(Provided by Gilbert Guide's on-site reviewer)

Tucked inside a middle-class neighborhood off a busy road, this cream-colored brick building is alternately surrounded by parking lots or grassy areas. Inside, fresh flowers lend color and fragrance. Shiny red tile floors are topped with small rugs. Rose and aqua colors ornament the chairs set about the lobby. In resident rooms, white tile flooring and large windows create a crisp, clean look. Two dining rooms allow those who need feeding assistance some privacy. The larger one is punctuated by a chandelier, which casts a warm glow over the formal-style dining room. Placards at each table detail the specific dietary issues of each resident. Large activity rooms are supplemented by smaller rooms at the hallway ends. One of the several outdoor areas has a quaint gazebo, and small gardens are cheered by colorful flowerbeds. Activities are offered twice a day, once in the morning and again in the afternoon. Multiple visitors and residents chatting with each other and staff seemed to curtail the need for a more robust schedule. The dementia unit is mostly for early-stage dementia residents; however, activities are divvied into two separate cognitive levels. The special programming geared to this population has an emphasis on stimulation. Staffing is higher in this unit, ensuring more individualized attention. The management feels that TV-watching has few (if any) positive benefits for dementia patients, as they are more likely to skip out on activities, so there are no televisions in resident rooms. Most activities occur in a glass-enclosed area in the dining room that overlooks the floor below. Residents enjoy peering downward to watch the goings-on. The large facility runs smoothly due to superior organization. The work of the administration and staff is apparent in the general level of happiness we witnessed on the faces of residents. In fact, our guide told us her grandmother and great-aunt, both residents, were very happy with the facility. There is clearly a real sense of community at Broomall. The three-person staff development team who plans all training has new employees undergo three days of orientation in addition to two weeks of shadowing another employee before working on their own. Furthermore, the management developed a policy five years ago to stop using agency nurses or certified nursing assistants, believing it would increase the level of staff commitment and therefore provide a higher quality of care—and continuity—for the residents.