A Guide to Senior Living Referral Services
You’ve decided your loved one needs to move into a senior living facility. It’s a decision that families put a lot of thought into, and when you know it’s time, it’s time. The next step is figuring the best senior living options in your area.
The good news is that you have a lot of options for researching senior living facilities. A number of websites are devoted to making the search process for senior living easier, and most of them are free.
The bad news is the flipside of the good news: you have a lot of options, how are you supposed to choose? Most families with a senior loved one don’t exactly have a surplus of free time to spare.
To help you solve that particular problem, we’ve collected reviews for the main senior living referral services to see how they stack up to each other. Here’s the rundown.
APlaceForMom.com
Reviews of APlaceforMom.com earned one of the highest ratings from reviewers of any of the websites on the list. One of the big differentiators of their service is that they provide local advisors that work directly with caregivers to help them focus in on the senior living facilities that are the best fit.
You can talk to an advisor on the phone, describe the particulars of your need and budget, and get personalized knowledge from a person familiar with the senior living facilities in your area.
All their services are free and they have over 400 local advisors on staff. The reviews from families that have used the service say they’re friendly and helpful.
Review average: 4.5 stars (out of 163 reviews as of Sept. 2016)
Caring.com
Like the other websites, Caring.com allows you to search senior living facilities by city or zip code and see all of those in your area collected onto one page. You can see a summary of all the ratings provided by past users and the reviews they’ve left, along with amenities, location, and features.
The reviews of Caring.com say they offer good service, are friendly, and provided good information, but some consumers were disappointed that they didn’t provide much follow up after providing basic information on local options.
Review Average: 4 stars (out of 39 reviews as of Sept. 2016)
OurParents.com
Like A Place for Mom, OurParents.com provides an advisor for each family that can listen to your needs and provide personalized recommendations.
The listings for each facility provide information on the payment types accepted, the services provided, the amenities available and, in some cases, user reviews (although they have fewer than many of the other sites on the list). They also helpfully provide demographic details on the area and lists of relevant businesses nearby, like hospitals and pharmacies.
Many of the reviews of OurParents.com are basic, but positive. The more detailed ones say the level of service is impressive and that the staff is often willing to go the extra mile, by making phone calls to local facilities, for instance.
Review average: 5 stars (out of 4 reviews as of Sept. 2016)
SeniorHomes.com
SeniorHomes.com provides information on over 80,000 senior living communities. Their listings include detailed pricing information, services, amenities, and reviews from residents and their families.
We don’t have too many reviews for SeniorHomes.com yet, but the reviews we have say they were helpful and provided useful information.
Review Average: 4 stars (out of 2 reviews as of Sept. 2016)
SeniorsForLiving.com
SeniorsforLiving.com offers listings of senior care facilities that list the available services, amenities, payment options they accept, and activities, and include a map showing the home’s location. They provide a number on their website that you can call for assistance as well, if you want some help beyond the information included on the website.
The reviews of Seniors for Living are mixed, but mostly positive. Most families are happy, but some reviewers feel the company didn’t really personalize the information they sent.
Review Average: 4 stars (out of 5 reviews as of Sept. 2016)
The process of finding the right senior care facility for a loved one is stressful and emotional. Anything that makes the research phase a little easier can empower you to make an informed decision without having to invest as much time and energy into the search. Hopefully, these reviews we’ve collected will help point you in the right direction so you can get your loved one settled in at their new home in no time.
Kristen Hicks
Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.
8 Comments
-
I am looking for senior low rent apartments as I am on Social Security Disability and can only afford 700.00 a month. I need to find something soon because right now I am renting a room in a home that was previously a garage, it is not insulated and not heated and I am missing half a lung and cannot continue to be sick. I would like to find something in the North Brunswick immediate area as I have lived there my entire life and it is the location of all my doctors and I am filing paperwork with Social Services on Howe Lane for assistance. So if you can help me I would be greatly appreciative. Please contact me as soon as you can.
thank you
patty slattery -
Hello,
I am 58 years of age and on a fixed disability/widow’s pension, and in desperate need of accommodation a.s.a.p.
I can no longer afford this 2 bedroom apt. that I was sharing with my eldest sister after she moved out 2 months ago, and there is absolutely nothing available that fits my budget.
Can someone help me please”?Thank you kindly.
My cellphone I have is on pay as you go by Rogers, and don’t have minutes left to talk, just to text. -
I am 65 and in good health. i am starting medicare this February.I have a fixed income of 1900 minus the $134 Medicare monthly. I am looking to move with my 22 year old daughter to Colorado Springs in August 2018 when our lease is up. Can I and my daughter find a low rent apartment there? She is planning to go to Pikes Peadk Community College there? Thankyou
-
I am trying to help my cousin who is 70 find a place to live. She’s self sufficient and likes to get around on public transportation. She is now renting a room in a private home for about $600 a month but there is no public transportation in Buffalo Grove and she has very limited use of home. Can only do her meals in microwave otherwise MUST stay in her bedroom…even to eat her meals. Not a good situation. She is on Medicaid and monthly income about $1000. Can you give me any help as I’m not finding any.
-
I’m looking for a 80 yr old man who needs some care but mostly needs low rent.He is being evicted soon and has 0$,only Medicare 900.00 a month.
He has had back surgery and now his legs won’t support him and falls a lot. And can’t cook or clean for himself. -
Please contact me ASAP
-
I tried to send a comment earlier, but not sure if it went anywhere. To repeat my question, I would like information on Independent Living facilities in Clearwater and surrounding area. I’m also interested in St. Petersburg. I visited a facility there, and was favorably impressed. However, I want to be sure I find the best option for me. Since it is a 2-hr drive to that area, I would like to be able to review the best possible locations for me, with enough information in hand to decide if a facility will l offer compatible living conditions, and what the costs are. My income would cover monthly expenses of $1200-$1500. That is what I liked about the facility I visited in St. Petersburg, which comped me an overnight stay. However, it is not exactly renovated, but doable if I don’t find anything more interesting. Any help you can offer would be appreciated.
GM Oram -
I am interested in the Indianapolis, IN, area, not Austin, TX, for crying out loud. Please sen info to me about that area.
