My mother is in Bradenton Oaks. When we go there, everybody is extremely friendly and nice. They have a choice of different things, and one thing is they have memory care where you can only have one room. Then, you can also have an apartment. The rooms are small, but the apartment, I can live in. My mother has an apartment. It makes her feel that she's on her own and independent, even though they know everything she's doing. It makes her feel good about herself. Her apartment has a living room that is big enough, and she has a dining table there, also. It has a full kitchen, a good sized bedroom, and a large bath. It has a walk-in closet in her bedroom. It is a really nice apartment. Even though she doesn't use the kitchen, I know she feels like she's on her own. It makes her feel she's not being watched all the time, even though they come in and check her. They check on her all the time, but she doesn't feel invaded. The food is delicious. In the place she was in before, the food was bland. I figured, well, because so many people have diet restrictions. which my mother does not have. She always complains that the food is terrible. Over here, last Easter Sunday, she already went to lunch even before I got there. So, I said, "Let her finish, and I'll go up her apartment." They said, "Let us sent a meal up with you." They have prime rib, and it is better than I have had in recent years at a restaurant. It just melts in your mouth. It is fantastic. I have had four or five meals there, and every single one of them was absolutely delicious. They offer activities like bingo, which my mother hates, but they have Wii games too. One day I walked there, and they were having fudge brownie sundaes and music at the same time. They have games and stuff. They have a library. They also have buses that will take them to Walmart or the public supermarket. My mother can't do that because she has dementia so she won't remember to go back to the bus, but any residents who are just a little disabled go out all the time.
There are a few things they can improve on, but the prices are reasonable compared to most other places. The facility needs to be updated a little, but it is not totally bad. It can be freshened up a little bit, but the people there are more than accommodating. The staff is very nice and friendly.
My mother has been down in Florida with me for four years, and from day one, all she has said is she wants to go back to Rhode Island. Even when she was living with me before I found this place, every day she said, "I want to go back to Rhode Island." Then she went to Bradenton Oaks at the beginning of March. Since she's been there, she has not once said to me "I want to go back to Rhode Island." That's what I am basing my opinion on the place on: she likes it. She seems to be doing really well over there, and it is close to me. That is another thing that I like because I go over there two or three times a week, even just to sit with her and watch TV, or we go out for a little walk around the block or something like that. It is easy to get to for me.