Avita of Needham

cinziao

My mil was here for 1.5 years for us it was a nightmare. Which is too bad because the place itself is really nice! The sales staff promises you the world. Then no where to be found if there’s an issue. The nurses are always agency and they come and go. Still the nurses are attentive and care. The Activities dept. is amazing and engaging. All that set aside.. The Aides are awful. my mil had some set backs ( Covid, a fall,, stomach virus) and became a difficult transfer at times. Every time I went in the aides would complain to me about her. I hired had a private aide. Who did her laundry, showered her and put her to bed when there. My private aide would ask the staff for assistance transferring her and she said they would not help. One time, even telling my private aid you got her out of bed , you figure out how to get her back in, I still have nightmares about the care she received there. We finally pulled her when somehow her patella broke, and she had several cracks on her tibia. Still don’t know how that happened but she’s out in the care we are receiving now is so much better.

RKasischke

SUMMARY * ROOMS-- safety issues: no call button/pendants. no shower seat or grab bars * ACTIVITIES-- none on the weekends and exercise is not daily. Over-reliance on TV watching. * HYGIENE-- infrequent bathing/washing hair, clothing not cleaned, clothing lost in laundry * STAFF-- understaffed and undertrained * FOOD-- limited menu, poor quality, overcooked and often served cold. ROOMS -- The rooms are fine, though the bathroom is outdated, especially where safety is concerned. No seat in the shower stall or grab bars in the shower or by the toilet for safety. Another basic necessity missing at Avita is there is no call bell or pendant to reach the staff for help. ACTIVITIES -- Placing a resident in front of the TV for a good part of the day should not be considered an activity, (especially when at times the programs were what the staff liked to watch and not geared for the residents). HYGIENE -- same clothes worn several days in a row showing food stains. Many times clothes would belong to another resident. Hair would go for days/weeks without being washed. Clothing lost (having to replace frequently) and clothes found from other residents. STAFF -- Interaction with the staff was a mixed bag. Some aides were truly attentive and caring, while others did the bare minimum. They are understaffed and undertrained with high turnover and reliance on temp agency fill-ins. Example 1: My mother fell because there was no staff in the neighborhood common room to help her to the bathroom for over 30 minutes. With no assistance, she tried to get out of her wheelchair by herself and fell. Example 2: We had hired a private night time care giver only for our father's special needs. Our mother requires a 2 person assist but Avita short staffs its responsibility with only one caregiver. Too many times the private hired care giver was asked by the Avita staff to help them assist our mom. FOOD -- limited menu, unappetizing, overcooked and often cold. Many residents were not able to understand the menu, Though we were promised that the dishes would be shown to the resident to let them choose, this never happened. We addressed our above concerns numerous times with administration with inadequate follow through. We have moved our parents to a different facility due to our unaddressed dissatisfaction. As physicians (primary care doc and geriatric psychiatrist), we have seen many facilities and Avita needs to improve to meet industry standards.

Walter

My mom is at Avita of Needham. The main reason why we chose them is the proximity to the family. I like the cleanliness, and I like the size of each village. There are four quads, and she is in one of the quads. It limits them to probably about 12 to 14 people, so we like that. The people are very friendly and knowledgeable. It's full memory care. Right now, after a month, I think the staff is very good. They keep the activities going all day long, and my mom seems to be very active in the activities. They have music programs for them. They do arts and crafts programs. They have mass once a week or every couple of days. Those are the things that keep her active. They also have movie time and stuff like that. They seem to be able to keep her very active, which is good. It's what she needs; she needs to be active. The food is good. My mom is pretty finicky and picky, but she has no complaints about the food. She likes it.

Betsy

I toured Avita of Needham. It's a very supportive community. The apartments were very clean, spacious, and full of sunlight. There were people who were engaging in artwork, there were people who were just convening to spend time with each other, and there were people outside enjoying the courtyard. It was very enjoyable. They have gardens, patios, and opportunities for residents to garden if they want. We didn't taste any food, but the dining area looked very clean. We reviewed the menu and it looked very nutritional and healthy. The staff members were absolutely terrific. They were very warm and very kind. They knew obviously all the names of the residents.

Lori020523

Avita of Needham was very appealing. They had really nice rooms, and I really liked the director whom I made a wonderful connection with. Also, they had more Jewish people there, and I thought my dad, being Jewish, would like that. We participated in activities during the visit and we met with residents and hung out for an hour or two to see the level of participation and how they interacted with one another. One thing that was less appealing to me was they had a very low male ratio.

SA872734

Avita of Needham was the best that I went to. They were really good. They were providing very good facilities for people for memory care. It was also very new, and the facility looked very nice and well-kept. It was the one I liked most of all, and I would definitely consider it for my mom. The staff was very good and excellent, and the rooms are great, new, and nicely-kept. Their programs and food were good, and they also serve wine. They can improve by having insulin management for patients to be done directly in-house. The security is very good, and the price is a little higher, but the value is very good, and the location was not bad. Amenities were all very good, and the people were very friendly and knowledgeable. The building was very clean with a big lobby. They had 2 levels, and they constructed it very easily and nicely for people to find out where they are, so it was a very thoughtful assisted living facility.