Caring . com is releasing its list of “Caring Stars 2018” today, and 267 senior living communities made the cut.
To earn the honor from the San Mateo, CA-based website, which serves as a resource for family caregivers, communities must have had 10 or more consumer reviews on their Caring . com listing, with an overall rating of 4.5 or higher on a scale of 1 to 5; received three or more reviews between Oct. 1, 2016, and Oct. 15, 2017, including at least one review that was posted during 2017 and at least one that had a five-star rating; and must have responded to every negative (1-star or 2-star) review they received 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,” Caring . com CEO Karen Cassel said in a statement. Any senior living community listed on the site can earn the recognition, but the company said that by analyzing directory data, it found that among referral partners, prior years’ winners received twice as many inquiries and move-ins as listings that had not received the award.
The 2018 list includes independent living, assisted living and memory care communities as well as care homes and skilled nursing facilities.
Just like last year, the three states with the highest number of winners are California (65 communities on the list this year and 55 last year); Florida (27 this year and 34 last year); and Texas (24 this year and 27 last year). California has been in the top five since Caring.com launched Caring Stars in 2012.
Ten states — Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming — are not represented on the 2018 list. An additional nine states — Arkansas, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and Rhode Island — each have one community on the list.
The 10 operators with the highest number of communities on the list are Holiday Retirement, with 28 communities; Eskaton, 23; Atria Senior Living and Sunrise Senior Living, 10 each; Pacifica Senior Living, 9; Senior Lifestyle, 8; Brookdale Senior Living, Integral Senior Living and Spectrum Retirement, 7 each; and Five Star Senior Living, 6. Forty-six communities on the list are small businesses.
Additionally, 78 communities have been named “Caring Super Stars” for having earned Caring Star awards in three or more years since the program’s inception in 2012.
Nineteen of the small-business communities made the Super Stars list. The multi-property operators with the most communities on the Super Stars list are Atria Senior Living, with seven; Sunrise Senior Living, with five; and Brookdale Senior Living, with four.
The winner lists are published online. Later this month, Caring . com also will announce which in-home care agencies earned the Caring Stars 2018 honor.
