Assisted Living News

Imagine a senior named Elda. She is seventy-eight and lives alone. Her health is fair, but she has arthritis and hasn’t been able to clean her house’s roof in years. That’s always been something she paid for. But when roof cleaning time came again this year, she didn’t pay at all, at least not with money. Elda recently became a member of a local time-bank. What Is a Time-Bank? A time-bank is a community of people who have agreed to trade each other their services, or their time. In a time...

After you’ve started your search with a list of communities, there is no better way to narrow down your choices than through visits to communities. Here’s a checklist made of yes-or-no questions to help you find the right senior living community for your family: Questions to Consider when Visiting Senior Living Communities Is the community clean and fresh-smelling? Does it have a friendly atmosphere? Are the staff friendly and kind? Is it easy to navigate and find your way around? Are res...

Any kind of move is hard, but a senior’s move to a care facility may be the hardest of all. That’s why it needs to be done right. At AssistedLiving.com, we aim to arm people with the information they need to make informed and empowered decisions about senior care for their loved ones. Our local Senior Living Advisors who work throughout the U.S. help thousands of families each year find the right facility for their loved ones. Sadly, many families don’t take advantage of free servic...

Seniors have been quick to adopt Apple’s iPad, a device that in their childhood would have seemed like a science fiction fantasy. According to a study by eMarketer, iPad use among seniors grew 190% during 2011. This powerful but lightweight touchscreen computer is the size of a notepad and so intuitive that even a two-year-old can use it. We conducted an informal survey of older family members and friends to learn their favorite iPad apps. Here are the results: Memory Aids 1. Pageonce (free): T...

Men and women usually arrive at assisted living communities out of necessity. They have something in common you could say. They typically have age-related ailments and frailties that make care or supervision a necessity. They’re folks like any of us, they’re just older and not as fit. It’s a given, then, that these residents desire love like any of us. Some may get more than their share from families or a spouse at the community, but others are lacking it. They move into the facilit...

Carlsen Trads is president of Clarity, a consumer electronics company focused on developing adaptive aides for seniors. We invited Trads to talk about hearing loss and discuss how new technologies are improving the quality of life of seniors with impaired hearing. by visiting blogger, Carlsen Trads Hearing loss is the third most common health issue in the US, and because ten thousand Baby Boomers turn 65 every day, it’s becoming even more prevalent. Of those over the age of 65, 33% experience h...

Fran Ferguson, an 81 year-old resident at Sunrise on Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C. won an apartment-makeover by top designers at HGTV. The apartment makeover was the prize in the Suite Style essay writing contest for Sunrise Senior Living residents, which Ferguson won by writing about the importance of resilience. The HGTV designers worked closely with Ferguson, talking to her about her tastes and preferences to help create the perfect apartment for her. For example, Ferguson’s favorite...

Assisted living facilities, retirement communities and nursing homes have served as the backdrop for a wide range of movies in practically every genre. We compiled a list of 15 such films. There are heart-warming dramas, suspense-filled thrillers, gross-out comedies, and even a sci-fi flick. But despite these films’ differences, it’s intriguing to note that a recurring theme present in many of them: the young hero (or anti-hero) whose life is changed for the better after meeting a wise el...

When I worked as an Eldercare Resource Coordinator for A Place for Mom, I had countless conversations with families and seniors who were in the process of searching for care. I remember one elderly woman in particular, we’ll call her Janet, who asked me, “What state has the cheapest assisted living?” Janet lived alone and had no living family, but she needed hands-on care. She was in an awkward financial position such that her income was too high to qualify for Medicaid, but not rea...