How to Tour a Senior Living Community: Questions, Red Flags, and Tips

Niki Gewirtz, a senior care expert with A Place for Mom, suggests talking with your loved one beforehand about what aspects are most important to them. If your dad doesn’t swim, then there’s no need to see the pool. If your mom wants to bring her dog when she moves to a senior living community, this can rule out some residences, making tours of those unnecessary.

“You want to make sure that you’re seeing the right things and focused on the right things,” Gewirtz says. “And that comes with a conversation with your parents first to understand what’s important, what’s a must-have versus a nice-to-have, so the tour representative can focus on showing you the right things during the tour and make the most of your time.”

Use the tips below as checklist to bring with you on tours and record your impressions and factors of each senior living community you visit.

“Look at the upkeep of the community,” advises Gewirtz. “When you walk in, are the plants alive and looking nice or do they look neglected? That first impression is important because if they can’t take care of the plants, you might think, how are they taking care of residents?”

Request to see a room like the one your loved one may occupy, keeping in mind your loved one’s preferences. “If your loved one insists on a ground-floor apartment, then there’s no need to be shown the upper floors,” says Gerwitz.

Take note if the hallways and rooms are big enough to accommodate mobility challenges and if spaces are generally light or dark. See for yourself the view your loved one will have from their window. Pay attention to décor and colors to gauge whether these will uplift your loved one’s daily mood.

Red flags to watch for: 

• Hallways that aren’t wide enough for someone with a walker or in a wheelchair to navigate easily
• Unpleasant odors throughout community
• An overall look that’s not fresh or appealing

Let our care assessment guide you

For all seniors, especially those experiencing symptoms of dementia, such as wandering and confusion, safety is paramount. Check to see if there are emergency alert systems, enclosed courtyards or color-coded hallways, which can help dementia patients find their way. To help ensure your loved one will have adequate supervision, ask the following questions:

• How is the community secured?
• Is there a 24-hour nurse on duty? If not, when is a nurse on duty?
• What medical services are available?
• How accessible is medical help?
• How do staffing patterns differ between night and day or weekdays and weekends?

Red flags to watch for:

• Dim lighting
• No emergency alert systems
• No enclosed courtyards or color-coded hallways

Read more:Memory Care Architecture and Design: A Human-Centered Approach

Observe one-on-one interactions between staff members and residents to assess staff knowledge and traits like friendliness and patience.

“Whoever is giving the tour should introduce the staff to you, and say, for instance, ‘Hey, this is Sally, and she’s one of our caregivers. She potentially could be taking care of your mom, and she’d be the one who would be giving your mom her shower every day,’” says Gewirtz. “It really says a lot to me when they know who the caregivers and housekeepers are because it tells me that the team works together well and that they actually know who is doing what.”

To check staff specifics, ask the tour guide:

• Is your facility and staff accredited?
• Do staff attend ongoing training? How many training hours do they receive per year?
• Are staff members certified dementia care managers (CDCMs)?
• What’s the staff-to-resident ratio?
• Do staff plan individualized care and treatments for each resident?
• How do staff care for bedridden or wheelchair-bound residents?
• How often are patients with incontinence checked?
• How do staff care for disruptive or aggressive residents?
• Who coordinates outside visits?

Staff longevity is another factor to ask about, says Gewirtz. “When you’ve got a community where the tour guide says, ‘Our caregiver, Sally, has been here for 15 years,’ this means not only does she enjoy her job, but she’s probably treated well,” Gewirtz says. “She probably feels like her company appreciates her, which will make her a happier person in general when she’s around your loved one, and giving good care.”

Red flags to watch for:

• Lack of required training of staff
• High staff turnover
• High staff-to-resident ratio
• Many residents who are sleeping or appear unresponsive in wheelchairs

Read more:Senior Living Licensure and Inspection Reports: Why They Matter and How to Use Them

The other residents at your loved one’s new senior living community will become their friends and daily companions, so observe whether current residents seem social, engaged, and happy. Consider visiting during a group activity, like bingo or a social hour, to observe interactions among current residents.

“You want to see a good variety of things,” says Gewirtz. Art and music can provide a boost to many residents. “The best communities really focus on spiritual, physical, and mental activities. Look at a community to see if it’s doing things to really enhance people’s lives, with offerings that would be beneficial to them as a whole person and getting to know what will help them feel like they’re thriving.”

Ask to see an event calendar and, if possible, attend an event or activity so you can see how the residents interact with each other and how the staff handles a larger group of residents.

And see if you can join a meal as part of your tour to check out dining options. Mealtime can also provide an opportunity to ask other residents about their daily routines, and their honest opinions on the community.

If you’re taking a virtual tour, ask the guide about residents’ personalities, how many residents participate on outings, and if there are community clubs. Pay attention to how individual personalities of the residents are handled. For instance, some residents may become anxious if they receive too much socialization.

Red flags to watch for:

• Limited activities or few that your loved one would engage in
• Other residents share a lot of complaints or criticisms about the community

Talk with a Senior Living Advisor

If your loved one’s care needs change, make sure the senior living community has procedures in place to support them. For example, your mom may become bedridden and may need a Hoyer lift. Does the community have one? If so, is there an extra cost for using that equipment?

Another question to ask is should your loved one need to move out because of a need for a greater level of care, can the community help facilitate this transition?

Other key questions include:

• Under what circumstances is a resident asked to move out of the community?
• If a care contract has been signed, under what circumstances may a resident leave the community?
• No matter the reason for leaving, whether due to health or a less-than-optimal fit, how much and what type of notice must a resident provide to the community’s management?

“When you’re touring an assisted living community, ask yourself ‘At what point would this not be a good place for my mom to live?’” says Gewirtz, who notes that certain kinds of care can’t be provided in assisted living, such as maintaining a feeding tube or an IV, or handling extreme wound care. “For these, someone really needs to be in a skilled nursing type of setting,” she says.

However, if a resident begins to decline, many communities will allow hospice care providers onsite to provide additional support for that resident. “A lot of assisted living and memory care communities partner with home care and hospice agencies to be able to help with end-of-life care,” says Gewirtz. “So, ask the tour guide, ‘Do you work with hospice or home care?’”

Red flags to watch for:

• No accommodations for residents whose health requires increased level of care
• No established partnerships with home care or hospice agencies

Read more:A Place for Mom Touring Checklist, Senior Living

Trust your overall impression of the community

Though questions, notes, and tips serve as a handy guide, they’re no substitute for your gut feelings. If two communities seem equally strong on paper, consider where your loved one appeared most comfortable and where you felt most confident in the staff and environment. If you moved your family member into this new home, would you have peace of mind?

Once you’ve toured a variety of senior living communities, review your checklist and recall what you noticed or didn’t see at each community. Then take the following steps:

1. Identify your top two or three choices and make a list of follow-up questions
2. Take a second tour, and if your senior loved one is able, bring them along
3. For more guidance, reach out to one of the A Place for Mom’s senior advisors.