Gilbert Guide Launches New York City Edition.

Gilbert Guide Provides New York City Residents With a Comprehensive and Time-Saving Resource for Finding the Best Long-Term Care Facilities and Services in the Five Boroughs

NEW YORK -- Gilbert Guide, a leading provider of comprehensive regional senior care reference books and online resources, today announced the publication of Gilbert Guide New York City: The 5 Boroughs, the only "insider's" guide to the best long-term care facilities and services. For the first time, caregivers and geriatric care professionals throughout New York City will have access to a comprehensive listing of the best long-term care facilities and services available in each of the five boroughs. The release of the New York City Guide marks the fourth regional market covered by Gilbert Guide.

With nearly 350 long-term care facilities throughout the five boroughs that cost anywhere from $25,000 to $116,000 annually, choosing a long-term care facility or service that meets a family's individual health and financial needs can be a daunting task. Unfortunately, many New Yorkers are forced to make this major life decision during a time of crisis. Frequently, there is little time to research the dozens of care options available. Gilbert Guide gives families a head start during this emotional and stressful time by providing a short list of expert-reviewed facilities and services that meet their unique needs.

"Gilbert Guide is an invaluable resource for New York City residents, and healthcare professionals like me who work with families facing the challenge of finding quality long-term care for their loved ones," said Dorothy Papo, LCSW, social worker with a prominent Manhattan medical center. "When providing patients with lists for long-term care facilities and services, one of the main questions that comes up is whether or not I have actually visited or have personal knowledge of the facilities. With the release of Gilbert Guide's New York City edition, consumers will have the assurance that every facility included in the guide has been reviewed by a team of geriatric care professionals."

The Gilbert Guide approach is unique in that, in order to provide unbiased recommendations, the company does not accept any advertising or referral fees. Instead, Gilbert Guide assembles a team of expert reviewers who physically visit each facility. These experts include RNs, social workers, geriatric care managers and certified professional caregivers. The team visits, tours, and explores each facility, rating each one on standards and criteria such as: staff-to-client ratio, facility condition, resident's appearance and overall mood, dietary and food selection, appropriateness of activities, proximity to medical care, Alzheimer's and dementia care, interactions between residents and staff, and much more. No other long-term care resource guide guarantees that a team of expert reviewers has physically visited each facility as part of the overall assessment.

Gilbert Guide evaluates the full spectrum of long-term care options; from adult day care and assisted living, to in-home care, hospice and skilled nursing facilities. Detailed in the Guide are other helpful tools, including:

* Portraits - These narratives, based on the reviewers' professional observations and personal perspective, provide consumers with vivid and dynamic descriptions about each facility and service and are designed to simplify the decision-making process.

* Who Pays for What? - This tool educates readers on the financial realities of long-term care and services. In addition, each listing denotes the cost of the facility and identifies what services can be reimbursed through insurance providers.

* Gems - Important value-added resources that help make long-term care a more fulfilling experience for loved ones. Fitness programs, home design contractors, financial advisors and support groups are some examples of these highly specialized services.

* Helpful Organizations - A complete listing of local organizations that really do help families at every point of the long-term care spectrum.

"New York City is home to some of the most prestigious healthcare facilities in the world, and we are excited to offer families and healthcare professionals in the five boroughs a complete and comprehensive guide to the wonderfully diverse and top-rate long-term care facilities available to them," said Jill Gilbert, president and CEO of Gilbert Guide. "We understand that families are often making long-term care decisions during the health crisis of a loved one. Our mission at Gilbert Guide is to make this complicated and emotional undertaking easier by providing caregivers with the shortest route possible to finding quality long-term care."

Availability

Current editions of Gilbert Guide are available in New York City, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth, and the East Bay. The Guides may be purchased in bookstores, or online at www.gilbertguide.com.

Future editions of Gilbert Guide are planned for Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Florida and Arizona.

About Gilbert Guide, Inc.

Gilbert Guide, Inc. was developed to address the dire need for comprehensive and practical consumer guides for long-term care planning in every major metropolitan area in the U.S. Founded by the Gilbert family - Jill, Jason, Deanne and Harvey Gilbert, MD, a radiation oncologist with more than thirty-five years of experience - Gilbert Guide is the leading provider of comprehensive senior care reference books and online resources designed to educate long-term care professionals and family caregivers about the best facilities and services in their specific region.