One of the things that we appreciate most when I come to any website is transparency, and honesty. In the past few years, I have seen a significant growth in websites in our industry that don’t tell you who they are, who they work with, or who is behind their information.
I want to take a moment to tell you who Assisted Living Directory works with, and why.
You may notice that we offer “help” if you need it in a few places on most pages of our site. These are trustworthy ways to ask a question, and to connect with a qualified consultant who is knowledgeable in the senior care industry. Many of our pages have a phone number, and some of our pages have a ‘form’ that might look similar to other sites where you can request help.
In a nutshell, any company, advisor, expert or consultant that we have on our site is one that I/we have worked with for a long time (over 5 years) – and that I have ‘tested’ personally. I’ve used these services to help research care for my mother-in-law, and each provided me with excellent support, information, ideas and of course, facility information that I needed (I was looking for care possibilities in 3 different states for ‘mom’). It was really a lifesaver for me to get qualified help – and best of all, each of them are free.
One significant difference with our site is that we offer this ‘help’ as a choice – we don’t force you to send us your personal details or call us to get the information that you originally came to our site for (for example, many senior care sites won’t give you a facility’s phone number until you send them your information).
The companies we work with to provide supportive services on our site don’t resell or share your information. If I ever found out that this weren’t the case, they’d be off of our site in a heartbeat!
The companies we contract with to provide free assistance are: Care Patrol (operating in several states); OurParents and A Place for Mom – both of which operate nationally, and can help you no matter where you are located. I’ve worked with each of these companies for over 5 years now, and I have never received one complaint about any of them. I’ve received only consistent, positive feedback for all of them.
You can contact any of these free services by calling:
OurParents: 877-452-7969
A Place for Mom: (866) 333-6550
Care Patrol: (877) 687-4988
They all have very well trained, professional staff, and are genuinely helpful. They know local and state laws and regulations, and can help you to understand what is covered, what it costs, and realistically, what you can probably afford. We would LOVE to hear your experience with any of them, should you decide to use their services!
As far as who is behind our site:
As you can tell by looking at our homepage, my photo is there, and the photos of many of our contributors and you can contact any of us directly. I want to be clear as to who writes for our site, and what their expertise is.
I have had personal experience in this industry in a variety of ways for the better part of the past decade – from finding care for my own family member, to interviewing facility owners, to producing video tours for facilities, to researching the best information to help you to make smart choices.
I’ll expect nothing less from anyone who contributes to our site. My number one goal is, and always has been to provide a place for families to be able to safely and successfully research assisted living.
Thanks for spending time on our site!
I have a 8 bedroom boarding house and I have a passion for the elderly, looking for a government program to put my on house,,any help would be appreciated dont know where to start
Hi David,
Great site and good information. I work mostly with seniors in assisting them to downsize/relocate and sometimes age in place. I have many articles on my Blog about downsizing. I work in Maryland as a senior real estate specialist.
John, I so appreciate your comment. I will most certainly check out your site and blog as well. Always good to find out about other people who help seniors. Thanks again John.
I just want a list of the facilities available in FL WITH rates. I do not want to speak to anyone. I can research the amenities and other items available myself if a list could be provided.
Hi, I totally understand…I don’t think such a list exists..most facilities don’t post rates or costs.. I offer people on our site to help research this information…it’s probably less painful to make one call instead of dozens. If I ever found such a list, I would surely post it on my website!
I just want a list of the facilities available in Tallahassee, FL WITH rates. I do not want to speak to anyone. I can research the amenities and other items available myself if a list could be provided.
Traci, I hear ya. I wish there was such a list, and if there were, I would certainly post it. I can offer you the Florida Health Finder facility search page, which is really comprehensive and gives you a great list of virtually all assisted living facilities and residential care homes for Tallahassee, or any other city in FL.
http://www.floridahealthfinder.gov/facilitylocator/facilitysearch.aspx
However, getting prices for each is the trick – I don’t know of any list that includes this info for each facility, probably since pricing changes so frequently with many facilities. Anyways, hope that helps, and best of luck. David
You stated that you work with “trustworthy” partners that have local presense, are familiar with options, and don’t collect your information just to provide you with options. This is not the case for any of the three sites you included in the list above. They all collect detailed info prior to sharing any suggestions. Their staffs are not always locally based and have not always prescreened all communities they work with.
Hi Daniel, thanks for your comment. Of course, they will ask families detailed questions, as that’s the only way they can offer a suggestion(s) that fit what you need. To clarify, and maybe I should have worded it this way, they don’t collect your information to resell or share with other companies or parties. That’s what a lot of less-than-reputable sites do. I’ve asked all three that I work with if they do this, and every one states a very strong ‘no’ to that.
If anyone ever has an experience where this happens, I would love to hear about it.
In the 10 years I’ve had my site, and the over 5+ years I’ve worked with each of these companies, I’ve never, ever had one complaint about the services they provide, or the privacy practices (or lack thereof) that they have.
CarePatrol, I only list them where they offer services specifically. The other two have such a large, national presence, with literally hundreds of local agents, chances are they have someone local.
Yes, they are referral sites – one’s that have been around for a long time, and based on the positive feedback I’ve gotten, and most importantly, the time that they have saved families who have no time due to caregiving duties, often times mixed with work, raising kids, and all the rest going on, I stand by all three of them.
I get requests almost every day from ‘companies’ or ‘individuals’ wanting to work with me, and offer their services or expertise through my site, and 99.9% of the time I turn it down.
If you’ve had a specifically negative experience with any one of these companies, I would certainly like to know about it.
Thanks for your comment.
What I am looking for is an independent/assisted living facility with units of approximately 1800 SF, or at least one unit that large (for me), I an area in PA that is no more than 50 miles, preferably 30, from Bloomsbury, NJ. That would be Bucks County, the Lehigh Valley, and whatever is to the north of there. I believe I have talked to someone from A Place for Mom and I don’t think they knew of any that large. Do you or any of your contacts know of one(s) in those areas that are about that size?
I would like to get a list of assisted living places that accept medicaid. Can you help me with this?
Hello-good information available. I hope you let your readers know the referral agencies you recommend will only provide info on assisted living facilities they have an agreement with; who will pay them. So the family may never learn about some potentially better options. Still a good service, but they aren’t comprehensive and also not necessarily objective. Thanks for transparency and commitment to educating consumers!
Barbara, thanks for the comment. One of the main differences with my site is that these services are offered as a choice, and not forced like many other sites (aka, many other sites don’t even list direct contacts for the facility, so you are ‘forced’ to call the referral service to get additional information).
In some cases, it might be somewhat limiting, but I know that at least two of the companies I work with have gone beyond their network to help people, since it was the right thing to do, and they care about their reputations as being able to help seniors and families.
I think the services are a good fit for many people, and perhaps not for others. It depends on how much time you have to research, your knowledge, and your unique situation. These services can be a lifesaver to people who simply don’t have the time, energy, knowledge or resources to navigate the process.
I really appreciate your comment Barbara.
How do we change our information on your directory???
Hi Donna, just send me an email through our site’s contact page – it will come to me, and I can help you to get your information updated!
David