The Advantages of Using a Local, More Personal, Senior Placement Agency
You and your family are facing a difficult decision.
Emotions are mounting. Uncertainty keeps you up at night. Anxiety fills your day. The ability to concentrate at work and manage daily tasks seems nearly impossible.
The cost of time, research, and travel quickly add up; yet, you're still left with confusion and doubt. Am I making the right move?
You're not alone.
In the greater Atlanta area, along with the rest of the country, thousands of families find themselves in the same troubling dilemma of having an aging relative that is unable to remain independent and is in need of senior living options or in-home care. Possibly the need includes adult day care, respite, Alzheimer's / dementia care or hospice services.
Regardless of the specific needs for your aging loved one, the first question often asked is: Where do I go?
Many families instinctively react to this situation based on emotion, quickly seizing upon any available senior residence or care provider. Their hope is to meet the senior's need while allowing the remaining family members to return to their normal routines. Unfortunately, more problems tend to emerge as the residence or care provider isn't always a good fit for the senior. The original problem is now compounded to create a new set of problems, placing you back to square one.
Seemingly out of options, some families are tempted to contact a national senior placement company. The problem with these large corporations is that they are impersonal and abide by the one-size-fits all mentality. They do not engage locally with the family and are often more concerned with placing your senior in a facility that produces the largest referral fee for their bank account, rather than the most suitable environment for your aging loved one.
The good news is that this doesn't have to be your reality. There is a better way, and the best part is that the solution is in your own backyard.
You can avoid the hassle of managing on your own or exchanging countless e-mails with a faceless national referral agency. The most appropriate starting point is almost always with a local senior placement service.
At The Right Move, we are your neighbors. We share the values of your community and have a vested interest in the welfare of our area residents. We are knowledgeable about local resources and reputations. We are available and accessible for more detailed interview questions and after-placement follow-up.
We want to provide the type of service experience that is familiar to the elderly generation: face-to-face consultation rather than e-mail, prioritizing investments into the family over financial gains, and sharing a firm handshake that builds mutual trust. The final decisions made for the aging senior should be built on careful consideration of every possible solution. The ultimate goal is for every party involved to feel comfortable and at peace as we look, together, to the road ahead.
A good local senior placement agency will offer assistance both in-person and online to maximize the convenience of the family. Some agencies visit the senior at his or her home to assess the medical, social, and financial conditions. Doing so provides first-hand information and insight into the overall care needed for the individual. Other agencies will accompany the senior and family on tours of possible living options or arrange for care providers to visit the senior and family to discuss their company's services. The Right Move understands the importance of accommodating the family and senior's needs in order to facilitate the appropriate placement.
The main advantages of using a local Atlanta senior placement agency, like The Right Move, include:
more personal attention.
verifiable credentials and a vetted reputation.
a breadth of local knowledge.
Most importantly, our desire is to protect the senior, to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, and to provide effective counsel to the family so that you can choose the right options within your local community.
How do you know if you have found a good local senior placement agency? Carefully review the company's answers to the following questions:
What background do you have in senior care? Listen for experience in senior living residences, home health, hospice care, or senior advocacy work.
How long have you resided in this area?
How knowledgeable are you with the reputation of the senior residences and care providers in this area? Check to ensure that the agency regularly obtains performance information from various sources, including state and regulatory agencies, advocacy sources, third party reviews, etc. Ask if they have visited the communities personally and spoken with management and/or residents.
Will you make home visits to assess the senior? While this is not necessarily a deal-breaker, it might help to reduce the anxiety of the senior with a personal "meet and greet."
Do you refer to community resources that only give you a referral fee? There is nothing wrong with how an agency generates its income (often that is why the placement service is free to the senior and family); however, a good agency will suggest the most suitable resource available whether or not a fee is earned.
Do you follow up after placement? Again, the better agencies will want to know how the senior is adapting to his or her new environment or care/service in the home.
Imagine how reassuring to know that a local senior placement agency can handle most of the 'heavy lifting' research and advocacy so that the final decision - made by you, the family, and the senior - is rendered in a well-informed and locally-centered fashion.