Assess cognitive abilities, focusing on memory, orientation, and any indications of confusion, dementia, or other mental health concerns.
- Toileting Independence: Determine the level of independence in using the bathroom, addressing any challenges such as incontinence or mobility limitations.
- Communication Skills Assessment: Gauge the senior’s effectiveness in verbal and non-verbal communication, considering any barriers or impairments.
- Medication Management Review: Examine the senior’s ability to manage medications correctly, understanding dosages, timing, and self-administration practices.
- Bathing and Hygiene Evaluation: Assess the senior’s capacity to independently manage bathing and personal hygiene, including safely entering and exiting a shower or bathtub.
- Dressing and Grooming Skills: Evaluate the ability to select appropriate attire and maintain personal grooming, considering any physical or cognitive limitations.
- Financial Management Capability: Assess the senior’s ability to effectively handle financial matters, such as budgeting, bill payments, and overall financial decision-making.
- Physician Interaction and Healthcare Management: Check the consistency and effectiveness of medical appointments, including the senior’s ability to understand and follow medical advice.
After inserting the description that applies to your senior, the assessment feature calculates which type of housing or care may be most appropriate for your loved one.
The goal of this quiz is to answer that “level of care” question and to help you take the next step with confidence in beginning your assisted living search.
Assisted Living Locators will also direct you to a local senior care advisor who will provide hands-on help and guidance as you review services, amenities, and tour care options. Your senior care advisor will help you fully understand the cost of care and associated services provided to determine the best options for your loved one. Each advisor is committed to matching an environment of compassion and concern with the senior’s needs, and best of all, it’s a free community-based service.
Let us help you make the best choice in your assisted living search. We are your partner in finding the right senior living option. Find a senior care advisor in your area today.
