When is it time for assisted living?
There is rarely a single moment that settles it. The signs that actually matter, the ones families over-weight, and how to have the conversation before a crisis has it for you.
4 minute read
How to talk to a parent about assisted living
The conversation almost everyone puts off, and almost everyone opens badly. What your parent is actually defending, the sentences that work, and what to do when the answer is no.
4 minute read
The stages of Alzheimer's, and what care each one actually needs
Staging is a planning tool, not a schedule. What changes at each stage, what kind of care it calls for, and the decisions best made a stage before you need them.
3 minute read
Respite care: how to get a break without moving anyone permanently
Short-term care exists in four forms, and most families find out about it too late to use it. What each one is, who pays, and how to use a short stay as a trial run.
3 minute read
Moving a parent into assisted living: the month before, the day, and the weeks after
The decision is made and the room is booked. What to do in the four weeks before, how to handle the day itself, and why the first six weeks are usually the hardest part.
4 minute read
Memory care: what it actually is, and when assisted living stops being enough
Memory care is not assisted living with a locked door. What the difference is in practice, the questions that separate a real dementia program from a marketing one, and the point at which a move becomes necessary.
4 minute read
The assessments that decide your care — and your bill
Two different assessments stand between a family and care in the US: the community's, which sets the price, and the state's, which decides whether Medicaid pays. What each looks at, and how to prepare.
4 minute read
How to read a nursing home's CMS star rating (and what it hides)
The federal five-star rating is the best public information you have about a nursing home, and it is easy to misread. What each star is built from, and the three things it will not tell you.
3 minute read
How to choose an assisted living community: what to look for on the tour
Every community gives a good tour. What to notice that the tour is not showing you, the questions that get straight answers, and the paperwork to read before signing.
4 minute read
What senior care costs in the US, and what the quoted price leaves out
The monthly rate a community quotes is rarely what a family ends up paying. How US senior living is actually priced, which costs sit outside the base rate, and the questions that surface them.
4 minute read
Does Medicare pay for assisted living? What actually covers long-term care
The short answer is no, and families discover it late. Here is what Medicare does cover, what Medicaid covers instead, and the other four ways Americans pay for senior care.
4 minute read
Caregiver burnout: the signs, and what actually helps
Most family caregivers are one person doing a job that used to take a shift rotation. How to tell burnout from tiredness, what help exists, and why getting some is not a failure of love.
4 minute read
Assisted living, nursing home, memory care: what the words actually mean
Five kinds of senior living get used as if they were one. Here is what each one actually provides, who it is licensed to take, and how to tell which one your parent needs.
4 minute read
Homes by region
Care home overviews for every region — contacts, capacity and districts.