Assisted Living

Hello! I am wondering how I might go about providing information on your website about our Personal Care Home. We are in process of becoming licensed as a Type B facility in Austin, TX. This information may be available already on your site, but portions of it are down for maintenance.
Thank you, Kari Silvey Silvey Manor

I am currently looking for an assisted living facility for my dad. He has dementia and is at his home with a caregiver. My siblings and I relieve her on the weekends. This is the only time that we can get him to bathe as well. He is walking away more frequently and we are concerned about his safety. He needs to be in a secure environment so I am researching facilities. They are so expensive! He will have to enter the assisted living side via private pay and transfer into the nursing side as his disease progresses. The problem is finding one that has a "medicaid" bed. Keep me in your prayers as I do my research.

hi my dad had a stroke 5 weeks 4 days ago ,21 days ago he was told he could go home in 2 to 3 weeks (so in theory he should be due to come home in 12 days)although he and i am desprate for him to come home ,the nursing staff are appearing to stole this,saying he cannot communiate ,we chat together so i know he can.can someone please help and advise me how i can get my dad home,he and i are so despriate for this to be so best wishes tahemi

How do you get over the guilt of having your mom in the nursing home ,she is looking better ,seems better .she has the beginnings of alzheimers and was in a real need for good nursing care ,she has 6 children who most of us work or just not able to have her home to take care of her. she cant walk or take care of herself in the batheroom .

Are you a mirror image of your mother? Do you often get mistaken for siblings or called Mini-Me?

Enter Emeritus Senior Living's Mother's Day Look-Alike Photo Contest for a chance to win up to two $100 Visa gift cards! The second place winner will receive two $50 Visa gift cards. Submit your photo (and view other entries) on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/MomDayPhoto[fb.me] The deadline is May 13. You'll also find details on the Emeritus Senior Living website: http://www.emeritus.com/mothers-day-contest[emeritus.com]

Also, stay tuned for details about Caring.com's virtual party on Friday, May 11. We'll be celebrating moms & the caregivers who love them in the Caring for a Parent support group. A featured guest includes author and caregiving advocate, Carol O'Dell, who wrote the "Dear Family Advisor" blog offering advice on family ties, tangled by caregiving. During our virtual event in honor of moms and their caregivers, Carol will be gifting a few copies of her book, "Mothering Mother: A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir" about her experience caring for her mother through Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and coronary diseases. More info coming soon -- subscribe to receive email alerts for the Caring for a Parent group wall : http://www.caring.com/support-groups/caring-for-a-parent <click the "Join this Group" button in the right column of the page. Thanks!

The Meadows at Sun Valley has "an Activities Director who is very nice and very warm. That's one of the things I noticed right away," says William, whose 98-year-old mother resides there. "The manager for the building has 20 years of experience. Whenever I call her up I know I'll get my questions answered, she always knows what's going on and does what she's supposed to do." Read more of his 5-star rating for his mother's assisted living community here: http://www.caring.com/blogs/reviews-of-the-week/congratulations-to-the-meadows-at-sun-valley-assisted-living-and-home-instead-in-home-care

We'd also love to hear about your experiences with assisted living! Share before April 30th for a chance to win $100: http://www.caring.com/review_submissions/take_a_break

Congratulations to assisted living community, River Wood Estates in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for being among the senior care providers who received top-rated praise from members of the Caring.com community last week! You can read about their new 5-star review here: http://www.caring.com/blogs/reviews-of-the-week/congratulations-to-river-wood-estates-assisted-living-and-brightstar-in-home-care

To get automated alerts when new "Reviews of the Week" are posted, visit this blog's homepage and click "Watch This" at the top (near the headline): http://www.caring.com/blogs/reviews-of-the-week

Finding professional care providers for your loved ones is one of the hardest tasks we may face as family caregivers. When the time is right, references from other caregivers can be an invaluable source of comfort when seeking care. That is why Caring.com's Senior Living Directory has ratings and reviews – so that those who are in a similar situation can benefit from people who have had first-hand experience with a care provider.

Among 400+ reviews that were posted to Caring.com on the week of April 2, 2012, here are two 5-star reviews that are worth noting:

• Angel's Working Adult Home Care in Peoria, AZ

• CareAll in Nashville, Tennessee

Read more about these reviews here and write a review about a care provider you have had first hand experience with here for a chance to win $100 for our Take a Break Giveaway. Don't delay! Contest ends April 30, 2012.

Caring.com welcomes new family caregivers into the Caring.com community on a daily basis -- individuals looking for eldercare support and advice, and particularly those helping a loved one move to assisted living. One such caregiver, Laura Leyrer turned to Caring.com to find answers during her caregiving journey with her mom, Evelyn, who has early severe-stage Alzheimer's, glaucoma, and a cataract in one eye. 

“People have been so supportive,” Laura says. “Hearing about their situations has made mine seem much more common and possible to handle … In a very short time, I feel like I have a network of friends who can understand what anyone who hasn’t been touched by Alzheimer's cannot. I am grateful every day to Caring.com.” 

Please read on about Laura's journey finding support, guidance and assisted living for her mom in this month's Caregiver Honor Roll: http://www.caring.com/interviews/caregiver-honor-roll

How is your loved one’s assisted living community celebrating the holidays?

Do you have a loved one living in an assisted living community in the U.S.? We’d love to hear the creative and festive ways their community is celebrating this holiday season. Whether it's decking the halls, exchanging gifts, providing holiday lights tours, or creating other special activities, we want to know how they’re ‘making spirits bright’ in your loved one’s assisted living community this time of year.

Take, for instance, Sunrise Senior Living in Simi Valley: The adult daughter of two residents wrote her local newspaper[vcstar.com] to express how “they have created an environment that makes each resident’s experience warm and fulfilling,” including a holiday celebration with imported snow, a meal and carolers. “My brother, sister and I watched the joy on our parents’ faces as they viewed their grandchildren play in the snow,” she wrote.

Another example from Emeritus West Side Manor in Liverpool, NY, with congratulations due: Their community participated in the Annual Gingerbread House Competition at the Syracuse Erie Canal Museum, and took first place in the senior citizen category! Residents created a display[facebook.com] called "First Snow on the Erie Canal" and also took first place for the sub-category of "Best Incorporation of the Erie Canal."

And a memory from our staff: As a senior in high school, Sho B., our community manager, took part in a holiday activity called Senior-to-Senior Exchange. "One day in December, we visited a local senior living facility, had lunch and exchanged gifts with residents," she said. "To this day, I remember the great feeling I had as we shared stories, gifts and laughter."

How about you? What warm, fuzzy feelings or meaningful activities is your loved one’s assisted living community creating this season?