50 years ago, the small care home was the norm in my city. Five or six seniors cared for in a large Victorian home. Then, the State of New York shut them down in favor of large facilities. As a nurse, when a senior came into the hospital from a small care home ...we could see that they had been well cared for. Rarely, did we see well cared for seniors coming from large care facilities.
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this insight. It is helpful. It is a shame what NY State has done. I am hopeful that NY and other states will be more open to making it easier for Residential Assisted Living Homes to open and operate.
I REALLY learned my lesson on this one. After several assisting living nightmares with big "beautiful" communities, my dad and I finally found a small "board and care" home. It housed 5 people and the employees had been there for decades. It was so incredibly wonderful and dad passed away there, always happy. At the big communities he was ignored, the turnover of caregivers was a few months and dad was pissed off and miserable. It was so awful. Do good research, but stay small!!!
The smaller paradigm is also what is used for younger adults with severe physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities who can't or no longer want to live with their parents but their disabilities mean these people cannot live alone or in more standard roommate situations. These facilities are called ''group homes'', ''congregate living homes'', ''assisted living homes'' and various other terms. Both group homes and the bigger hotel style ALFs come with advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of hotel type assisted living homes is that residents often get private bathrooms, whereas in group home type facilities, several residents share a communal bathroom in the hallway, the bedrooms themselves rarely having attached baths. An advantage of the smaller facilities is the intimate family style arrangement allowing for more personalized care. Now, with the family style arrangement usually comes a rigid schedule and the type of rules parents often impose on children. The bigger facilities usually offer more freedom.
Thank you for sharing your insights. One small comment. This home that I filmed the video in (Clover Hill) has a private bathroom in each bedroom. But I have definitely seen shared bathrooms in the hallways of smaller communities.
@@AssistedLivingAnswerMan Also, group homes appear to be the only assisted living properties that serve younger adults. So for these people, it is either live with their parents or live in a group home. How come none of the hotel like communities cater to non seniors?
Technically, most of the smaller assisted living buildings are group homes. There are slight differences between the bigger, hotel style assisted living communities, and group homes. Besides being smaller and located in standard single family houses, group homes (also called "adult family homes", "board and care homes" or "congregate living homes" are structured with a family style arrangement. This means that the staff act as defacto parents, scheduling is family style and the rules imposed on clients at these facilities tend to be similar to the rules parents and teachers would traditionally impose on children. One advantage the hotel style assisted living communities offer that group homes rarely do is more freedom when it comes to things like scheduling, dress, use of things like coffee makers, language, etc.
Thank you for sharing your insights on this. There are very few Small Assisted Living Homes here in NJ. The Small ones here in NJ are run more "professionally" and less like a "mom & pop operation" than in other parts of the country.
Nice video absolutely realstic thought in this pandemic it's difficult to live in a 200 room or more assisted small has been safer due to better control and covid prevention safety inspiring video many many thanks .
Can an ALF(Assisted Living) take my Mom's LINK card when they are already getting funded by the state with her SS check? My mother qualified for Medicaid and the state sent her a LINK card for groceries. She has no need for the groceries since she stays at the assisted living place. However, the facility asked for this LINK card stating that this would also go to help pay for her meals. This bit of information was never given to me in the beginning of applying for Medicaid for my mother. Is this common for facilities to do this?
With Covid running rampant in the larger facilities/communities the negative aspects with spread, do you believe the vaccine will change that view in the next 6 to 12 months?
BEWARE: These homes are not for more advanced stages. Great for those who are widowed or don't want to live alone. They provide meals, laundry, and a shared room. There's a TV, that's about it. There are no entertainment or activities like big facilities. No physical therapy. Someone, some one, is always there and there are few tenants. There are no nurses. That being said, yes, during covid, that may be enough and possibly the healthier option. Although, I did hear of large facilities making plexiglass rooms where the patient sat inside and family outside. They could see and talk to each other so there was interaction. WARNING: A friend of mine in AK had her father with severe dementia in one of these small facilities in 2022. He was the first in this particular house, but the owner had a total of five facilities. He was given the largest room, the only one with a bathroom, however, soon after, they were high pressured to give up this room for a smaller room. This caused some friction. But what got me was that my friend actually allowed them to let him work with knives in the kitchen!!! She said that her father liked to help so they let him cut stuff up, supervised, of course 😉 😉. Employee turnover was high. Are they outta their God given mind??? But the thing that upset my friend the most was all the falls her father had while living there. They are supposed to report and she is supposed to have access to his Healthcare info but they kept stalling her and not letting her have access to the software. Also, she saw drug dosage issues and her father was always running out of meds. His doctor had no way of interacting with Healthcare software and the care givers only told my friend about drug shortages when he was COMPLETELY out. Anyway, some things to think about.
Wow, thank you for sharing these details. I have seen these smaller homes have the PT (Physical Therapy) come in. I have seen them also provide good activities and socialization for the residents.
@AssistedLivingAnswerMan I'm sure that not all are horrible but not all are created equal. A good rule of thumb is to try and pop in at different times, on different occasions (unannounced if possible), to get a good feel. Maybe the one(s) you are looking at does have a PT come in on a regular basis? How long have they been working there? Are they credentialed? Are you able to speak with them? Who's the ombudsman or advocate? Can you contact. After all, you are concerned about the quality of care for your loved one. If they are also, then they have nothing to hide.
My mother is 93. She has been in a nursing home for 3 years. To call this nursing home "skilled nursing"....is laughable ! And yet Medicare and Medicaid pay and pay and pay. There seems to be no accountability for the poor care.
I am very sorry to hear this about the care your mother is receiving. I suggest you look for the Nursing Home Government Ratings in your locality. That will give you some idea about the other surrounding Nursing Homes.
Many people would disagree. Which is why it is important to have these discussions, especially as things can change quickly. But thank you for commenting.
50 years ago, the small care home was the norm in my city. Five or six seniors cared for in a large Victorian home.
Then, the State of New York shut them down in favor of large facilities.
As a nurse, when a senior came into the hospital from a small care home ...we could see that they had been well cared for.
Rarely, did we see well cared for seniors coming from large care facilities.
Wow. Thank you so much for sharing this insight. It is helpful. It is a shame what NY State has done. I am hopeful that NY and other states will be more open to making it easier for Residential Assisted Living Homes to open and operate.
True. It's like a classroom with 80 students and one teacher.
I REALLY learned my lesson on this one. After several assisting living nightmares with big "beautiful" communities, my dad and I finally found a small "board and care" home. It housed 5 people and the employees had been there for decades. It was so incredibly wonderful and dad passed away there, always happy. At the big communities he was ignored, the turnover of caregivers was a few months and dad was pissed off and miserable. It was so awful. Do good research, but stay small!!!
WOW, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS! I AM SO GLAD YOU FOUND THE RIGHT PLACE FOR HIM.
Hahaha you totally got me with "welcome to my humble kitchen"!
Thank you Simon! Some people did not watch the whole video, and still think that really was my kitchen.
Awesome thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much!
Love the experience!
Thank you for your comment
The smaller paradigm is also what is used for younger adults with severe physical, intellectual and developmental disabilities who can't or no longer want to live with their parents but their disabilities mean these people cannot live alone or in more standard roommate situations. These facilities are called ''group homes'', ''congregate living homes'', ''assisted living homes'' and various other terms.
Both group homes and the bigger hotel style ALFs come with advantages and disadvantages.
One advantage of hotel type assisted living homes is that residents often get private bathrooms, whereas in group home type facilities, several residents share a communal bathroom in the hallway, the bedrooms themselves rarely having attached baths.
An advantage of the smaller facilities is the intimate family style arrangement allowing for more personalized care. Now, with the family style arrangement usually comes a rigid schedule and the type of rules parents often impose on children. The bigger facilities usually offer more freedom.
Thank you for sharing your insights. One small comment. This home that I filmed the video in (Clover Hill) has a private bathroom in each bedroom. But I have definitely seen shared bathrooms in the hallways of smaller communities.
@@AssistedLivingAnswerMan Also, group homes appear to be the only assisted living properties that serve younger adults. So for these people, it is either live with their parents or live in a group home. How come none of the hotel like communities cater to non seniors?
Technically, most of the smaller assisted living buildings are group homes. There are slight differences between the bigger, hotel style assisted living communities, and group homes. Besides being smaller and located in standard single family houses, group homes (also called "adult family homes", "board and care homes" or "congregate living homes" are structured with a family style arrangement. This means that the staff act as defacto parents, scheduling is family style and the rules imposed on clients at these facilities tend to be similar to the rules parents and teachers would traditionally impose on children.
One advantage the hotel style assisted living communities offer that group homes rarely do is more freedom when it comes to things like scheduling, dress, use of things like coffee makers, language, etc.
Thank you for sharing your insights on this. There are very few Small Assisted Living Homes here in NJ. The Small ones here in NJ are run more "professionally" and less like a "mom & pop operation" than in other parts of the country.
Nice video absolutely realstic thought in this pandemic it's difficult to live in a 200 room or more assisted small has been safer due to better control and covid prevention safety inspiring video many many thanks .
Hello Rog. Thank you so much!
Can an ALF(Assisted Living) take my Mom's LINK card when they are already getting funded by the state with her SS check?
My mother qualified for Medicaid and the state sent her a LINK card for groceries. She has no need for the groceries since she stays at the assisted living place. However, the facility asked for this LINK card stating that this would also go to help pay for her meals. This bit of information was never given to me in the beginning of applying for Medicaid for my mother. Is this common for facilities to do this?
I am sorry I do not have a definitive answer. But I do not think so.
It would probably depend on where the facility is located and whether it's a group home or not.
What’s the difference between a group home vs an assisted living (board and care home)?
In this video, I am talking about private-pay Assisted Living Communities. I believe that Group Homes tend to be more financially subsidized.
With Covid running rampant in the larger facilities/communities the negative aspects with spread, do you believe the vaccine will change that view in the next 6 to 12 months?
Yes, I agree with your statement. The buildings that get vaccinated are now the safest places from the virus.
But that’s good good luck
BEWARE: These homes are not for more advanced stages. Great for those who are widowed or don't want to live alone. They provide meals, laundry, and a shared room. There's a TV, that's about it. There are no entertainment or activities like big facilities. No physical therapy. Someone, some one, is always there and there are few tenants. There are no nurses. That being said, yes, during covid, that may be enough and possibly the healthier option. Although, I did hear of large facilities making plexiglass rooms where the patient sat inside and family outside. They could see and talk to each other so there was interaction. WARNING: A friend of mine in AK had her father with severe dementia in one of these small facilities in 2022. He was the first in this particular house, but the owner had a total of five facilities. He was given the largest room, the only one with a bathroom, however, soon after, they were high pressured to give up this room for a smaller room. This caused some friction. But what got me was that my friend actually allowed them to let him work with knives in the kitchen!!! She said that her father liked to help so they let him cut stuff up, supervised, of course 😉 😉. Employee turnover was high. Are they outta their God given mind??? But the thing that upset my friend the most was all the falls her father had while living there. They are supposed to report and she is supposed to have access to his Healthcare info but they kept stalling her and not letting her have access to the software. Also, she saw drug dosage issues and her father was always running out of meds. His doctor had no way of interacting with Healthcare software and the care givers only told my friend about drug shortages when he was COMPLETELY out. Anyway, some things to think about.
Wow, thank you for sharing these details. I have seen these smaller homes have the PT (Physical Therapy) come in. I have seen them also provide good activities and socialization for the residents.
@AssistedLivingAnswerMan I'm sure that not all are horrible but not all are created equal. A good rule of thumb is to try and pop in at different times, on different occasions (unannounced if possible), to get a good feel. Maybe the one(s) you are looking at does have a PT come in on a regular basis? How long have they been working there? Are they credentialed? Are you able to speak with them? Who's the ombudsman or advocate? Can you contact. After all, you are concerned about the quality of care for your loved one. If they are also, then they have nothing to hide.
My humble kitchen?
Yes, exactly!
My mother is 93.
She has been in a nursing home for 3 years.
To call this nursing home "skilled nursing"....is laughable !
And yet Medicare and Medicaid pay and pay and pay.
There seems to be no accountability for the poor care.
I am very sorry to hear this about the care your mother is receiving. I suggest you look for the Nursing Home Government Ratings in your locality. That will give you some idea about the other surrounding Nursing Homes.
That table and chairs are pretty bad for older people
I will share your comment with the owner of this building.
NO THEY ARE NOT!
Many people would disagree. Which is why it is important to have these discussions, especially as things can change quickly. But thank you for commenting.