Looking for advice on elder Assisted Living / Rest Home in area

[crankyoldguy.livejournal.com]

We have started the process of looking for housing for an elderly relative with disabilities. Having already spoken with Somerville Cambridge Elder Services, we have the overview of what is available.

I was wondering if anyone here has any advice based on their experiences. Any place to avoid? Any recommendations? Any handy hints or suggestions? Nearby facilities outside of Somerville?

Thanks,
Cranky

Comments

[gingicat]

If a place in Brighton called Corey Hill is on that list, strike it off and never consider it.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

+111!1!eleventy

[jadelennox]

Hebrew Senior Life (the whole family of them, for different tiers of ability, though I know the Roslindale one best, by the arboretum) is wonderful. Tons of the residents aren't Jewish although certainly it's a Jewish flavored residence. The staff are great, the care is marvelous, everyone is warm. My main issue with them is that the Roslindale one's T-accessibility is negligible (technically T-accessible, for varieties of technically which are terrible).

The Roslindale home cares for many elderly people with disabilities and is warm, safe, loving, and generaly fab.

[jadelennox]

(They also have non-nursing home assisted living / independent living options about which I've also hear only good things.)

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

I haven't had reason to check on Pine Knoll in Lexington since 2013, but they were pretty good back then. You may need to get onto a waiting list for them.

[crankyoldguy.livejournal.com]

Thanks, folks. Just the kind of info I was hoping for.

-Cranky

[siderea]

A place I wrote about recently in my own journal is Springhouse in JP. It was really swank. However, my grandmother opted to leave there in favor of somewhere else. She felt unsafe, in that (she explained it) she didn't feel they were up to her medical needs (as she saw them), and opted to go to a place with more nursing care, in case she needed it. Also, we couldn't afford a single room for her at Springhouse, and she really, really, really hated having roommates.

She managed to get herself shipped to another facility – it might have been Hebrew Senior Life, I honestly don't remember it's name, but it was some flavor of Jewish – which kind of horrified my mother, because it looked like a hospital wing, smelled of disinfectant, and was careworn, but my Nana preferred it, and, by gum, she could have a single there.

I would feel comfortable recommending either facility as having caring and attentive staff; they were two very different places, offering two different levels of care. In any event, this is all over a decade and a half old.

Up on the north shore, I have nothing but the most reverently glowing things to say about Brentwood, but that may be too far afield, and they specialize in care for people with brain injuries and memory impairments.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

I have no personal experience with Neville Communities over near Fresh Pond, other than my kids have visited the Ecology Center in the basement of one of the buildings and we used to community garden outside it, but from my limited experience it looks nice, friendly, clean, etc. I believe they have two different levels of care there (one building is more skilled nursing/rehab, and I think one is more assisted living?). I admit to loving that it's near so much nature, and have at times thought that if we stay in Cambridge long (long long) term, it seems like a place I wouldn't mind living. Might be worth checking out.