Consumer Reviews Identify America's Best Assisted Living and Alzheimer's Care Communities, the "Caring Stars of 2016"

Caring.com Announces Top Senior Living Communities Nationwide Earning Most Praise, More Inquiries, and More Move-Ins

San Mateo, CA; Oct. 14, 2015 – To help family caregivers and older adults quickly identify the best senior living communities – particularly as they gather for the upcoming holidays and discover increased or urgent senior care needs, today Caring.com announced the winners of its annual, industry-leading "Caring Stars" list of the top assisted living and Alzheimer's care communities nationwide. The "Caring Stars of 2016" include 787 communities in 44 states that have earned the most positive reviews from consumers in Caring.com's Senior Care Directory, the #1 source for senior care reviews on the web.

Now entering its fifth year, the Caring Stars program was the first to use online reviews from consumers to identify the best senior living communities, and in recent years, with the growing popularity of online reviews, has become the ultimate list that consumers can reliably turn to for researching and selecting the best senior living communities. In fact, data from Caring.com's directory and senior housing referral database reveals that on average, Caring Stars communities have received twice as many consumer inquiries and move-ins as Caring.com partner listings without the award.

"Prospective residents and their family members want high-quality senior living services, and the Caring Stars award helps steer them in the right direction by showing which communities American consumers love most," said Caring.com CEO and co-founder, Andy Cohen. "Congratulations to the assisted living and memory care care communities achieving this recognition of service excellence, and thank you to every family caregiver and older adult who took the time to share their feedback in reviews!"

In July 2015 research Caring.com conducted with senior care searchers online, the majority of respondents said they relied on Internet-based consumer reviews more than in-person recommendations by professionals or medical personnel. In another recent survey, Caring.com asked visitors to its website which reviews mattered most to their current senior care search: the new ones, the old ones, or all of them. Over half of the respondents (55%) said that any review, no matter how old, could have some valuable information for their search.

Any assisted living or memory care community with consumer reviews on Caring.com is eligible for the Caring Stars award. To be considered for Caring Stars 2016, the community had to: receive at least three (3) new consumer reviews between Dec. 1, 2014-Sep. 30, 2015 (with at least one 5-star review during that timeframe); possess an overall average rating greater than four (4) stars across all reviews on their listing (to demonstrate excellence over time); and respond to any negative reviews (to further exemplify top-notch customer service).

To view the complete Caring Stars of 2016 list, please visit https://www.caring.com/bestseniorliving. Consumers interested in learning more about the best assisted living and Alzheimer's care communities in their area may also call Caring.com's free senior living referral helpline, which is available seven days a week: (866) 824-8174.

With millions of visitors to its flagship website, Caring.com, Caring is a leading senior living referral service and the nation’s top site for senior care reviews. Founded in 2007, Caring’s mission is to help as many seniors and their caregivers as possible through empathetic, expert guidance. Applying cutting-edge technology to this humane mission, Caring provides relevant senior care information and support, as well as comprehensive senior living and senior care directories for the United States, including nearly 400,000 consumer reviews. Through a toll-free referral line at (800) 558-0653, Caring’s trusted, nationwide team of Family Advisors — who are among the most highly trained, highly skilled, and knowledgeable experts in senior care — helps seniors and their families research and connect to the most appropriate services and support for their specific situations. For more information about our organization and our free services for seniors and their families, please visit http://www.caring.com/about and join with Caring on Facebook.