Brookdale Roanoke

Rob

Brookdale Roanoke is focused primarily on memory care. There are four different sections. If you look at it like a rectangle, there's one on the bottom left, the bottom right, the top right, and the top left, and that's where all the residents are. Within each of those residences, they're grouped to according the level of care that they need. Outside of that common ground, there's a huge walkway in the back that is level and flat. It's a huge area that is a big fenced, so they can walk without any restrictions. Many of the residents are experiencing wandering so they just can walk to their heart's content. There are a lot of people that have been there like the top nursing program, even the salesperson, and they've been there for 10-plus years. They are not people that are leaving like every two or three years. They're very committed to this particular disease state. They're trained from the top to the very bottom, and they have that continued education. It seemed like it was a good place with the initial tour that we experienced. There's nothing exciting about the room. It seemed to be basic. It was not large. It seemed to be adequate in terms of a one-room bedroom and the bathroom altogether per se. It's just one single room, but the whole idea is for the residents to be involved in activities and to truly be outside of the room. They offer a monthly caregiver meeting so that people from the community, even if they don't have family members there, they're welcome to come to talk about experiences and stuff that they're working through regarding their family members and memory care.

Donna

My sister will be moving into Brookdale Roanoke. It's very homey looking. They have four sections that are all dedicated to memory care based on functional levels. The grounds look nice. The rooms are small, but they're clean. The staff who assisted me was very informative. They gave me all the information I needed. They tried to address what I felt our needs were. They let me talk to all the people I wanted to talk to at the facility. I didn't taste the food but it looked appetizing. I asked some of the residents what they thought of the food, and they gave it favorable reviews. When I was there, they had a group going on, and they were playing a game where they were doing some cognitive work. All of the people that were there seemed to be engaged.

Cheryl

We're in the process of getting my mother in at the Brookdale Roanoke. We like it because it has more of a personal feel and they refer to it as a community versus a facility. Each time we visited, the residents are socializing with each other, and no one was sitting in a chair looking unhappy. The staff there is just very hands-on. I like the way they divide their dementia residents into four different households with mild to severe dementia. And then they have them all in each house where they eat at the same time and do their activities at the same time. So no one that has severe dementia is eating at the same time as somebody with mild dementia. That way, if someone is having to be fed by someone, they're not sitting with somebody who can eat on their own. So they're feeling sorry for themselves because they can't do what somebody else is doing. They're all doing it in the same cognitive impairment group as is the person beside them. So that's very nice. We've been told that if my mom has a recipe that she likes, we could email it to the chef and he will fix it specifically for her. The lady that I spoke to, Shakira, was a huge help and she's amazing. So I appreciate her a lot.

Cheryl

We placed my brother in Brookdale Roanoke's memory care last year. Overall, it was a good experience for us. I think he thrived there. They seemed to care about him. Whenever I talk to them, they are positive and pleasant. It was at the end of COVID, though. It was hard to go in and see him without a lot of rules and etcetera, but that was understandable. They had activities that they invited families to at different holiday times. I was able to call with my concerns and felt like they heard me when I would say something. Overall, I think they were easy to work with, and they seemed to provide him with activities. They said they had physical therapy, but it was just someone who came in periodically; I was disappointed on that level. They could not take care of his catheter issue, which is not their fault. It's above the level of care that they're allowed to provide, and that's why we had to move him. The food is good. He put on a lot of weight while he was there. I think the activity director did a lot of things for them. For facilities, they seemed to bring things in, but they didn't have a lot of things in their building. The facility was just a few blocks from where I live, so it was very convenient.

Patti

I toured Brookdale Roanoke. Memory care is all they have there. It was my least favorite not because of anything about the building or the staff or anything anybody said or did, but the rooms are too small. I would not be able to choose a room as small as that, but they did have bigger outside spaces. Some people would choose outside spaces, so I wouldn't want to say anything that would deter somebody from thinking that was a nice place because it is, but it just wasn't suitable for me and what I'm looking for. There was an incident there where there was a maintenance guy who was so pleasant and nice to one of the residents. As we walked away, I said, 'Who was that young fellow that just talked to that lady?' and they said, 'He's a maintenance guy, and everybody loves him.' I got a favorable impression. He was a young guy, maybe in his 20s or something, and he was just so nice and patient with this old lady who was confused about where she was and what she's doing. But he was patient and sweet. He didn't know that I was there for, so it seemed genuine to me. They had a salon and they had common rooms. It is divided into sort of like pods where you have four small areas with not too many residents in there. They choose which one of those to put the person in based on their interest. They try to match people up. They're not my choice, but they were very nice, friendly and pleasant. Everybody was very welcoming to me and nice and showed me around in detail.

Todd

My dad has moved into Brookdale Roanoke. The staff is very attentive, and everyone has been wonderful. From the director of sales to the director of the facility and the nurses, I have no complaints. Everybody has been fantastic. The physical appearance is very pleasant, clean, and well maintained. For my dad, it is very calming. I really have no complaints about it. It looks great. Food is fantastic. My dad is eating like a king. The facility is very nice. They have a barber salon. Since I'm out of town, and once I moved my daddy in, I haven't been back, but I might go visit this weekend. They've got a really nice garden area and a nice walking area outside. They have all that he needs, so he's good there.