Free Senior Care Assessment
Answer eight practical questions to identify which care settings deserve comparison first. The result is educational decision support, not a diagnosis, eligibility determination or professional care assessment.
How to use the result
The result is a starting direction, not a final placement decision. Use the same answers when you call providers so assisted living, memory care and home-care options are compared against one consistent resident profile. If a provider cannot support one of the needs you selected, ask what happens instead and whether the family would need to supply additional help.
What the assessment intentionally does not do
It does not diagnose dementia, determine whether someone qualifies for ALTCS, estimate a medical prognosis or certify that a provider is appropriate. Those decisions require the correct professional, government program or current provider information. The tool also avoids collecting personal health information because a first-stage care-direction tool does not need it.
When to repeat the assessment
Repeat it after a hospitalization, meaningful fall, new wandering behavior, repeated nighttime problems, a major medication-management change or a shift in family availability. Senior-care needs can change quickly, and an old profile can make otherwise good comparisons misleading.
Turn the result into a provider checklist
Write down the two or three answers that most influenced the result. Those become the first questions for every provider. If nighttime confusion drove the result, ask about overnight staffing. If transfers drove it, ask exactly how staff assists and which transfer needs exceed the setting. If family exhaustion drove it, compare the number of unpaid hours still required under each option.
ALTCS is a separate verification track
If ALTCS matters, use the result only to identify the care category to investigate. Eligibility, health-plan assignment and a provider's specific participation must be verified separately through AHCCCS and the member's current plan. A facility license or marketing statement does not prove ALTCS participation for a particular member.
Cost should follow care fit
Do not choose the cheapest category before confirming that it can safely deliver the necessary support. Once care fit is established, compare all-in monthly cost. For home care, include minimum shifts, nights, weekends and family backup. For residential care, include base rent, care tiers, medication support and recurring fees.
Emergency situations need immediate help
This tool is not designed for emergencies. If the older adult is in immediate danger, has an acute medical emergency or cannot be kept safe, use emergency services or an appropriate licensed healthcare professional rather than waiting for an online assessment result.
How to use the senior-care assessment with a real family decision
The senior-care assessment is most useful when one person keeps a written resident profile and reuses it across every provider conversation. Record mobility, bathing, dressing, toileting, medication support, cognition, nighttime supervision, transportation, family availability and budget. Then mark which facts came from a provider, which came from a regulatory source and which remain assumptions. That separation makes the next step clearer and reduces the chance that a vague sales statement becomes part of the care plan.
What should trigger a fresh review
A fall, hospital discharge, new wandering behavior, repeated nighttime calls, a major medication change or a reduction in family support can change the correct care setting. When one of those events occurs, repeat the assessment or revisit the relevant guide with the new facts. Do not assume a plan remains suitable simply because it worked several months earlier. Senior-care decisions are time-sensitive because the resident, the family and the provider can all change.
How to handle uncertainty without guessing
Not every important question will have an immediate answer. Mark unknown pricing, availability, ALTCS participation or care capability as unresolved and assign a source or person to verify it. This is safer than filling the gap with an assumption. A decision can still move forward with some uncertainty, but the family should know which unknowns could materially change safety, cost or continuity before committing.
Why the same resident profile matters
Providers often use different terminology for care levels and pricing. The family can reduce confusion by describing the same tasks and risks every time. Asking each finalist about the same transfer need, medication routine, nighttime issue and cognitive behavior creates more comparable answers. This matters more than collecting a large number of brochures because the goal is a defensible decision, not a complete catalog of the market.
How to document the final choice
Before a deposit or major commitment, write a short reason-for-choice statement. It should name the resident needs the option can support, the family workload that remains, the expected all-in cost, the most important verified facts and the primary limitation accepted. If relatives cannot explain the choice without using marketing language, another round of clarification may be needed. A concise written rationale also helps if the plan must be reviewed later.
What this site can and cannot verify
Arizona Golden Care can organize decision questions and link source-backed regulatory fields. It cannot guarantee a provider will have a room, hold a price, remain contracted with a health plan or continue to meet every future care need. Those facts belong to the provider, regulator, AHCCCS or the relevant health plan. The site is most useful when it helps the family ask the right entity the right question.
Additional quality-control check for this page 1
Before relying on this page, the family should be able to identify the decision question it is trying to solve, the information that still needs verification and the next concrete step. For /assessment/, keep a dated note and recheck any fact that can change, especially availability, pricing, licensure or an ALTCS relationship. The page is meant to organize the decision; it does not replace current confirmation from the provider or responsible authority.