Choosing an assisted living facility for your family member or another acquaintance can be a tough task. This is because there are many things about it that one often overlooks before finalizing, and that may have the potential to greatly impact the lives of their beloved in a bad way. Hence it is essential to conduct thorough research both online and offline before committing to one such facility. We have included a few such features that one must look at in an Arcadia Gardens assisted living facility before coming to a decision.
Availability of medical aid
This is perhaps the single most important thing to look for in an Arcadia Gardens assisted living facility. Most people living in these residencies are either very old or physically or mentally disabled. This generates the need for round-the-clock medical aid as emergencies can arise at any time of the day. The facility should have dedicated nurses and on-call physicians working shifts to provide medical assistance 24 hours a day.
Apart from catering to emergencies immediately, this will also take care of their day-to-day medical problems such as sleeplessness, headache, palpitations, severe constipation, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, etc. If needed, a timely referral to a general hospital should be done.
Accountable kitchen staff
In most cases, if not all, the food in these neglected residences is of very poor quality. It lacks the necessary nutrients and is also very cold, stale, and barely edible. This deprives the residents of basic nutrition and deteriorates their respective medical conditions. Thus, when looking for an Arcadia assisted living facility, always check up on the kitchen staff, their menu, and grocery shopping and taste the food they have cooked.
Ideally, they should prepare menus every week to break the monotony at times and should make the necessary alterations in it according to the preferences of the inmates. They also need to shop for fresh ingredients every week- vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, and others to maintain the quality of the food at all times. The food should taste decent and should be served warm.
Private rooms for everyone
Dependent people tend to have a lot of needs. They need assistance for bathing, changing clothes, changing diapers, changing catheters, and many more such chores. In such circumstances, sharing rooms with other residents can result in unnecessary embarrassment and shame. This may hamper their confidence and self-esteem in the long run. Keeping this in mind, we advise you to look for Arcadia Gardens assisted living facilities that provide private rooms to all of their inmates. Private rooms ensure adequate privacy and provide a place where the person can rest alone and spend some time.
Compassionate caregivers
You must have heard stories about certain assisted living facilities where the inmates are treated very badly by the local caretakers. They are rude, harsh, and brutal, and lack empathy for the debilitated people. It pains us to death to see relatives leave their family members in such poor living conditions. For people to live happily and comfortably in an assisted living facility, the local staff should be very understanding, compassionate, and empathetic towards the helpless, dependent people who reside in their facility. They must be the best friends of the aged and specially-abled people and must handle them with the utmost care and patience.
Clean and fresh surroundings
It is important that the Arcadia Gardens assisted living facility which you finally booked should have clean surroundings, free of trash and other nasty’s. It should have a wide open green space for the inmates to take morning strolls and feel fresh. It is because they have no other recreational activity to resort to in order to feel refreshed and energized. They will always be packed within the boundaries of the residence, and hence there should be availability of a good open green garden.
Stimulating activities
Living in such closed spaces can be really boring sometimes, especially when all your daily needs are also taken care of by others. Such a lack of stimulation and work can get really depressing sometimes. Apart from making them depressed, such conditions gradually worsen neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, along with a few other diseases that cause dementia.
A lot of Arcadia Gardens assisted living facilities ignore this aspect of assisted living, and this results in poor consequences for the old inmates. So look for facilities that conduct regular activities for the residents – games, tasks, etc. that help stimulate their brains. This will keep them happy and content while also helping improve their dementia.
Choosing an assisted living facility can be a tough task, but not anymore. Now you know what to look for and what to avoid in your search. We would advise that in addition to conducting your research online by visiting websites, you go around in your vehicle and physically visit as many assisted living facilities as possible. This will give you a first-hand experience of the residence, its staff, and its amenities. Talk to the inmates and ask for their opinion on the facility, only if it is allowed by the staff there.
