Are you looking for a new community for your parent? Here are the top 5 questions to ask if you are touring an Assisted Living community in San Luis Obispo County.
What’s the staff turnover rate?
Happy caregivers create happy residents. When staff turnover is low, that typically means management is good. When management is good that typically means the community has a positive culture and a positive service relationship with their clients.
How do the community hire and train caregivers?
Protecting your loved one when it comes to transferring them out of a chair or assisting them to ambulate is critical to the staff and the resident. The job can be physically demanding. Lifting residents and heavy equipment, as well as long hours on your feet, can take a toll on the body. Proper form and technique are critical.
While compassion is something that is easier to look for in an interview, than train after being hired, it can be learned. Additionally, asking about new caregiver training versus ongoing training may give you an idea of how the business owner priorities training.
What is the staff to resident ratio?
One factor that greatly influences the quality of care and service provided in a community is the number of caregivers. When an assisted living community has a suitable number of caregivers, they have time to get to know their residents. This relationship allows them to identify potential problems early so the appropriate next steps can be taken. At a minimum, you want to see a ration of at least 6 to 1 resident. Many Skilled Nursing facilities, can be as high as 15 to 1, which is not a high level of service and is rough on the caregivers.
What happens if your parent’s needs change?
What is the plan if the parent’s condition gets worse. You want to know if there would ever be a situation where they could not continue to help the client. Hospice, memory care, and diabetes could get to a level that some communities may not be able to accommodate.
What did the last state survey say? (Have you corrected the findings?)
California regulates assisted living communities. Their annual survey is public knowledge and can be pulled for you by a Placement Agency. Working with My Senior Navigator is a great way to get access to previous violations and resident complaints about the facility. Most Assisted Living communities are not really forthcoming with this information. It is important to allow an organization to have a chance to defend the finding and explain their plan to fix it.
We have a lot of experience in caregiving and can typically save families time, money and peace of mind by helping them understand all of their options when it comes to finding the right assisted living location in San Luis Obispo County.
