- Chef-inspired meals
- Housekeeping services
- Assistance with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, and walking
- Access to health and medical services
- Alzheimer’s and memory care support
- Staff available to respond to both scheduled and unscheduled needs
- 24-hour security
- Emergency call systems for each resident’ apartment
- Exercise and wellness programs
- Medication management
- Personal laundry services
- Social and recreational activities
- Educational activities
- Internet access

Family Resources
Choosing to move into a senior living community is as personal as the person making the decision. There is no clear-cut, step-by-step template that tells you or your loved ones exactly when it is time to consider a senior living community, whether that be an assisted living or memory care community. However, there are numerous signs that a new living arrangement is needed, such as inability to manage the upkeep of a home, assistance with meal prep, medication management, loneliness and other issues.
As you might expect, choosing a senior care residence for yourself or a loved one is one of the biggest decisions in life. Sometimes it is difficult to realize that living alone in your home full of memories may no longer be the best setting for a healthy lifestyle. You have many more senior living options to choose from than in previous years. Harmony Senior Living communities are designed to put you in control of how you live in this next chapter of your life. The choice is yours.
“Choice” is the key word in any conversation about senior living options. Senior living offers choice. Choice about where you or your loved one wants to live. Choice about the services provided. Choice about the level of care and type of environment. Choice that best matches you or your loved one’s physical and emotional needs you desire. Each resident is a unique individual, with unique preferences for a fulfilling lifestyle. If high-quality senior living residences that offer a wide array of options is your choice — you’ll find that at Harmony Senior Living Communities.
Make the Move
Whether you choose to live in a Harmony senior living community or not, finding the right situation is important. Use the following list of suggestions adopted from the Assisted Living Federation of America as a guide to choosing the right community for your senior years.
Sharpen Your Focus on the Decision at Hand.
Before you start your search for senior living options, consider these key questions:
- What do I really know about the different senior living care options?
- What is the best way to get accurate, objective information?
- How would I like to describe my personal successful outcomes a year after move-in?
- Can I afford to live at the community-both now and in the future?
- Can I make the important distinction between price and value?
You may quickly realize that you know very little about long-term care options. Most seniors and their families are in the same boat early in their decision process. But there are some ways to identify a well-run retirement community that’s right for you.
Focus On Three Important Issues:
- Quality of life
- Standards of care
- Cost and value
It is difficult to define quality of life as we age and how that quality of life might be fulfilled in a senior living community. Favorable expected outcomes frequently mentioned by seniors and their families include:
- Comfort and peace of mind
- Affordability and financial security
- Quality and value
- Very high standards of care
- Optimized independence
- Socialization
- Experience/adventures/nostalgia
- Individual recognition
- Intellectual stimulation
- Self-expression and fulfillment
In seeking a residence, pay particular attention to clinical procedures and technological innovations that are used daily in the community. You also want to be sure that staffing levels are consistent with high standards. Family members should get answers to these questions:
- How will you respond if my loved one has a medical emergency?
- How will you continuously monitor my loved one’s condition without an unusual invasion of privacy?
- How will you monitor and deal with the possibility that my love one’s condition may change?
- How would you describe how you staff the community 24/7 to provide the kind of care my loved one will need?
- On average, about how many minutes per 24-hour day does a resident like my loved one receive direct, hands-on assistance?
Senior living is a value-enhanced and service-enriched offering – and as such, it may appear expensive. But with the variety of options available and a careful look at true living expenses, you may be less sensitive to price. Put costs in perspective by first objectively evaluating your or your loved one’s current cost of living. You may be surprised to find that cost of living at your home is higher than living in a community. This can be especially true when you consider expenses like real estate taxes, home maintenance, and insurance, along with the comprehensive services that are all provided by a senior living residence.
Throughout your life, you’ve probably been conservative in making most of your purchase decisions. If senior living is the right fit, it will likely be the most important purchase you ever make. So should you seek the lowest price – buying a commodity – or decide on a comfortable, high-value community of choice? It’s important to both consider affordable value and optimum life satisfaction.
Take first impressions of a senior living community seriously, but balance those initial impressions with other factors. Some first impressions might include the overall neighborhood setting – the quality of the landscaping, the campus layout, and the residence’s exterior. When you enter a residence, think about your comfort level. Check out the public spaces and remember they are a shared extension of the private living space. Remember that you aren’t trying to replace the total living area of your current home. You’re making an informed trade-off between a relatively large home with a more appropriate sheltered living that offers an extensive array of services specifically designed for this stage of your or your loved one’s life.
Always get a balanced perspective about life in a community you’re considering by talking to the professional staff, current residents’ family members, and the residents themselves. Ask about a typical day and how staff are involved. Ask about opportunities for social interaction. Most importantly, ask current residents and their families:
- How do you currently feel about your earlier move-in decision?
- How did you work through the complex decision-making process?
- What were the biggest hurdles you overcame before you actually made the decision?
- If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently?
As we all age, all of us will experience increasing levels of frailty and other health complications. You need to understand how the community will justify and charge for the costs of increased services that may be needed. Also, consider the community’s policies if it were to determine it could no longer care for you or your loved one. It may seem like an uncomfortable dialogue, but knowing the answers to these questions can provide long-term comfort for you and your family.
Links For Seniors
Important links to resources that every senior needs both before and after making the move to a senior living community. Please check back often for updates and new information.
A dramatic change in mood is one of the signs. Recognizing the symptoms is the first step toward doing something about it. Learn more.
Check out the benefits for all Veterans and their spouses.
Assisting veterans and their surviving spouses through the VA Aid & Attendance qualification process is what we do. It’s all we do. We don’t sell financial products or restructure assets and we have no hidden fees. Learn more.
The nation’s leading senior financing and solutions company for families and senior care providers. Learn more.
The largest national trade association exclusively dedicated to professionally-managed, resident-centered senior living communities. Learn more.
Take advantage of your age and experience to expand your possibilities. AARP is more than just discounts and lobbying for senior citizens. Learn more.
Virginia Department of Social Services protects children and vulnerable adults in day and residential care settings. Learn more.
A non-profit membership organization dedicated to providing advocacy, communication, education, and resources for Virginia’s assisted living industry. Learn more.
Manages the delivery of health- and human-related services for all North Carolinians, especially our most vulnerable citizens – children, elderly, disabled and low-income families. Learn more.
A non-profit trade association devoted to promoting the establishment and operation of quality assisted living communities in North Carolina. Learn more.
The state regulatory agency charged with promoting and protecting the state’s public health and its land, air, coastal resources and water quality as authorized by federal and state law. Learn more.
As the state chapter of Argentum in South Carolina, Argentum-SC provides a forum to help consumers, physicians, financiers, elected officials, regulators, media, family members and others understand the options offered by assisted living. Learn more.
The Department of Human Services works with facilities across the state who help us serve Pennsylvanians of all ages who require day-to-day care and support. To ensure the health and safety of residents and clients that these facilities serve, the department is responsible for licensing and inspecting each organization. Learn more
Committed to assisting and helping families when it comes time to place their loved one in either an Assisted Living Residence or Personal Care Home. Learn more.
The Tennessee Department of Health works to protect and promote the health of all Tennesseans. Learn more.
Our mission is to enhance the ability of its members to provide essential long-term care services for the elderly and disabled through education, advocacy and leadership. Learn more.
Financial Solutions
Financial questions and concerns are a part of most senior living housing decisions. To help potential residents and their families understand the true costs and value of senior living, a number of reputable firms have developed resources to educate prospects and address financial concerns. These firms include:
Finding the right senior living community can largely depend on financial considerations. To assist you in financial planning, we’ve developed a Harmony Cost Comparison Sheet for senior living that outlines the benefits of choosing one of our communities.
Are you challenged with paying for senior living while waiting for the home to sell, Veterans or insurance benefits to begin or other financial event to occur? As you start to plan the finances of moving to a Harmony Senior Services community, you may find it beneficial to obtain short term financing to help. Elderlife Financial Services can help ease the stress of your move.
The Elderlife Bridge Loan provides peace of mind by solving your family’s funding gap – from $5,000 to $500,000.
The Elderlife Bridge Loan makes paying for senior living easy.
Elder Resource Benefits Consulting
Veterans Benefits
Because you served, we want to serve you. There are many benefits available to you as a member of the armed services.
One of the things military retirees like best about life at Harmony is that so many of their fellow residents are veterans, too.
There’s a pretty good reason for that.
We’ve made it our personal call of duty to help military retirees reduce the cost of senior living.
Helping you make the most of the Veterans benefits you’ve earned is a big part of that.
To help our proud veteran residents reduce their living expenses and live in grand style, we’ve joined hands with a team of experts with deep insight into Veterans Aid and Assistance benefits.
They’ll evaluate your eligibility for a full range of benefit opportunities, and even simplify the qualification and application process to keep your plans on track.
Valued at more than $800, each benefits analysis is conducted absolutely free on behalf of new and existing Harmony tenants by our trusted partner, Elder Resource Benefits Consulting of Sudbury, Mass.
We believe by offering our residents a third-party evaluation of their finances and military benefit eligibility is essential. Our partnership with Elder Resource Benefits Consulting is key to that belief.
The firm exists to solely provide sound professional advice and deep insight into state and federal benefits programs for seniors. It does not restructure assets or sell financial products.
There are no hidden fees, and you are under no obligation to do anything at any time. Ever.
Our only interest in providing this service is to act in the best interest of our retired military veterans who want to enjoy the Harmony carefree lifestyle.
Veterans who served 90 days or more, with at least one of those days served during a period of war, may qualify for significant financial benefits.
- Married Veteran: $2,230 per month
- Single Veteran: $1,881 per month
- Well Veteran with an ill spouse: $1,477 per month
- Surviving spouse: $1,209 per month
Eligibility – We’ll evaluate your eligibility and offer long-range recommendations to protect your interests even as your assets and care needs change.
Timing – We’ll remove the guesswork and help you apply at the right time to maximize your benefits and move in to Harmony without delay.
Insight – With years of experience and success, our experts are well versed in federal rules, regulations and eligibility guidelines to ensure that you take full advantage of your Aid and Assistance benefits
