"Choosing the assisted living facility for our mom was so nerve-racking. We toured all of them, met with their key staff members, asked around and we even went online to see if there were any violations. We took our time; we really wanted the best for mom. In the end, we trusted our gut feelings. It ended up a disaster." Beverly M. of Warren Michigan.

The assisted living facility that Beverly chose was not the least expensive of her choices. When making her decision between the six facilities near the town her mother wanted to live 'safety' was in fact the deciding factor. She believed that her mother would both be safe and feel safe, she was wrong.

There is a growing need for aging services that people can trust. From the standpoint of owning and operating an assisted living facility (or any service for that matter that caters to the senior citizen) how does one relay 'trust' to the public? From the consumer's point of view, who should be trusted to report on quality and safety issues?

"When we finally convinced dad that he would have a higher quality of life by moving from his home in to an assisted living facility we knew we had to get it right the first time. It would be a disaster if we moved him from his home in to a facility and then found we had to move him again," states Peter V. of Scottsdale Arizona.

Adult children of seniors are often times put in a position of encouraging, for the overall well-being and safety of a parent, to move from a long-term family residence in to some type of assisted living environment. It's not an easy thing to do and Peter is correct. You don't want to go through this dramatic change only to learn the facility chosen is not the right fit.

Where can families turn in order to obtain documented proof of quality service? Many assisted living facilities across the United States belong to associations that recognize the fact that some method does need to be in place to help families. AAHSA (www.aahsa.org) has embraced a program called 'Quality First' and which provides facilities a step-by-step method to implement quality procedures and participating facilities are indicated (for the benefit of the consumer) by displaying the Quality First logo.

Medicare publishes information on how to compare nursing homes and home health care agencies based on reported deficiencies and quality care issues at http://www.medicare.gov/default.asp

Free checklists on how to select an assisted living facility are on http://www.seniorsapprove.com/aging-parents.html

Word of mouth reporting works well if you are fortunate enough to know a family that has experienced the process of finding, selecting and then contracting with an assisted living facility. You will naturally feel confident in your selection if your friend reports a good experience.

Third-party validation is in fact the preferred method of any family when faced with the stressful task of selecting any elder care service. However, due to liability issues the consumer is hard pressed to find any published listing that doesn't have some type of disclaimer attached to it.

In a recent article published by Second 50 Years, (www.second50years.com) author Elinor Gale writes, 'As the senior population grows, the need for quality care and services increases. In response, service organizations claiming to meet the needs of the elderly are multiplying. How to choose? How can seniors and their adult children know which services are safe, reliable and able to deliver on the promises they make? '

She then recommends a privately owned company, Senior Approved Services (www.qualityeldercare.com) to those providing services and (www.seniorsapprove.com) for those in search of services. Senior Approved Services actively advocates for the right of all seniors to receive excellent care and provides, at no charge, quality of service reports on select elder care services. (Article entitled 'Senior Approved Services Leads Consumers to Excellent Care' can be read at http://www.seniorsapprove.com/care.html)

Trust is earned and though there is no such thing as a perfect company it is important to learn how the staff of an assisted living facility responds to a family's concerns. In other words, most consumers want to know definitively whether or not the facility will be just as responsive to the families' loved one's needs and desires after the move-in as they were during the initial tour.

Finding methods to relay the fact that your facility is one worthy of trust is far more important than trying to compete in your market by cutting your monthly fees. In the end, fulfilling your promises and following through with the assurances you've made to the family far out-weigh any concern over cost.