In 2022, my father-in-law was going through the process of receiving a diagnosis of dementia. His demeanor had noticeably changed. Having always been a gentle, kind man of small stature, he was now becoming agitated with everyone from the nurse at his doctor’s office, to his closest family members. After several increasingly aggressive incidents, a psychologist sent him directly from an appointment to the emergency room to be held for evaluation. Three days later, after being put on new medications to stop his “behaviors”, he was ready to be discharged. Doctors shared that it was not safe for him to return home. The social worker at the hospital provided us with the following items to advise us on what to do next:
List of 15 Skilled Nursing Facilities within ~30 miles
List of 69 options within 50 miles ranging from Independent Living through Nursing Homes
List of 14 options ranging from 55+ apartments through Memory Care communities
A letter from the President of the hospital stating “To begin your search, we will be offering facility choices to you, but please understand you will be encouraged to accept the first available facility.”
Out of the 98 options that were provided by the hospital, only 8 offered the appropriate level of care that he required. Having spent 13 years in senior living, I knew how to handle the search but wondered what other families would do in such a scenario. Envisioning families making frantic calls to the wrong communities at such an emotional time inspired me to create Assisted Living Helpers. We are here to simplify the search for the perfect senior living community with compassion and expertise. You will be given the advice and guidance that we would give to our own family. You don’t have to go through this alone. We are here to help.