Ideal Senior Living

Phyllis

I think the care at Ideal Senior Living is excellent. It's a residential home, and there are only 6 patients. There are 2 ladies that live in the lower level. They're from Jamaica, so you always have the consistency of the same people there. They're very pleasant, and they're very cheerful. Then there's a cook who is from Armenia that comes in 6 days a week and does the cooking. When I'm there, I see them out in the kitchen, getting food ready, or helping a patient. I hear them giggling and laughing; they're very happy people. They're consistent because they're the same people, so the patients already got to know them. The place is very clean and when you go in. You always take your shoes off at the door. They want you to go and wash your hands, or they have alcohol right there to wash your hands. They have hardwood floors. Every day someone's washing those floors, so it's more than clean. They also clean the bathrooms well. I think cleanliness is one of the really big things there, although that may happen in other places. The food isn't really fancy, and it's served on a single plate, like a nine-inch plate. There's a lot of food. My husband's kind of a big eater and I always say, "Did you get enough?" He says yes, and that the food is really good. He's very content there. He says they make rice with mixed vegetables and a chicken leg, a 2-piece chicken thing, and then a desert. I have a sister who lives in another senior living, and their meals are very gourmet, very fancy, and very elegant. The meals at Ideal Senior Living are not presented like that, but it is the kind of food that my husband likes. It's not family-style because it's not like common dishes on the table, but it's more like the food that he probably would have eaten at home over the years. I don't really see any problems with anything. They wash the clothes, and they take good care of everything. Today I was over there and they had a lady come in and she was like a recreational therapist of a hospital before she retired. She comes in and she plays games. They have fly swatters and balloons. Then they'll play Trivial Pursuit. Then she might play some music and the residents guess what the music is. It's more of the oldies' stuff, just so the people have fun. Those of us visiting also participate and have fun. There are not a lot of people because one is in hospice and one had a stroke. It's not like a lot of people. Between the patients, it works out very well. The only problem is just, it's a little bit far. It's 28 minutes for me to drive, and that's the part that I don't like. I wish there was something like that in the Troy area. My husband is there for assisted living, but there are patients there who need memory care. They have some hospice patients from time to time. If it's dialysis, they don't take them since they don't do medical care. If they have some memory issues, they'll take care of them. The staff is very pleasant and always hard-working. Sometimes he needs help getting lowered to the toilet or getting off the toilet; they help him. He always looks clean-shaven and bathed. His clothes always look clean and fresh, so they take very good care of him. He gets nightmares sometimes, and they come in and help him calm down. They're right there for him. The food has a good flavor, and it seems to always be enough. In the morning, they may make an omelet with mushrooms or sausage in it. He might have pancakes, orange juice, prune juice (if he needs it), and even coffee. Sometimes he has a little bowl of cut-up tangerine, oranges or something like that. It seems to be nutritious from my observation, and it looks like it's fresh, so it's good. There are 2 rooms in the home that are smaller, and that's where they had the hospice patients because they're not getting in and out of bed. They're in bed almost all the time other than if they have to lift them. Every day, they try to bring them out into the family room or the living room. They would get them moved, cleaned up, and feed them according to what they would eat. My husband's room is not huge. It's probably a little bit bigger than a dormitory room, but it's lovely. It's perfect for him. He seems content with the good lighting and good windows. My husband moved in December, and they didn't have as much then for Christmas when normally they have a Christmas party with Santa and all. Some of it was COVID-related. On Mondays and Wednesdays at 3, they have this recreational therapist who comes in for an hour. On Thursdays, they have an artist come in and they paint on a canvas. I was even there as a visitor and they said I can paint, so I painted a picture. They have those activities. The therapists also do gentle exercises, but that's just two days a week. My husband also walks around the house with a walker to try to get some walking exercise in. I think the activities are good. I thought the price was very high. Considering what I've learned from the other places, it's actually much better.