Birmingham, Alabama Assisted Living Facilities & Senior Care

In our experience with Assisted Living Directory, and with the thousands of people, families, and caregivers we have interacted with over the years, one of the things that is quite obvious to us is that the need for assisted living for a loved one happens quite abruptly in many cases. It isn't always a gradual lead-up to the realization that assisted living is needed. There are times that a significant health-related event happens with perhaps mom, or dad, and the family is no longer able to act as caregiver any more. The family is then faced with learning all about assisted living and long term care without much preparation.

Most often, people will start their research by doing an online search for something like "assisted living in Birmingham" - which will most certainly bring up dozens, if not hundreds of sites with varying degrees of information relevant to the query. With the sheer number of results, and the choices of information available, families can become overwhelmed and confused very quickly. Many sites offer good information, but other sites can be questionable, and might be in it only to "make a buck" - at the expense of reliable, updated information about assisted living and caregiving.

Our site, as we mention in many places, is meant to serve as a starting point into your research. What we try to do is to offer solid and reliable information, with ways to further that research by visiting other reputable sites that we try to include, as a service to our visitors.

But what is reputable, and where can one go to ask get unbiased data, and to ask questions from experts who are not profit-oriented? Usually, for most cities, including Birmingham, there are some "usual standbys" that we will most often suggest.

The first place we usually start to try to find out information on the licensed assisted living facilities in a city is by visiting the assisted living association website for the particular area we are interested in. For Alabama, we found the Assisted Living Association of Alabama (Phone 334-262-5523) which has some very helpful information on senior issues, legislative and regulatory issues for the industry, education, and a providers directory for assisted living facilities all over the state. For Birmingham, we found a Facilities in Birmingham page that lists about a dozen facilities, and offers basic information, capacity, contact information, maps, and usually a website address for the facility if there is one. Assisted Living Association websites are usually very reliable places to further your research.

The next place that we recommend that families check out is the local Area Agency on Aging for a particular city to find out more information about what specific services are available to seniors in the area, and to find senior care experts to ask questions to. For Birmingham, this would be the Jefferson County Area Agency on Aging. This agency has been around since 1977, so it is established, and most likely a trustworthy information source. Agencies on Aging are established in most areas under the direction of the Older American's Act. Agencies exist to offer support to families and caregivers, and to advocate for and to enhance the lives of the seniors living in their areas.

Programs that are usually standard offerings from agencies on aging are: home-delivered meal programs, classes and education, nutrition guidance for seniors, a Long Term Care Ombudsman, transportation, as well as information and referral to other community resources that exist to help seniors and caregivers.

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