There are no shortage of options when it comes to senior living in Los Angeles. But how do you cut through the clutter to find the hidden gems that could be the perfect fit for your loved one?
We’re kicking off our three-part series: Under the Radar LA Communities You’ll Love with Avenir Memory Care Westside in Inglewood. We’ll take you behind the curtain to explore three Los Angeles communities we love – that you may not see pop up on Google.
Our first stop was Avenir Memory Care Westside in Inglewood – near LAX. Avenir is a mid-price range community and a good value for the west side of Los Angeles.
Watch the Video
Assisted Living Locators Los Angeles works with a large portfolio of memory care facilities in the Los Angeles area. We are partial to all-memory care communities and Avenir is one of the few in Los Angeles. Our belief in the dedicated dementia care model is based on several factors:
1. A building dedicated to memory care can segregate residents by acuity level
Alzheimer’s and other dementia are progressive, originating from mild loss of cognitive ability to the mid to late stages when someone needs help with all the activities of daily life. Avenir’s ability to separate high-functioning individuals from those requiring a higher, different level of care provides a healthier environment for those in the early stages of memory loss.
2. All memory care facilities better train their staff in dementia care
Dementia care assisted living facilities dedicate greater resources to training their staff, often including janitorial and kitchen help. The workers at dementia care facilities spend full-time on one thing, and one thing only, providing quality of life to those impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive impairments.
3. Passion
It takes a certain type of person to work in an assisted living community dedicated to dementia care. Working in memory care is tough work, as you can imagine. The dedication, care and innovation found in LA’s memory care buildings leave little comparison with their secured dementia wing rivals.
4. Room to Move
Many secured memory care wings found in assisted living buildings feel claustrophobic. They are an adjunct to the building, usually a fairly small one. When an entire community is dedicated to memory care, the resident has room to move and greater freedom within a controlled environment.
When we visited Avenir recently, we found engaged residents and present staff. There must have been 25 people playing bingo and having a ball. The Avenir population is on the higher functioning side with a surprising amount of men, unusual in any assisted living – memory care or not. There also are quite a few African American residents. While Avenir may not fit into the budget of the most cost-conscious, it is one of the mid-range communities for this category. For information on Avenir or other memory care assisted living communities in the Los Angeles area, please reach out to Assisted Living Locators, Los Angeles at 310-853-8282. Remember, our service is offered free of charge.
Check out part two in the series here.
About Assisted Living Locators
Since 2003, thousands of families have been helped by Assisted Living Locators, one of the nation’s leading free senior living placement services. The Los Angeles office is operated by Sarah Ordover, owner of Assisted Living Locators Los Angeles. Her team services clients from Glendale and Burbank to Santa Monica, including West Hollywood, Century City, Westwood, and everything in between. The office also represents clients looking for senior living south of Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley in neighborhoods such as Sherman Oaks, Encino, and Studio City. The Los Angeles office can be reached at assistedlivinglocators.com/contact-us.
