Cottage Care Circle

Amy

Cottage Care Circle is very caring. They're there for the residents. They are very uplifting. They interact with the residents and try to push them, so they're not depressed. They try to interact with them more and get them moving around. The staff members are funny and hardworking, and they're mainly women. There are only a couple of men staff. They're outgoing. They make it feel homey. They decorate it all the time for different months. The kitchen is open, so the residents can watch them make the food. It always smelled delicious. Grandma said the food was phenomenal. She stated it was real food and not the pretend food that you get in packages. They have an actual chef that comes in. The dining area is open. There are four chairs at each table. Right now, they only sit two residents per table. They're across from each other instead of next to each other, so they are distancing. It's a very large open area. It's kind of also a common area for them. After dinners or meals, they're more than welcome to sit there and play games, interact, and read. You can see the kitchen from the dining area and the living room area. It's a very open concept. Her room kind of reminds me of a dorm room like when you're in college. It's carpeted, but they have some hard floored rooms. If they need, they could put a rug down, but they're very nice and freshly painted. They have either a hospital bed or a regular bed. They can bring in their own furniture (like a recliner) if they would like. They can either have it in their room or in the TV area. They can also bring their own bed if they would like that, instead of having one that's there. They each get a dresser, a nightstand, and a very large closet. They each have a bathroom that's shared. There's another room on the other side, and the bathroom is in the middle. They might have a roommate for the bathroom if they're filled. If not, they might have their own bathroom for a while. They bring in a band for live music. They do bingo, board games, and one-on-one games with the workers or the resident can play with another resident. They have more stuff outside, like there's a whole bird watching thing, but it's not really going on with the weather right now. They have a beautiful patio. They can also do like the firepit, and they grill outside as well (weather permitting). They have a sewing machine if anybody knows how to sew or would like to sew. While the employees are doing laundry, there's one lady there who absolutely loves to help fold laundry while she's watching Wheel of Fortune. They let them if they would like to. They just give them a couple of hand towels and let them fold to help keep them interactive. They're more than welcome to go on outings. They can leave whenever they would like. Either family or friends can sign them out. There's a wheelchair accessible van, and it's only a dollar. They can take them anywhere in town. There's a salon inside the center, so they can get their hair or nails done. They also have restorative care where a nurse comes out two or three times a week and works with different residents on regular exercise or anything they need help with (like dressing themselves and stuff like that). They have an aerobics class, and they have trivia nights. It's very clean. They did end up having a water leak and it was fixed right away. I feel it's cleaner than my house. They do very, very good upkeep. It does not smell bad at all. It does not smell like that nursing home smell. It doesn't smell like urine or feces. Overall, it has a nice big homey feel to it instead of more like a hospital or nursing home feel. It's very inviting. They have the salon, bathing area, a gym if they want to work out a little bit, a back patio with the firepit, and the birdwatching area. They have the most awesome thing. They have a little dog, and he is so friendly. He definitely uplifts a lot of the residents there. He's the cutest dog ever. They are very reasonable to work with. One way to keep the cost down is you provide your own healthcare supplies, like your own Depends, Kleenex, toothpaste, toothbrush, and deodorant. If they need to provide it, it's not a problem, but they just put that on the bill of how much it costs for those item. You could always buy it in bulk, and it's so much cheaper. It helps with the cost. My grandmother was extremely depressed before, and now she's talking. She has a smile on her face, and she's interacting with residents. It's definitely a big difference from where she was before. My grandmother is still of sound mind. They will go to her for questions or problems, instead of the family. Even if the family says, "Please contact us if she's having problems," they won't because she's of sound mind. Unless she specifically says, "Yes, please tell my granddaughter or grandson" this or that, they won't give us a call because she's of sound mind. It's not their fault, but I wish they would just let us know no matter what.