Countryside Senior Living of Jacksonville

Marianela

We toured the assisted living facility of Countryside Senior Living of Jacksonville. It was under construction, so they were doing a lot of remodeling, but I would recommend it. My sister even wanted to recommend it to a couple that lives down the road. It has a very nice environment, it was peaceful, and very welcoming. The rooms were very large and ample. Two people would sit very well on some of them. If you are just a single person who needs some kind of assistance and help, they have enough people who would help you get around, so it was very nice. It also has a pleasant smell. It didn't smell like some homes for assisted living or nursing homes. We really enjoyed it and told the lady who was there that if my brother didn't need the 24/7 type of care, I think he would have really enjoyed that type of atmosphere. They have a room where an activity director does activities with the residents. I imagine they did exercise too because they have a kind of atrium there, and it was nice. They could sit down and have lunch together, or they could have it in separate little areas. The remodelling issue was the only little problem, but it wouldn't be fair to judge them on that. I think the place was very well taken care of. The person who gave the tour was so sweet and friendly. It was on a weekend, and that's usually when they don't have everybody on staff, but the people who were there were very nice.

Martha

I'm at Angelina House. I like all of it, the way it's organized and the way it functions in an organized manner. It provides activities for all levels. They accommodate each and every need that they may have. The staff is excellent. There are some better and there are some not as good. The food is wonderful. It's a well-balanced diet. It is planned by experts in nutrition and it is excellent. I have not found anything that was not palatable. It's clean. Somebody's cleaning the floors and cleaning the rooms. There's constant cleaning going on. We have devotion, dominoes, bingo, and any other kind of games that anybody chooses. We have different games in the activity room that people can choose and go to a table and have their own Bridge or whatever they want to play. They keep us so busy. We have exercise every morning. We have daily devotions, and we have Christian singing. We have hymn singing. You can go any time you want to go outside for a walk. You just have to tell someone what you're doing and you're on a level where you can take care of yourself. There's a swing out there. You can sit and enjoy the outside. There are sidewalks all around. You can walk safely. We have preaching twice a week. We have a preacher come with a pianist, and they play and sing those old hymns. We don't have to go out to attend church. The preacher has a church right here in Jacksonville and knows most of the people here. We have other entertainment that comes in. They play the banjo. One lady came in with her recordings of singing the old hymns. We have volunteers coming in from the area to sing to us and to have activities with us. We're busy. I was paying much more where I came from and I was not getting near what they offer here.

Mary

I went to Angelina House. I wasn't impressed with that one. The activity room was small. I asked about the food, and they said that they were just changing their program for meals, and it was kind of wishy-washy. I didn't get good answers. I didn't see monthly menus for meals, and I didn't like the way they charged everything. I didn't see any group activity going on. I saw a studio, and it was about the same as all the ones I saw. It is a little older place. It's not as new as some other places I looked at. I think they ought to set up visitation at a certain time and make sure they're ready. There wasn't much space in the activity room.