Although there are different retirement community options for aging adults, they offer different care and services. Choosing a suitable assisted living community involves asking a lot of questions. These questions will help you determine whether a community can meet the needs of your loved one.
These questions must be related to every aspect of their lives to ensure convenience. Most especially, these questions must concern their safety in the community. These are some safety questions to ask when searching for assisted living communities in Spartanburg, SC:
Are There Team Members On-Site 24/7?
Generally, assisted living communities have team members working day and night to ensure your loved ones are secure. However, it is important that you ask whether they are available round-the-clock for residents’ safety. It can also be worth asking about the types of team members that will be available. This will help you know whether they are properly trained to assist your loved one with some activities.
What Is the Community’s Emergency Plan?
An assisted living community must have an emergency plan to respond to emergencies. Ask about their preparedness, procedures, and team members in charge of the emergency procedure. What plan do they have for your loved one in cases like falls, strokes, wandering off, and other medical emergencies?
The plan must be comprehensive enough to cover medical and non-medical emergencies. Emergencies like power outages and natural disasters must be handled so they do not affect the well-being of aging adults. In addition, there must be an emergency response system to alert residents about impending threats.
What Are Your Loved One’s Capabilities?
Before settling into a retirement community, you must assess what your loved one can and cannot do. Assisted living communities have varying levels of care and services; you only need to choose according to the needs of your loved one.
So, it is advisable that you choose a community that will meet the present and future needs of your loved one. It will help prevent moving your loved one from one community to another. In addition, if your loved one is living with any cognitive decline like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It is important to ask whether the community is ideal for them; that will determine their safety.
What Meal Plan Do You Offer?
Retirement communities have dining options for residents, and it is worth asking questions about their meal plans. Once you are done knowing their food options, identify whether they are suitable for your loved one. Also, if your loved one has a health condition that requires a personalized meal plan, you can discuss it with the team members.
What Type of Certification Does Your Team Have?
Ask questions about the team members to know whether your loved one is in safe hands. What type of training did they undergo to qualify as a team member in the community? Team members must be certified and educated to ensure the safety of your loved one.
Ask questions about their compliance with the state standards, philosophy, evaluation, and orientation practices. Also, you can ask about the number of team members in each department and their ratio to the residents.
