Questions to Ask on an Assisted Living Tour (Printable Checklist)

Written and reviewed by the OhioSeniorGuide editorial team, led by an Ohio-licensed long-term-care professional · Updated 2026-07-12

Communities are polished for scheduled tours. These are the questions that get past the brochure (cost, staffing, turnover, and what happens when care needs grow), plus the red flags families miss.

Every community will be clean, warm, and smiling on the day of your scheduled tour. That is not a criticism; it is sales, and it is normal. Your job is to find out what Tuesday at 9 p.m. looks like.

Print these, bring them, and write the answers down. The act of writing changes the conversation, and it will save you from the fog that sets in after the third tour.

Before you go

• Check the license. Every community on this site shows its Ohio Department of Health license number and status, pulled from state records.
• Read the reviews you weren't shown. We publish the newest Google reviews verbatim on every profile, good and bad, unfiltered.
• Know your care level. Readnursing home vs. assisted livingfirst so you're touring the right kind of place.

Money questions (ask these first)

1. What is the all-in monthly cost for my mother at her assessed care level, including medication management? (Get it in writing.)
2. What triggers a move to the next care tier, how much does each tier cost, and how much notice do we get?
3. Is there a community fee? Is it refundable or negotiable?
4. How often do you raise rates, and what have increases been the last three years?
5. What is billed separately: laundry, cable, transportation, incontinence supplies, salon?
6. Do you accept the Ohio Assisted Living Medicaid Waiver, and do you have a waiver bed available? (Critical if Medicaid may ever fund the stay, see our waiver guide.)

Staffing questions (the ones that predict quality)

1. What is the caregiver-to-resident ratio during the day? At night? On weekends? (Night and weekend answers matter most; that's when things go wrong.)
2. What is your caregiver turnover rate? A community that knows its number and shares it is usually proud of it. Hesitation is data.
3. How long has the executive director been here? The nursing director? Leadership churn shows up in care within months.
4. Is there a licensed nurse on site, and during which hours?
5. Do you use agency staff, and how often?

Care and medical questions

1. Who conducts the care assessment, and how often is it redone?
2. How do you handle medication administration and errors?
3. What happens if she falls? Who responds, and how fast?
4. When would you ask her to leave? (Ask it plainly. Every community has a threshold where needs exceed their license. Knowing it now prevents an emergency move later.)
5. How do you communicate with families when something changes?
6. Which physicians, podiatrists, and therapists come on site?

Daily life questions

1. Can I eat a meal here today? (Then do it. Food is a daily quality-of-life fact, not a brochure photo.)
2. What did residents do yesterday? (Not the printed calendar, actual attendance.)
3. Can residents keep their own doctor? Their own car? Come and go freely?
4. What are visiting hours, and are there restrictions?
5. How do you help a new resident who is angry, grieving, or refuses to participate? (Every family faces this. A good answer is specific.)

Red flags

Then go back unannounced. A weekend evening. Walk in, sit in the common area for twenty minutes, and watch. That visit tells you more than every brochure combined.

Build your shortlist

Tour two or three, not seven. Start from the licensed list, including communities that don't advertise:search assisted living near you.