Trustworthiness is paramount when you’re searching for a senior living community, either for yourself or for your loved one. This is going to be a new home, and you need to make sure that it’s a place where you or your loved one can feel safe and well cared for. While it’s true that trust builds over time, there are aspects you can evaluate long before move-in day. It’s important to do this, as anxiety has a way of building quickly when it comes time to plan for this next chapter.

Check Online Reviews

The process of searching for a senior living community can be intimidating, so it’s best to start with something familiar. Online reviews have become ingrained in our everyday activity when it comes to decisions large and small, so they’re a helpful place to begin when searching for a trustworthy senior living community. As always, take the reviews with a grain of salt—folks have a habit of speaking up only when they’re unhappy. But if you notice a negative trend among the reviews, consider that a red flag.

Get Personal Recommendations

Chances are, you’re not the first person in your circle to undertake this journey. Reach out to friends and family. Even if you can’t get specific recommendations because they don’t live close or their needs are different from yours, you can still ask them for positives or negatives from their own experience, or things they wish they would have known. Online reviews can give you a solid footing to get started, but underpinning the online world with actual feedback from those you know and love can help you build trust in your ability to make the right decision. And if you’re friend or family group doesn’t turn up anyone you can ask, seek out friends of friends.

Visit Multiple Facilities

Each step of your search for the right senior living community should get you more familiar with exactly what it is you’re looking for. After you’ve taken in all the reviews and advice you can handle, it’s time to make some visits. Come with questions prepared, and add to that list as you go. It’s important to be thorough and visit a few places to begin your search. As you start to zero in on your most likely candidates, head back for another visit. We recommend heading in mid-week, and even dropping in without an appointment. This way, you can get a feel for the day-to-day operations.

Inquire About Training

Trusting the senior living community you choose means trusting the staff that works there, who will be caring for you or your loved one. Be sure to ask about the type of training they receive. Go beyond the subjects they’re versed in to find out more about how the training was conducted. Was it thorough? When was it conducted? And is training ongoing? The world of senior care is always evolving, and it’s important that the staff at the senior living community is well-versed in the most up-to-date knowledge.

Be Thorough

It’s natural to be apprehensive about your decision. So take every step to build trust in yourself. Take detailed notes as you conduct your research. That way, if you can’t remember why you felt strongly about a senior living community, whether that feeling was positive or negative, you have something to refer back to. When you visit communities, go through your full list of questions, even if you feel overwhelmingly negative or positive about the place you’re visiting. While it’s important to trust your gut, it’s also important to have something to backup that trust when doubt sets in.

If you’re looking for senior care you can trust in Louisiana, we hope The Woodleigh of Baton Rouge is on your list. We’re here to answer any questions you have as you search for a trustworthy senior living community.