What do the best senior living communities have that others don’t?

While some compromise and say otherwise, reliably good senior living communities deliver when and where it counts. Ask around and you’ll hear it. Visit them and you’ll feel it. Move in and you’ll know it’s the right choice.

The good stuff.

Strong, capable leadership

The best leaders keep promises, address issues promptly, support the team, maintain transparency, and care about the entire community and everybody in it. Their sincere care is contagious, and members of a good leader’s team, feeling supported and inspired, emulate their leader. The upshot is two-fold: First, team members stick around because they find meaning and fulfillment as part of the team — and residents love a low staff turnover rate. And second, residents have confidence in their community.

Exceptional dining

Eating is necessary — and good food can be entertaining, comforting, exciting, amazing, and a kick-start for socializing. Good communities have good culinary teams that know this. They recognize residents as foodies, aspire to impress, compete with top area restaurants, try new flavors, artfully honor dietary restrictions, and focus on quality ingredients, healthfulness and — “chef’s kiss” — memorable dining.

First-class fitness

Older adults know how maintaining an enjoyable fitness regimen is good for their health and well-being. So, a community with a full-featured fitness center that rivals the area’s top spas and fitness clubs is a winner. With state-of-the-art equipment, friendly trainers, gleaming lockers and showers, and a beautiful view, it’s a setting residents will regularly frequent.

Friendship

Good communities are friendly places. Residents and staff enjoy each other’s company and support one another. New faces are eagerly welcomed and incorporated into community life. And everyone’s well-being benefits from the socialization-rich culture, where friendship contributes to good health — and makes joy.

The right location

Most communities draw residents from their immediate region. A location that keeps residents within reach of their favorites minimizes the disruption of their move to the community. Staying close to where they came from, they can still scurry back to familiar shopping, entertainment, doctors, houses of worship, restaurants, and friends in their previous neighborhood.

Built to last

A quickly, cheaply built community doesn’t say “We care.” But superior construction throughout the community, with high-grade appliances and designer finishes in the residences — this is how a community tells its residents they deserve the best.

Referrals

Good communities grow by word of mouth. Residents who are happy in the community share their thoughts about it with friends who may become interested in moving there too. Friends referring friends builds an even stronger social network for the community.

Priced right

A good community isn’t often the lowest-priced community. But because they do so much so well, a good community is in high demand. A price that reflects its popularity means the revenue stream can support continued growth and increasing excellence — and perhaps an even more outstandingly desirable lifestyle, too.

Reputation

Bad news is noisy, and a good community may be a quiet presence. But word-of-mouth and online reviews reveal what residents and their families think about how well the community serves them — and how well it responds if anything goes wrong.

 

What distinguishes good communities?

Good senior living communities shine in at least 9 exceptional ways. And when you know what to look for — from leadership to reputation — you’re closer to find a good community for yourself or a loved one.