Memory Care Communities in Salem, VA

"I toured the assisted living of Commonwealth Senior Living at Radford. The staff was very nice. I didn't sample the food but saw it, and it looked good. The facility was very nice, but it lacked a library and some of the amenties."

"Carriage Hill Retirement was good. Our experience was OK except when my mother passed away. She was there for a couple of months. The building was well-built. The rooms were good size. They had good food and my mother liked it. We had Christmas dinner there and there was turkey stuffing and macaroni and cheese. The memory care had limited amenities, but they had a television, a gathering area, and a sunroom. They didn't have any activities in memory care. They just did all these things like we were there for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They did the Thanksgiving meal and at Christmas, they exchanged presents."

"I took a tour of the memory care at Salem Terrace at Harrogate. The memory care is a locked unit where the patients cannot leave, whereas assisted living, they can come and go. It's a very nice community. The building is very attractive. When you go in, there's a visiting area, and that's for the whole facility, no matter what area they're going to be in. And then you take an elevator down to the lower floor for the memory care. When you go into the memory care part, it's like an open area. One end of it is tables where they actually eat, and then down on the other end of it is more of like a lounge area. There's a big TV and some books and things, then along the sides of this big open area is where the rooms are. The individual rooms have a bathroom and a closet for their clothing. Also, at the far end of this open up area, is a door where they can go out onto like a patio area, which is completely closed down. In the nice weather, they can go out and walk around to visit out in this outdoor area, which is very nice. The staff seemed very friendly. Like everywhere, there's not a lot of them, but the ones that I saw seemed very nice. Once a week they go to a music activity, and then a social worker takes them out to terrace where they can go outside. They encourage them to go out and walk around and do that kind of thing. On one of the walls down there they have what I would call a busy board. It's like things that you would manipulate, like a screwdriver or a wrench where you can turn bolts, like a little steering wheel that you can steer around, so there are different items that you manipulate and do different things with, like eye-hand coordination type things. The rooms are small, but they don't really need to have a large room of their own because if they want to do activities, they can go out in that big open activity room. It's mostly a bed and a dresser. They have a nice little closet where they can fit their clothing and things. There's a bathroom with a shower, and they can take showers there in their own space. The flooring is nice. It's not carpet, which is good, because it's cleaner than what it would be with a carpet. The rooms seemed very clean. I was impressed with it."

"I liked Richfield Living-Salem Campus. The staff was very friendly. It was very clean and secure. It's a nice place. They have a place where memory care residents can go outside and get some fresh air if they need it (of course with people monitoring them). It was beautiful. They have staff available at all times to make sure everybody's okay. They have a day room where they have activities. They also play games, and have different people come in and play music for them and they dance."

"I toured Our Lady of the Valley. The folks had a good amount of freedom to do what they wanted to do, which was nice. As far as outside activities, coming and going with friends and family without too much of an issue was a benefit. I saw some of the food there, and it looked nice. The staff was engaging and helpful with any questions that I had. The facility was clean. I looked at one of the rooms and one of the apartments, and they seemed adequate."

"We have known Friendship Manor for years because we've kind of grown up in this community since the 60's. It's a massive facility now all over the valley. The people that we talked to were excellent. They answered all our questions regarding Medicaid, the facility, and services. I can't say anything bad about the staff. The staff interacted with residents. The lady who took us around was very informative. However, the whole facility is basically a hospital floor. Residents are only allowed to have a hospital bed. They cannot bring in any chairs or recliners or anything from their home. They were well taken care of, that was obvious. It was clean, but the actual facility offered nothing as far as homeyness or being welcoming. It literally was a hospital floor that they left exactly the same and put a memory care residence in. The staff who toured us was very accommodating. She worked with our schedule, and she was extremely knowledgeable. She knew what mom would need and what they could offer. She was very helpful with Medicaid, with any of the processes there, and guided us as if we were going to need that to help supplement her being able to pay for this. Honestly, it was $8,400. We were just flabbergasted. It would have been very sad because there was nothing there: no flowers and no garden. They had a 4th-floor balcony as their outdoor area that was completely concrete, nothing inviting or welcoming at all with it. I was just very disappointed with what we saw there. We would never have considered it for her. I felt like the care level was very good though. The staff interacted with the residents. I didn't see anyone sitting alone like what you think of people doing in a nursing home in memory care. You'd kind of think of them being pushed aside. The residents in Friendship were all in various areas where they could be monitored by staff. I don't feel like there was any problem with actual care. I think they were very well taken care of."

"I chose Richfield Living in Roanoke for my brother because it has a comprehensive care facility and memory care, so that he could get both aspects of what he needs. He would be able to stay there for the length of his life if he needed to because as his condition worsened, they could provide care for him at that stage too. It's brand-new, and he's currently in memory care. He just got there, so we're still feeling things out. They seem to listen to me when I make my wishes known to him. Although I realized that his day-to-day care and needs probably don't match what I think he needs because of the condition that he has. At least they listen to me, and we are getting better medical care than we were previously getting. I like that. I haven't had a chance to get to know too many of the staff, but the ones that I have were courteous and seemed to care for him. We'll see how things go as time goes on. They have complete physical therapy, so they can help him ambulate again. They are also able to take care of his medical needs as far as a catheter goes, where the other place couldn't. My goal is for him to get rid of that catheter, so that we're able to get medical treatment with that goal in mind. If he pulls the catheter out, they could put it back in again. They can get his hair washed. He had a beard, but they shaved that off so I'm not sure why they did that. Except maybe they asked him if he wants them to shave it off, and he said, yes. They said they have a hair salon, which is good. They have the ability for him to go outside in nature rather than just stay inside. They have an outdoor area where he can walk with grass and trees and that kind of thing. "

"My father has been in Carrington Cottage Memory Care Center. It's a nice place, and nice people work there. It's very homey. They have several scheduled activities a day. There are some going out trips if they're eligible. My father has a room that he shares with someone else because we are looking for a cheaper version. It's the size of a hotel room. This is memory care, so this is nothing fancy. They have a patio and a cookout and stuff. It's very clean."

"We visited the English Meadows Blacksburg Campus and toured their memory care facility. What we liked best was that the companion suite area has two separate rooms with doors and a bathroom. Then there was a main door to go to the main hallway. The place is also close to home, and the price was reasonable. They had a dining area for memory care, and it was separate from the others. They had activities, too. I don't remember exactly what type, but they had some special ones for memory care people. The staff members were nice and friendly and gave us the information we wanted."