With over 61 million Americans now age 65 and older, the U.S. is facing an unprecedented surge in the demand for quality senior care. While a majority of older adults want to age in place, moving to a senior living facility may be the safer option.
But with all the various options, how do you choose the right senior living facility?
Researching senior living options can be an overwhelming process. It takes a great deal of time, energy and perseverance that the individual or their family members may not have.
Thankfully, senior living advisors can help.
“Most people have no idea how to go about looking for a community for their loved ones,” says Michelle Woodbrey, co-owner of 2Sisters Senior Living Advisors, an agency in the Boston area. “But those of us who have worked in the field understand the strategies required to find the best options and help during an emotional and stress-filled time.”
[READ: The True Cost of Aging: A 2026 Budget Comparison of Senior Living and Aging in Place Options]
What Is a Senior Living Advisor?
Senior living advisors are professionals who help older adults transition from their homes to senior living facilities based on the individual’s needs and preferences. These specialists guide loved ones and their families through the process of finding, vetting and preparing to move into these communities.
A senior living advisor is also known as:
— Senior care advisor
— Senior care consultant
— Elder living advisor
— Elder care advisor
— Senior housing consultant
— Senior housing advisor
— Assisted living consultant
[READ Senior Living Benefits: Making Friends and Improving Health]
3 Key Services: What Does a Senior Care Advisor Do?
Good senior living advisors offer comprehensive senior care advice and services to families and their aging loved ones looking to make the move from living at home to a senior community.
Those services include some of the following:
1. Evaluate and assess individual’s needs
A senior living advisor will assess your loved one’s needs, preferences and budget to determine what level of care is most appropriate for them:
— Long-term care facilities, such as a skilled nursing facility or nursing home
— Continuing care retirement community
Ideally, the advisor will spend time getting to know your family and your loved one. That includes understanding their background, their medical needs, their emotional needs and where and how they would want to live.
Based on this assessment, they’ll make recommendations for which senior housing is best suited for your older loved one and give them an idea of what life is like in that community.
“Some people hire us because they have been looking everywhere for good housing options and need help deciphering information and making a decision,” Woodbrey says.
[READ: Low-Income Senior Housing Options]
2. Help with financial planning
It’s important for a senior living advisor to understand a senior’s financial situation, as that will determine their options for places to live. An advisor should be able to get a good idea from you and your loved ones about what you’re hoping to find and whether your expectations realistically align with your resources.
They will discuss how to pay for senior living, including various forms of coverage options — such as Medicare, Medicaid and long-term care insurance — and veteran benefits to offset the expenses.
“Because we want to find the best options available to our clients, we probe deeply to learn who they are and what we need to do to meet their expectations,” says Kate Granigan, a life care management consultant at Alder, a Boston area consulting firm. “This includes honest conversations about resources, priorities and tradeoffs.”
3. Conduct customized searches
A good senior living advisor has a direct connection to senior living communities and should be able to offer insight into the cultures of each. They should also be able to let you know what makes each community unique, what their reputations are, how the staff interacts with residents and what the quality and cost of care is.
They’ll match your loved one with a community, arrange tours, give you a list of questions to ask and often assist with coordinating the move-in.
[SEE: Financial Planning Timeline by Year: A Step-by-Step Guide to Affording Senior Living]
Top 5 Benefits of Working With a Senior Living Advisor
While most seniors generally prefer to remain in their own homes, it isn’t always practical, affordable or safe.
When the time comes, there are benefits to working with a senior living advisor. Those benefits include some of the following:
1. Save time
Often family members, especially children of seniors, are tasked with finding senior living communities for their loved ones when the time comes. It takes an enormous amount of work to compile lists of options and to visit each one to determine which is the best fit. A senior living advisor can save you time. They already know what would take you weeks and months to learn and navigate.
2. Provide objective guidance
Talking to aging parents about senior living can be an emotional and fraught conversation. Sibling conflict and disagreements may make the situation even more difficult. Senior living advisors serve as a neutral third party to provide families with an objective perspective based on the senior’s needs and preferences, and they can mediate difficult conversations among family members.
3. Vet a senior living facility
Senior living advisors can help you verify and confirm the facilities’ licensure, safety standards, emergency preparedness and inspection records.
4. Assist during a crisis
A senior living advisor will help during an urgent transition, such as when your loved one is being discharged from a hospital, can’t return home and needs a place to go.
5. Help with paperwork
Senior living advisors can help you navigate all the necessary paperwork required for entering a senior living facility. These communities require documentation for admission, including a birth certificate, a government-issued ID card, a Social Security card and health insurance cards, as well as living wills, advance directives, medical and financial powers-of-attorney, medical records, a detailed list of medications and a signed residency agreement.
[READ: Assisted Living Checklist.]
How to Choose the Right Senior Living Advisor
Many independent senior living advisors provide their services to families for free, earning a commission from the communities they refer to.
That’s why it’s important to make sure you find the right senior living advisor who will keep your aging loved one’s well-being top priority — not just getting paid by the facility.
Here’s how to find an advisor:
— Look for local expertise in your specific area. It’s important to make sure your advisor is local and has personally visited the senior living facilities they recommend to you. That way, they can give you firsthand information on what to look for in a senior living community, such as food quality, staff and vibe. You can get started with the U.S. News senior living advisor search tool.
— Verify they are truly independent vs. employed by a single community. Most senior living advisors earn a commission from a facility once a senior moves in. If they do operate on a referral basis, ask whether or not they only show you senior living facilities they have contracts with. It’s best to choose an advisor who will work with you to find a community even if they aren’t contracted by them.
— Check for certifications and professional experience. Ask whether your advisor is a certified senior advisor, which demonstrates that they specialize in working with the older adult population, and how many years of experience they have working with the local community. This helps to give families the peace of mind knowing that their advisor is well-versed and well-connected to help them find the best fit for their loved one.
— Review their assessment process. From initial assessment, touring, moving in and post-move follow-up, it’s important to find an advisor who will go through the whole process with you to make sure they’ve taken into account clinical needs, financial situation and lifestyle preferences and will check on your loved one afterward.
Senior Living Advisor Cost: How Are They Paid?
Senior living advisors are free for families. Instead, senior living communities pay advisors a referral commission that typically ranges from 85% to 100% of one month’s rent. Those fees can be as high as $20,000 once a placement has been finalized.
Because the fee is paid by the senior living communities, advisors may not be as objective in the options they present to families.
That’s why it’s important to ask the advisor whether they only refer families to communities they are compensated by or if they will recommend communities outside of their network. A good advisor will always put your loved one’s needs first.
Senior Living Advisor vs. Aging Life Care Manager
In your search for a senior living advisor, you may also come across aging life care managers, a type of geriatric care manager. Although both are similar, it’s important to understand how they are different:
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Bottom Line
When seniors and their families accept that home is no longer an option, either for safety or financial reasons, the next step is to determine what kind of senior community is appropriate — whether it be assisted living, memory care or nursing homes.
Families should work with senior living advisors to visit communities, ask questions and get a feel for how their loved one would fit in.
“We senior living advisors have a good handle on the communities in our areas, have worked with them and understand the strategies that are needed to get into one,” Woodbrey says. “And most of all because of our experience, we offer our clients clarity and peace of mind.”
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Senior Living Advisors: What They Do, Costs and How to Choose the Best Consultant originally appeared on usnews.com