The owner of the Santa Clarita Assisted Living Locators is encouraging adult children in the community to be proactive about determining their senior parents’ next steps before it becomes an emergency situation.

“Let’s look at communities — let’s address this before it happens,” said Shannon Avazian. 

The first step is for the adult child to take a free assessment online, which will help determine if the senior is still able to be independent or if they may need assisted living or in-home care, according to Avazian. 

Related: Assisted Living Locators Challenges Community To ‘Rethink Senior Living’

“It will tell you in the privacy of your own home what those needs are,” she said. “That way you have a good idea, just between you and the computer.”

Avazian then advises adult children to contact her to discuss the assessment and determine next steps, whether it’s proactively looking for a future assisted living community or meeting an immediate need for additional care. 

By meeting with the family, Avazian can determine the senior’s social and medical needs, as well as their budget, and then schedule tours of different facilities that best meet those needs. 

“I work like a real estate agent with a case manager kind of tied into all that,” she said. “I pick them up, I actually physically tour with them in my car and we spend a couple hours looking at these different properties. So then by the time they’re done, … they have a really good idea of what’s out there and what they can expect.” 

Because most facilities have a waiting list, proactively taking these steps is best to ensure the senior will be able to choose the location that best meets their needs for the future, but Avazian noted that there are options when it comes to emergent situations as well. 

Avazian noted that if the family’s top pick has a waitlist in an emergency, a temporary placement can be found at a facility with room until space opens up. 

“There’s things we can do if it is immediate,” she said. “We’re able to have a plan in place for you usually within an hour. I have people in the hospital that have (been) discharged and don’t have a place to go, and they’ll call me and I have a home for them, a nice safe environment that they will thrive in.” 

Avazian concluded, “I walked through it with my mother and my late husband, and if I just had someone I could call and say, ‘Hey, this is going on. What are your thoughts?’ I would love to be that person in this community.” 

Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Community Spotlight based on a recent radio interview with Assisting Living Locators. 

Assisted Living Locators helps those looking for Santa Clarita assisted living facilities find the right fit for them, completely free of charge. Seniors and their loved ones wondering, “Where are nursing homes near me?” or “Where is assisted living near me?” can meet with an elder advisor for an assessment to determine if an assisted living or skilled nursing facility is the appropriate next step. Then the advisor can assist the family in touring facilities, getting cost information and more. If you or your senior loved one is in need of assisted living, Santa Clarita residents can call Assisted Living Locators to take advantage of their free services today.

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