Search Instructions

The following instructions are for AFH Locator tools to access our database of Adult Family Home (AFH)  information.

The search tools consist of several parts:

  1. AFH Search Criteria - This is the area that you enter the information about the location and capabilities you are looking for in an Adult Family Home. Select a City and Within Miles in the top two pull-downs and get a list all of the AFHs within a given distance, regardless of the city that they are physically located in. Refine you search by checking the check-boxes that match the client’s needs. The definitions for the check-boxes are provided below. Note: Like most web-browser pull-down lists, Select a City allows the user to type the first letter of a city's name and jumps to that section of the list. Also up-arrow and -down-arrow also work here.
  2. Language Criteria - This pull-down allows you to select a single language that you are interested in having spoken at the Adult Family Home. Many homes speak several languages, while others speak only English.
  3. Selected Adult Family Homes - A list of AFHs that match the current search criteria. As your search criterion becomes more specific, the number of selected AFHs will decrease. The list starts out as a multi-page list of all of the homes and decreases as you add criteria. It may actually decrease to ZERO and say "Error - No Matching Results!" If this happens, re-check the selections that you have made. At the bottom of the list are links to other pages of the listing if your list of selected AFHs is larger than the number of Records per Page.

    The list of Selected Adult Family Homes list includes buttons Detail »   Web »   Map »  that will bring up, in a separate window or tab, the a page of details on the AFH, a map to the AFH and its web site with pictures of the AFH. The is also a Print Page  button that will bring up a window with just the current page of selected AFHs for printing. It is usually best if you print this page in landscape mode. Landscape mode is set in your browser's print dialog box. A green disk Has Vacancy in the left hand column indicates that the AFH has a vacancy even if vacancy wasn't part of your search criteria.
  4. The Details Page of information about an individual AFH from Aging Safely's database of Adult Family Home information. The details page also has links to the Map to the AFH and its Web site. Since the Details Page appears in its own window or tab, the Back to List »   button just closes its window or tab.

 AFH Search Criteria and Details Page Explanation:

  • AFH License: Washington State licenses AFH specialties: Dementia (DE), Mental Health(ME) and Developmental Disabilities(DD).   If a patient has a primary diagnosis of Mental Health, Dementia or Developmental Disabilities, then the AFH must have the corresponding specialty license.
  • RN/LPN Provider or Manager indicates that the AFH Provider (or the Resident Manager) is licensed in the State of Washington as an RN, ARNP or LPN.
  • AFH Vacancy: Indicates that this AFH has a current vacancy for a Male or Female in a semi-private room, or has a vacant Private Room. Leaving all three of these vacancy boxes blank will produce a list of AFHs that meet your selection criteria regardless of the current vacancy status. Vacancy information is volatile and you may wish to contact AFHs to see if they have a vacancy regardless of the current status in our database.   Leaving all of the vacancy check-boxes blank causes the search to ignore vacancy information. You should only check one type of vacancy in this row!  An AFH provider may list both a Private Room vacancy and a Share-Room vacancy for a single vacancy. This can happen because residents may be interested in moving, or because the room is licensed for more than one bed.
  • Accepts Medicaid - This indicates that the provider will consider a resident that is already on Medicaid.
  • Accepts Medicaid with Conditions - This indicates that the provider has some "conditions" under which the will accept Medicaid. For example, the provider will accept Medicaid as payment if the resident has been a "private pay" resident for 24 months or longer prior to going on Medicaid.
  • Hospice / End of Life  indicates that the AFH accepts residents that are currently in a hospice program. Since not all areas have formal hospice programs End of Life is also included.
  • Two Person Assist / Hoyer  - The cost and staffing of an AFH is effected by the care that is required by the residents. A resident that requires two people to assist them with transfers impacts staffing and not all AFHs are staffed for that level 24 hours per day. 
  • Insulin Delegation or RN/LPN (ID) - Caregivers have been through the DSHS certification program to allow non-RN/LPNs to give insulin injections. RN or LPN homes also show up with this selection since they are also allowed to give insulin injections.
  • Awake Night Shift  - Some AFHs rely on call buttons and monitoring of residents during the night shift. Others has an Awake Night Shift that is doing food preparation, light housekeeping and other tasks at night in addition to caring for residents. If your loved one is up several times at night, they will need an AFH with an Awake Night Shift. 
  • Wanderers, Exit Seekers, and those that are Resistive to Care are potential residents that may not be appropriate for every AFH. 
  • Has House Doctor Available - In some major metropolitan areas there are groups of Primary Care Physicians that specialize in treating the elderly; these doctors will make house calls to Adult Family Homes for their patients and they usually accept payment from Medicare.
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Details Page text blocks:

  • Also Experienced In: - This is a place for the AFH provider to list other areas of medical specialty that this AFH is especially experienced in addition to those skills from the search criteria.
  • Other Services:  - This is a place for the AFH provider to list services such as beautician, activities, etc. that provided by this AFH.
  • Notes: -This is a place to provide details of Medicaid conditions or any other items that a check-box can't address.

 

To print this page click  Print Page 


 
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