Evaluating Senior Housing Options: Tours, Contracts, and Move Planning

Choosing senior housing involves dozens of small decisions that quickly become overwhelming without structure. This hands-on course walks you through evaluating options, reviewing contracts, and planning a move, with templates designed to keep the work organized. By the end of this course you will have a tracked list of housing candidates, a comparison spreadsheet across cost and services, structured notes from at least three tours, a contract review checklist, and a move plan including timeline, donations, and emotional support. What you will learn: - How to identify candidate communities through state databases, geriatric care managers, and word of mouth - How to plan and run a tour with a list of structured questions and observations - How to read assisted living and CCRC contracts including base fees, levels of care, increases, and termination - How to evaluate staffing ratios, turnover, and survey or inspection records - How to assess memory care environments specifically for cognitive needs - How to plan a move including downsizing, donations, family helpers, and the first weeks of adjustment - How to handle a parent's reluctance to move without overriding their voice The course is structured as a workbook. Each module provides templates, shows a filled example, and walks you through your own version. This course is written for adult children actively considering or planning a senior housing transition. By the end you will have replaced anxious browsing with a tracked process, and the eventual move will reflect deliberate comparison rather than the first community with an open bed.