Alzheimer's

I'm looking for an assisted living facility for my parents, one who has Alzheimers, in the NYC/Westchester area. Is there a site or message board that compares places, discusses good/bad points of specific facilities, gives prices?

Hi, Peg -

I don't live in New York (I'm actually in Texas), but I wanted to share some thoughts based on your question. When we had to place Mom in a nursing home (we originally thought it was going to be assisted living, but she was too far along into Alzheimer's to go that route), my cousin did some searching via the web and paid to get some reports from companies that "rated" the assisted living facilities and nursing homes. We took this information and shared it with the social worker who had Mom's case. He cautioned about using some of these ratings since the measures used may skew based on what's being asked.

So here are things I'd suggest to help you in your search:
1. Find an Alzheimer's support group in your area and talk to some of the caregivers who attend to see what assisted living facilities they'd recommend.
2. Contact your state's agency that deals with nursing homes/assisted living facilities and find out what kind of reports they have on specific facilities.
3. Once you settle on some possible facilities, go visit them (kind of like shopping for a school for your kids). Sit down with the assisted living facilities administrator and ask the hard questions. And ask for references.
4. Consider finding an assisted living facility that also has a nursing home on the property. That way, if the parent with Alzheimer's Disease gets worse and needs nursing home care, the spouse has easy access to being there. Plus your parents will have built a sense of community with the other residents and the staff, which is important as the parent with Alzheimer's starts getting more confused due to the disease.
4. Once your parents are settled into an assisted living facility, be visible on a regular basis. I found that since the nursing home staff sees me on almost a daily basis, they pay more attention to Mom. And since I go at various times (as opposed to one set time), I get to meet all the nurses and aides (which helps when we have a medical situation or other situation that needs my attention).

I am also seeking senior care resources for my mother. Anyone have any suggestions?