Does anyone know which companies specialize in Assisted Living (Senior Community) mystery shops? I did a bunch of these awhile back and I would like to do more. Thank you for sharing!

I would tell you; however, doing so may be a violation of my ICAs. I know that providing the name of the client is a violation, but I do not know if telling you that so and so company does assisted living shops. Also, I do not want to upset other members for providing this information. If you did a search for assisted living shops, you may get an answer to your question. I find the search option very informative and helpful. Also, if you have done assisted living shops previously, search through your email. I save all of the emails which let me know that a shop has been assigned to me. I created a subfolder in my email named "Accepted Shops" and copy such emails to that subfolder. That way, I have a record of all shops assigned to me for future reference.

Intellishop had some. don't know if they still do but I did a couple of them a couple months back.

Measure Consumer Perspectives also has some.

Many of them require video and/or audio recordings.

walesmaven Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Many of them require video and/or audio
> recordings.

Walesmaven, all of the assisted living shops I have done require audio recording. Washington state is a two-party consent state - I have a question for you. Is it legal to record these shops? I'm wondering if employees are made aware that they could be shopped and have signed a consent form. I just want to make sure that I am not doing something that could get me in trouble.

I was forever traumatized as a child, by an "assisted living" facility, (what I witnessed) in that I take it means "old folks home" or convalescent home...

When I was 6 years old, some "brainiac" decided it would be great to visit the old folks home on a Field Trip. I will never forget the what I saw, what I smelled....

I don't think a child should go there. As an adult, we go there to visit a relative but we understand what the place is about, what it's for and how it cares for the elderly. I know the grandkids want to go and visit gramps but at least prepare them for what the facility does, what kinds of things they might witness...

As a result, from the age of 6, I NEVER wanted to get old ....I thought that's what happens: You get old, they stick you in there and you wear diapers...

RSGlenn,

Check with the MSC that the employees have signed a waiver that states that they know they may be recorded at work. If they have signed the waiver, then you are covered.

I once worked for a company that has stores in both 1 and 2 party consent states. Even though I live in a one party state, I had to sign the waiver that I might be recorded at work.

One of the shops I did was a recorded shop done for the company that consigned it. When I did a competitor shop on behalf of the same company, it was not recorded. (Well, *I* recorded it, but I did not give them the recording. I am in a one party state)

SunnyDays, most of the Assisted Living communities I've seen are pretty active, not convalescent homes. They have cafes, gyms, parks, trails to walk, golf courses, swimming pools, rec centers. One even had their own movie theater! The residents live in their own apartment/condos, but there are dieticians, nurses, and caregivers on staff to check on them/assist as needed.

My husband's uncle and aunt live in one and we visit them whenever we go to that area. His uncle is very healthy and active, but his wife injured her hip some years ago, and their home was a three story home, so he sold it to their son, and they moved into a senior community. She spends a good amount of time in the gym working with a trainer, and he's turned into a golf junkie and has picked up woodworking in their hobby garage.

They like that there are a lot of people their age to interact with. In their old neighborhood, the homes got sold one-by-one to younger generations and I imagine they got quite lonely.

My first video route included 10 senior living video shops. Was the first time I had done senior living shops and fortunately, the scheduler was very helpful to this [then] relative newbie.

I am doing two this week and neither needs to be recorded except for the initial phone call. Should be interesting to do.

I did a couple of memory care/assisted living shops a year ago. Although there were many lovely people having a good time, the woman that still haunts me is the one in advanced stages of Alzheimers. I'm not sure if I'll do one of these shops again.

Thank you dspeakes and JenW.

rsglenn I can't imagine this would be a problem given many companies provide an over view of the industries they serve on their website. I will make a note of it all the same.

BBird0701 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SunnyDays, most of the Assisted Living communities
> I've seen are pretty active, not convalescent
> homes. They have cafes, gyms, parks, trails to
> walk, golf courses, swimming pools, rec centers.
> One even had their own movie theater! The
> residents live in their own apartment/condos, but
> there are dieticians, nurses, and caregivers on
> staff to check on them/assist as needed.
>
> My husband's uncle and aunt live in one and we
> visit them whenever we go to that area. His uncle
> is very healthy and active, but his wife injured
> her hip some years ago, and their home was a three
> story home, so he sold it to their son, and they
> moved into a senior community. She spends a good
> amount of time in the gym working with a trainer,
> and he's turned into a golf junkie and has picked
> up woodworking in their hobby garage.
>
> They like that there are a lot of people their age
> to interact with. In their old neighborhood, the
> homes got sold one-by-one to younger generations
> and I imagine they got quite lonely.


Thanks. I am talking about years ago where the elderly sat in rocking chairs eating applesauce and waiting to die...

I know that's blunt but things have sure changed... Now seniors are active and in charge!

The whole assisted living movement is aimed at keeping seniors active and engaged as long as possible. My many shops, including those where demetial patients were in residence, gave me a new respect for the staff who provide these services.

I just finished one and it was rather depressing. Everything went well and it looked like a great place, but the vacant look on the resident's faces was not fun to look at.

The most depressing part of those shops, for me, was knowing how active, engaged and well treated the folks were until they required a more (inevitable) intense level of care ... then they'd be out of there. Feels like the folks are bled dry then tossed out.

iagal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just finished one and it was rather depressing.
> Everything went well and it looked like a great
> place, but the vacant look on the resident's faces
> was not fun to look at.


Think how depressed you would be if you were old, no longer able to care for yourself and the family decided to put you in there?

Sure, there are all the activities and events, but I think the depression would come from not being in your own home, taking care of your garden, your pets and yourself.

I know they keep you busy in there but I wonder if they took a poll, how many are truly happy in there?

I realize some of the elderly can no longer take care of themselves and they need special nursing services but I think it would be sad to have to spend the rest of your life in there. (unless you were truly happy in there due to the great nurses and the fact that they kept your life full and busy).

I guess those that do these shops can know by what they saw in there. Do they really enjoy being in there?

I recently did one of these (non-recorded) and got the full tour of their assisted living sector as well as the skilled nursing section. This place was truly a thing of wonder, they treated people with dignity and it appeared as though the mindset of the staff was truly caring about the residents. In real life my background and degree is in geriatric social work so I definitely know what I'm looking at. I had a chance to speak to residents at random and they are genuinely engaged and active, very much enjoying their stay there. After the thorough tour and seeing things for myself I would not hesitate in living there myself.

This is the price we pay for not dying young. Families can't take care of the elderly these days like they used to. Grandpa used to die in his sixties. If he was in decline for a few years, families could handle it. Now Grandpa lives 20-30 years after retirement and may be infirm for much of that. My dad is 90 and takes all sorts of pills to make sure he never dies. Now his mind is deteriorating (there's no pill for that), he's confused about time and day, gets up in the night and thinks it's 2 in the afternoon, he hates my one brother in law so he can't move in with that sister, and me and my other sister are both still working and couldn't take care of him at our homes.

So currently he's in a retirement resort where he lived with my mother (independent living) until she died last year, and it is very hard for my sisters and me to manage his needs. We can't be there 24/7. So we're actually looking into these places.

Sometimes, whether it's sad or depressing or not, there is little choice about utilizing these facilities. This is why I have started mystery shopping them, so I'll have an idea what to expect when we reach the point (and we're getting there rapidly) of having to move Dad to an assisted living facility.

None of us can be expected to bathe him or change his diapers. It would be too embarrassing for all of us, and I suspect if Dad's only option was having his daughters change his diapers he would find a way to make an "early exit."

I'd like to stop his meds so at least when God wants him he can just have his heart attack or stroke and go. It's the wasting away and the deterioration of the mind that is robbing him of his dignity -- not the prospect of going into a nursing home. I would love to put him in the hands of experts who could provide mental stimulation and appropriate activities to help him stay more engaged, and who could gently point him back to bed if he gets up in the night and goes looking for lunch at midnight. Currently he calls my younger sister in the middle of the night, interrupting her sleep and making her stressed and tired at her job the next day.

These places may be depressing on the outside looking in, but most of the residents there are in a mental state where they would be confused and depressed no matter where they were. At least there, knowledgeable people are dealing with them, not frustrated, confused, and exhausted relatives. Luckily my dad has financial resources to pay when the time comes. I feel so bad for families who just can't afford it and have to use the sub-standard homes that "smell." None of the ones I have been to had any odors that I could detect. With better diaper technology, there is no reason for there to be constant odors. But there needs to be diapers, and they are not cheap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2014 03:54PM by dspeakes.

Very well said, dspeakes. No one can fully understand until they have gone through it. Everyone would like to take care of their parents, but most circumstances make it impossible. The guilt is always there even though it shouldn't be.