From Assisted Living Facility to Adult Family Home
When the family decided they were done, they meant it. They were done now! So, my mother contacted me, as someone that helps connect families with Adult Family Homes for a living, this was my area of expertise and lucky for them, one of the best Providers I know was located just 2 minutes from their house and had an opening, sometimes things just work out.
I called up my Nurse Delegator, she came out the next day to do a new assessment and sent us the completed one the following day. What we saw on that both angered and shocked us. It turned out that my grandmother was screaming when they gave her a shower, crying every single day and was feeling depressed. Someone in the family visits her nearly every single day, they had no clue. The facility didn’t inform us of any of this and there is no way they weren’t aware of this. Make of that what you will.
The family went to visit the AFH that I had recommended, while they did that, I was working on putting together alternative options, if nothing else, just to let them see what else was available in the area and what other AFHs were like. Apparently, that was all for naught because after a very long tour they were sold, that was it. That left me feeling both pleased and slightly disappointed. While I wanted them to go with that Provider, she’s the best, but I also wanted to show them what I do and send them really detailed info on other AFHs, give them the full referral experience. No need, they found exactly what they were looking for, homerun on the first pitch.
The Adult Family Home they decided to place in is called Elderly Home Care LLC in Bothell, WA, owned and operated by Veronica Dudau. Among my own internal grading system of Providers, the cream of the crop, the very best Providers are designated Platinum. I would place Veronica as one of my rare Super Platinum Providers. She has decades of experience as a Provider, absolutely LOVES what she does, in that I mean she eats, lives and breathes being a Provider. It’s a calling, a passion, a lifestyle and a choice for her. This is the sort of Provider that you want for your family. She’s extraordinarily competent, yes. But she loves what she does, she brings a great energy to her work and she is careful about what clients she accepts to ensure she can properly care for anyone that comes under her care.
To be honest, I was slightly concerned they wouldn’t go for her. Not because of Veronica, but the home isn’t the biggest out there, it’s been an AFH for like 20 years. Not the brand shiny new ones you can find all over the place. The furniture isn’t from Schoenfeld’s, it’s on Simonds Rd. In other words, the Adult Family Home itself isn’t going to blow your socks off, but then again, it’s not really supposed to. An Adult Family Home is supposed to feel like a home and not many elderly people live in a modern, updated, blow your socks off house. When my mother told me her thoughts on it, she said “it’s not fancy, but it feels like home” and that’s the point, it feels like home and that’s what my Grandmother and I would argue, every person placing in an Adult Family Home truly needs.
They were sold 100%, this was it. I couldn’t be more thrilled! Veronica was the best choice and I was so relieved they chose her. The family was ready to go, it took a few days to get everything in place with the pharmacy, for Veronica to have the AFH ready for her, get her Hospice Provider switched, etc. 4 days after the tour, my uncle went to the Assisted Living Facility, told my grandma they had rented her a home just down the street from them and she could now live closer to family, as they left she reportedly remarked, “you’re breaking me out of this place”. Pretty sad statement, that’s how she felt about that place, it wasn’t her home, it was her prison.
