Family guide
Questions to ask when touring any assisted living home
Take this to every tour, not just ours. A home that is comfortable with these questions is telling you something — and so is one that is not. Nothing here is specific to Virginia Legacy.
Licensing and record
- Ask to see the current licence, and note what level of care it covers.
- Ask for the most recent state inspection report and what was found.
- Ask whether there have been any substantiated complaints, and what changed afterwards.
- Ask who the licensing authority is and write down the number yourself.
Staffing
- Ask exactly how many direct-care staff are on each shift, not a ratio.
- Ask who is awake overnight, and what happens if two residents need help at once.
- Ask what the staff turnover has been over the last year.
- Ask how a shift is covered when someone calls in sick.
- Ask what training staff complete before they work unsupervised, and how many hours a year after that.
Medication
- Ask who is permitted to administer medication, and what qualification they hold.
- Ask where medication is stored and how controlled drugs are secured.
- Ask to see a blank Medication Administration Record.
- Ask what happens when a dose is missed or given in error, and who is told.
Daily life
- Ask what a typical day looks like — then ask a caregiver the same question separately and compare.
- Ask to see this month's activity calendar, not a sample one.
- Ask what happens if your parent does not want to join in.
- Ask how a resident who wakes at five in the morning is accommodated.
- Ask to see the current week's menu and how a therapeutic diet is handled.
If things change
- Ask which conditions or behaviours would mean they could no longer care for your parent.
- Ask how much notice you would get, and who helps you find somewhere else.
- Ask how the family is told about a change in condition, and how quickly.
- Ask whether an outside hospice or home-health agency may come in.
Money
- Ask for the full written fee disclosure before you discuss anything else.
- Ask what is billed separately, and for the published rates.
- Ask how much notice you get before a rate rise, and what drove the last one.
- Ask what a higher level of care would add each month.
What no one can tell you
- Smell the air, in the afternoon rather than the morning.
- Listen to the noise level, and to how staff speak to residents when they think you are not watching.
- Look at the residents who are not being shown to you.
- Ask yourself whether you would be comfortable eating a meal there.
General guidance, not clinical advice. Every home differs, and an assessment by a qualified clinician is the only thing that settles whether a setting is appropriate.
Questions this guide did not answer?
Ask us directly. We answer honestly, including when the answer is that we are not the right home.