Are you looking for an assisted living facility for your aging parent or loved one? Assisted living is definitely a great choice since it offers a lot of customization options, and is also less expensive when compared with a regular nursing home.

However, it’s very important to know all the details before making your choice, especially in light of recent events linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has changed the policies according to which these facilities operate. Normally, visitation rules are not too problematic, but these days many additional precautions are in place to ensure the ongoing protection of the senior residents’ health and safety.

When and Under What Conditions Can You Visit Your Loved Ones?

There  are a lot of misconceptions associated with assisted living facilities pertaining to the reputation that regular nursing homes had in past years. While a nursing home cares for seniors whose mental and physical health might be very fragile, the best assisted living facilities Denver offers are very different, and they normally have less restrictive guidelines and rules associated with outside visitors.

You might find that even while visiting an assisted living center as a guest, you have to sign in, as if you were to visit a factory or a hospital. That ensures everyone is accounted for in an emergency, and it’s pretty much standard in every facility that offers care solutions for elders or patients of certain mental or physical disorders.

It’s very important to ask about visiting hours before you accept to send your aging loved one to any assisted living facility. In many cases, visiting hours are posted and restricted to family members, but not necessarily enforced, although some facilities are more zealous when it comes to allowing anyone inside the property.

What usually happens is that family members can stop by and stay for quite a while as long as they sign in and are allowed to enter by a certified staff member. In some cases, as long as you receive prior authorization, you may even be allowed to spend the night with your loved one, provided that the facility doesn’t have any rules that go against that option. All these details will, of course, have to be discussed beforehand.

Assisted Living and COVID-19 Restrictions for Visitors

The COVID pandemic has changed quite a lot in how easily visitors are allowed access to assisted living facilities, at least for the time being. As always, some facilities have more restrictions than others, but the usual idea is that you can visit for a limited time, provided that you abide by the new rules of the facility that are at least temporarily established to fit the restrictions imposed for protecting both assisted living facilities Denver visitors and residents from COVID-19.

While residents who test positive will, of course, have to be quarantined for 14 days or more, others are typically free to receive visitors either in outdoor or indoor facilities that are especially prepared for visits and for ensuring social distancing as well as other restrictions. The number of visitors per person, the time that they can stay and their freedom of movement throughout the facility will be limited especially in the case of indoor visits, which will generally be closely monitored to prevent the spreading of the disease.