Ten Years After Caring.com First Launched: Now a Leading Site for Senior Care Reviews Online, Helping Family Caregivers in Search for Senior Living Communities

San Mateo, CA; November 9, 2017: Today Caring.com announced the “Caring Stars of 2018”, an annual list recognizing senior living communities for service excellence based on consumer ratings and reviews in Caring.com’s Senior Living Directory online. The 2018 Caring Stars award winners for top-rated senior living include 267 independent living and assisted living communities, care homes, and skilled nursing facilities in 40 states across the nation. Later this month, Caring.com will also announce which in-home care agencies earned the Caring Stars 2018 honor.

When the Caring.com website originally launched in November 2007 as part of National Family Caregivers Month, it was designed to give family caregivers the insights they need to make informed decisions about the care of their aging or ailing parents, spouses, and other loved ones. With the acquisition of an eldercare provider directory in 2009 and its significant expansion in subsequent years, Caring.com built one of the largest collections of senior care reviews online, and introduced the Caring Stars award in 2012 as the first-of-its-kind in the senior living industry.

Today, there are about three million monthly visitors to Caring.com’s website, and more than 150,000 senior care reviews published in its directory — with the Caring Stars distinction helping thousands of senior care searchers narrow their research and selection to the best-matched communities for their aging or ailing loved ones. While any senior living community listed on Caring.com can earn the reviews-based award, Caring.com found in analyzing its directory data that among its referral partners: prior years’ winners received twice as many inquiries and move-ins as listings without the award — a signal that this annual list is truly helping families in their senior living search.

To qualify for the 2018 Caring Stars award for senior living, the communities had to meet the following criteria:

  • Have 10 or more consumer reviews on their Caring.com listing, with an overall average rating of 4.5 stars or higher (on a scale of 1 to 5);
  • Have 3 or more reviews on their listing dated between October 1, 2016 – October 15, 2017, including at least one that was posted during 2017 and at least one that had a 5-star rating; and
  • Respond to any/all negative (1-star or 2-star) reviews on their listing.

“Each year, we are so excited to compile and reveal America’s most highly-rated senior living communities using ratings and reviews in our directory, which is public-facing online feedback from the older adults and families these communities serve,” said Caring.com’s CEO Karen Cassel. “Our longstanding reviews program and Caring Stars annual list are very much a part of Caring.com’s social mission to support family caregivers with comprehensive and high quality senior care information and resources, including helping them find the best senior living communities for their needs. Congratulations to all of the 2018 Caring Stars for receiving high praise in reviews on Caring.com and standing out among the best in the nation!”

More information about the Caring Stars program is available by contacting Caring.com’s reviews team at community@caring.com or (650) 762-8190. The winner lists are published each year for families at https://www.caring.com/bestseniorliving and linked via Caring.com’s homepage as well.

See also: The Caring Super Stars of 2018 — assisted living and memory care communities who have earned the Caring Stars award in 3 or more years since 2012