This assisted living facility is relatively inexpensive for the Boston area, but the quality is correspondingly low. While living at Brookdale, my mother sometimes had long waits after calling for assistance. Also, she found many of the aides--the low-paid, mostly immigrant workers who provide personal services to residents--rude or even hostile. That suggests poor treatment of staff by management.
As her caregiver, the worst aspect of the experience for me was the move out. At some point, every caregiver is going to have to deal with a move out, either because their loved one has to move to a nursing home or because the loved one passes away. Brookdale was completely unhelpful here. When a caregiver has to move a loved one out of assisted living, they will have to discard a lot of belongings, because there is no room for those belongings at a nursing home or because the loved one's life has ended. Brookdale insists that relatives remove all items without discarding them onsite. Brookdale management was completely unhelpful on this, refusing even to suggest services that I could use, restating repeatedly that it was my responsibility and that they would offer not one bit of assistance. This after they had received rent for my mother's unoccupied room for 4 months, which at several thousand dollars a month includes food and services. During those 4 months she did not have a single meal or use any services since she was in hospitals and rehab facilities.
So, relatives have to bear the task and costs both of moving a small household of belongings (by hiring a mover or by renting a utility van and hauling stuff personally), as well as the added task and cost of hiring a disposal service offsite. Obviously there is a cost involved in clearing a room, but the cost and inconvenience to relatives would be much less if Brookdale offered a paid service handling the disposal of belongings, for which Brookdale could get a volume discount, since it must be needed regularly.
The price for Brookdale is relatively low (though not cheap), but don't let the low price tag fool you. You will pay a price in the quality of care for your loved one and in the work and trouble you will face when they have to move on. read more