We are available to meet with clients in Champaign-Urbana area by appointment.
Contact Us

Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney | Dent Coulson Elder Law

Get Help Right Away

Call Today: 618-632-7000 or 217-330-5500

or Send us an email

  • Home
  • Our Services
    • Alzheimer’s Planning
    • Asset Preservation Planning
    • Estate Planning
    • Medicaid Eligibility
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust and Estate Administration
    • VA Benefits Planning
  • News & Videos
    • Video Series
      • Coronavirus Preparedness
      • Asset Preservation Planning
      • Common Estate Planning Mistakes
      • Dealing With Alzheimer’s
      • Financial Exploitation of Elders
      • Handling Difficult Conversations with Seniors
      • Married Couples and Medicaid
      • Medicaid Application Process
      • Medicaid Look-Back Rule and Transfer Penalties
      • Nursing Home Admission and Care
      • Veterans Pension Benefits
      • What You Can and Can’t Keep with Medicaid
    • Weekly Newsletter
    • The Elder Law Minute
  • Alzheimer’s Guide
  • Presentations
    • Health Care Power of Attorney
  • Hear From Our Clients
    • Testimonials
    • Share Your Experience
  • About
    • About Us
    • Meet Our Team
    • Partners & Resources
    • About Our Fees
    • COVID-19 Policies
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Email Us
    • Find Our Offices
    • Refer a Friend
  • DCEL Blog

How to Evaluate a Geriatric Care Facility

When evaluating a geriatric care facility for placement for either yourself or your loved one, it’s important to develop a set of criteria that is essential to you. Everyone has different reasons for choosing a facility, as well as different needs and wants, and the idea that one care facility is going to be the best for everyone is just not the case.

The best way to choose a geriatric care facility is to develop a set of criteria – what is important to you, what are the things that you are looking for – and evaluate all of the facilities that you are looking at in accordance with those same criteria. In our Alzheimer’s Guide, we have a helpful tool that can aid in making that assessment called a Long-Term Care Facility Evaluation Form. If you would like a copy, click here to request a free Alzheimer’s Guide.

In this Elder Law Minute, Wes Coulson, Southern Illinois Elder Law Attorney, discusses the importance of developing a personal set of criteria to use when evaluating a geriatric care facility for placement for either yourself or a loved one.

How to Evaluate a Geriatric Care Facility

Transcript:

Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. Let’s talk today a little bit about how to choose a geriatric care facility for either yourself or for a loved one.

First, I want to dispel the notion that there’s one set of criteria that everyone should use. The idea that one care facility is going to be the best for everyone is just not the case. As a for instance, I love food. Okay, if I’m picking the facility I want to make sure that the food is good. Well, that’s not so important to a lot of other people. If you’re going to need to have physical or occupational therapy at a facility, you want to make sure that they offer that and that it’s good. If not, that may not matter to you at all. Some people are very strong in their faith and the availability of religious services on site might be the greatest factor in the world to them, for someone else that it may not matter.

So, the idea is just to sort of develop a set of criteria – what’s important to you, what are the things that you are looking for – and evaluate all of the facilities that you’re looking at in accordance with those same criteria. In our Alzheimer’s Guide, we have a thing that is, handily enough, called Long-Term Care Facility Evaluation Form. So, it is a good thing that you can use, sort of again a little bit of a handy score card to help in making that assessment. So, if you’d like to get a copy, let us know and we’d be happy to get you one. Thanks.

For more information on Alzheimer’s Guide Topics, visit these articles

  • Memory Care: The relatively new option for Alzheimer’s care
  • Alzheimer’s and Unpaid Family Caregivers
  • Alzheimer’s and Driving: Why having “the conversation” can be a bad idea

“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”

Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (877)995-6876 or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.

Veterans Benefits O'Fallon ILFor Immediate Help

If you or a loved one needs immediate help with a planning matter or legal issue, please contact us, and we will get back to you promptly.

774 Sunset Blvd Suite 200
O'Fallon, IL 62269
IL: (618) 632-7000
MO: (314) 567-9292

1901 South Fourth Street,
Suite 211, Effingham, IL 62401
(217) 330-5500

Fax: (618) 632-7333

Office Hours
Monday - Thursday
8:30 am - 12:00 pm
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Friday
8:30 am - 12:00 pm

Champaign-Urbana by appointment

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Join us for a FREE Workshop

 

Free WorkshopsIf you have reached age 65, there's about a 45% chance that you will eventually need long-term care.

Join us for one of our highly informative and FREE workshops and find out how you can protect your family's hard-earned life savings.

Visit Free Workshops for more information.

Newsletter

Subscribe to our free weekly Newsletter and receive the latest news, updates and videos straight to your inbox!

Recent Posts

  • Naming a Third Party Professional as Trustee
  • Medicaid Misconceptions
  • Medicaid Divorce: An Option Worth Considering in Certain Cases
  • Is a Living Trust Right For You?
  • Knowing What You Own and How You Own It

More News & Videos

  • Alzheimer's Planning (85)
  • Asset Preservation Planning (150)
  • Coronavirus Preparedness Series (9)
  • Coulson Elder Law (11)
  • DCEL Blog (1)
  • Document Signing (15)
  • Elder Law Minute Video (450)
  • Estate Planning (197)
  • Health Care Planning/Medicare (144)
  • Medicaid Eligibility (206)
  • News & Videos (494)
  • Special Needs Planning (48)
  • Trust Administration (14)
  • Veterans Benefits (51)

Front office building of Coulson Elder Law

Front office building of Coulson Elder Law

  • Directions to our office locations
  • Send us an email
  • About Us
  • News and Videos
  • Weekly Newsletter
  • Brochures
  • Presentations
  • Hear From Our Clients
  • Partners & Resources
  • Legal Disclaimer

Deprecated: Hook genesis_footer_creds_text is deprecated since version 3.1.0! Use genesis_pre_get_option_footer_text instead. This filter is no longer supported. You can now modify your footer text using the Theme Settings. in /home/dentcoulsonelder/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5828

Copyright © 2025 · Wesley J. Coulson | Dent Coulson Elder Law, LLC