Summary: Many assisted living websites operate (in some capacity) as referral websites. These sites (some legitimate, but many are not) try to collect your information to then distribute or resell to other services, companies, or spammers. This page offers tips on how to try to protect your information, and how to avoid unsolicited contact & spam.
The assisted living landscape has changed dramatically in recent years – especially when we talk about what is happening on the internet. Just a few years ago, there were really only a handful of sites and directories for assisted living, and most of those were, and still are good resources to find information about assisted living facilities and senior care. Additionally, a few of the top sites that existed then still do today – which include the Assisted Living Federation of America, which was founded in 1990, and Medline on the National Institutes of Health. For those with Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s association website has always been a good place to go.
However, as we do searches online for assisted living, more and more negligible or even sketchy “referral” sites are cluttering the results, making it even more confusing to know who to trust – and more importantly, who to trust your information with.
As you navigate your way through the top several pages of results when you do a search – you’ll likely see a number of sites promising “expert care” for you and your family. All you have to do is fill out this simple form with your email, phone number and other personal items. From there – as these websites all claim in one way or another – all of your senior care dreams will come true…and mom or dad will be hand-held by the best national experts as they journey through the challenging maze of assisted living.
Yes….dream on. I’d say that most of the time, this doesn’t happen.
What does happen in many cases, once you submit your information – is that your email address and phone number will be sold off to the highest bidder – regardless of relevance, Being Careful with your personal information expertise, or intentions. I have heard of seniors being hounded day and night after their personal information has been compromised – not only by facilities wanting their business – but by insurance companies, senior care “experts” who are not certified or trained in any way, shape or form – or downright spammers who will clog your inbox for years to come.
There are a few things that you can do to try to minimize the unwanted phone calls, emails and solicitations:
Assisted Living Directory tries very hard to be “transparent” with what we are trying to do. We have a privacy policy for our site, and any external companies or facilities we work with and allow to collect your information are required by us to share their privacy policy and information on our website wherever they ask for information from you. We also require that there is an easy way for people to opt out from any future contacts.
In the 9 years we have had an online presence in the assisted living niche, we have never received one complaint about information being abused by us, or any of our partner sites.
We intend to keep it that way!
Article by the staff at Assisted Living Directory
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Assisted Living with Assisted Living Referral Sites, Privacy Policies and Being Careful With Your Personal Information