Getting Personal Local Assistance to Find the Right Fit for Dad
Pauline called me almost in tears. She had searched online for an assisted living community for her Dad and inadvertently filled out information from a national placement company. What she didn’t realize when she was doing her on line search is by filling out the form that popped up the national placement company sent her name to all the assisted living communities in the area. They’re all ‘required’ to follow up based on corporate mandates so they called her immediately then regularly thereafter. They didn’t have much more info than her name and phone number so they were all asking the same questions about her Dad which was tedious. It was terribly overwhelming to Pauline to get the calls from different communities and she was frozen with indecision on what to do. Fortunately a friend of hers gave her our number as a local resource and we were able to make the whole process more manageable for her.
We talked to Pauline for a long time to learn more about her Dad: what prompted her original search, where did he want to live, what care needs did he have, what could he afford (short and long term), what are his hobbies and what does he like to do? Is he social, does he like activities or to be in his room alone? The more details we can learn about our clients the easier it is to narrow down the options so we can find the Right Fit for him.
Pauline’s Dad needed more attention than he was getting in his independent living community but she couldn’t decide if adult care homes or assisted living would be better. He wasn’t a social person and didn’t want to go to the dining room for meals so adult care homes seemed like a good option however she wanted more residents and staff around for his social interactions which indicated assisted living may be more appropriate.
We visited both assisted living and adult care homes in Beaverton, Tigard, Hillsboro and Forest Grove. Because she was working with us we were able to provide information to the communities in advance so they knew who she was, what her Dad needed, his hobbies and what their ideal situation would be. They were able to show her what she was looking for, address her specific areas of concern and make her feel comfortable with who they were and what they offered. After the visits we talked about the pros and cons of each until she felt comfortable with her ultimate choice.
We checked in with her after her Dad moved in to see how it was going. He’s doing well, he’s getting very good care and Pauline feels relief that she found the Right Fit for him. Pauline followed up about a month later. She had some questions about the community into which he moved but felt uncomfortable asking staff. We were able to work with staff and her as a go between to clarify the questions. We are always available to help our clients, we are their advocates during the search and after they’ve moved.