My mom was at the Roberson House for a couple of years. We started noticing my mom's diaper was always completely soaked when she came home and she was losing weight. My mom has Alzheimer's and can't speak for herself. A relative of mine stoped by to refill my mom's daily meds and when they gave her my mom's pillbox, it was completely full. They were not giving her any of her meds. Also, my mom can only eat puree food and they just left regular food in front of her, that's why she was losing weight. We were shocked by this and immediately took her out of there. Our advice, always make spot checks to see how your family member is being treated. read more

The staff at Rogerson House exceeded my expectations in their care for my dad and their sensitivity to family member's feelings during these very difficult and trying times. They dealt with Covid-19 efficiently, effectively, seeking resources to maintain the health of the residents. Thank you Rogerson House staff! read more

Rogerson is an amazing place. My Dad spent nine months there with advanced dementia and the care was exemplary and their understanding of the needs of Alzheimer's patients is inspirational. Don't be put off by the rooms, the residents don't mind them and the design helps with safety. I did not expect to be part of a community for family members but that was an added bonus, many events for family members and residents that enhances the care as well. read more

My mom was placed in this home with mild to medium dementia. The first floor is beautiful but the residents were nasty. You could tell they were dragged along with their kids who moved into the area. They obviously didn't want to be there. Within 6 months, they recommended my mom go upstairs as her dementia was "progressing". Actually, it wasn't. My mother has some severe depression that would have been resolved with mood stabilizers. The 2nd floor was a nightmare. The woman they put her with would go in and hit and pinch her. She cried constantly and to get anyone to do anything was a battle. It was to the point that you had to hire your own nurses aide in order to assure your parent was being attended to properly. She finally had a meltdown and they placed her in Mount Auburn Hospital and doped to her up until she was comotose. Rogerson refused to let her return. She was finally place in a nursing facility in Andover where she does quite well. The nurses there were surprised that the Rogerson House said she was agressive. She was sweet and quiet and everyone loves her I hear the Rogerson aides are paid poorly which is surprising considering the number of Saabs and Volvos we would frequently see there in the employee parking. Overall it was a horrible experience and wouldn't recommend it despite the beauty of the area and the building itself read more

Rogerson House is a wonderfully vibrant community where the residents are well cared for and loved. The staff is extremely dedicated and they go above and beyond. The music therapy, art therapy and other activities are stimulating and engaging. The nursing care is top-notch. Rogerson House is located in Jamaica Plain right off of Centre Street and at times the traffic in the area is congested. They have a beautiful greenhouse on their property and the gardens are well cared for. read more

My stepfather lived at Rogerson House from late in 2008 until his death there, with hospice care for his final illness, early in 2011. He was comfortable there, and soon considered it "home" after moving in. The staff worked hard to help him participate in activities on the Ground Floor where he lived, which was hard because he was shy and a loner for much of his life. He did connect well with the staff running the exercise program, and also went out on some of the excursions. I did have to hire male personal aides during the last 6 months of his life because he refused to let the regular female aides help him with hygiene needs once he stopped being able to do these chores himself. Watching a beloved parent change with dementia is always a very sad business, and it's hard to deal with. This is especially true regarding unpleasant behavior changes that often accompany the loss of higher cognitive function. Rogerson House personnel weren't perfect, but they were always caring and trying to do the right thing. read more

I wish I had read the previous review prior to placing my husband in Rogerson. What a horrible place. There is no care given to the residents. It is quite true that if the resident requires care other than meals provided, there is a need for private aides. The food is terrible, most of the aides prefer to do as little as possible. The aides are not very well trained or paid and many of them have other jobs, with Rogerson House being the part time job. Residents on the first floor, the advanced state residents, can be found in need of having clothes changed-dripping wet. If a resident is the least bit troublesome to anyone, the culture there is to drug the person into a comatose state so the aides will not have to do anything. Next, the exit strategy is to stick the person into a hospital to have the "meds" (drugs) regulated and then not readmit the person into Rogerson. You have to provide your own furnishings so once you have been suckered in with the lies about the good care and activities, and you have furnished the room, you have invested into the place. The facility itself is appealing and the setting is lovely, but everything else is a nightmare. Clearly, it is disgraceful that Rogerson House admits people, after an interview, who are not well suited to the qualifications there. Obviously, the only interest is in filling empty rooms to collect money, rather than making appropriate placements. Joan F. read more

Rogerson House was my father's home for the last months of his life. It was a wonderful environment for him and for our family. The staff was warm, patient, professional and upbeat. My father was always well-dressed and groomed, and the staff spent time talking and joking with him despite his diminished cognitive abilities. I was amazed by the commitment of all the team members to the residents and the pride they seemed to take in their work. Whether we were asking for help hanging pictures in my father's room or arranging for specialized medical care later on, the staff responded immediately and courteously. Because of my father's needs, he was in another well-known facility in the Brookline area. I wish I had found Rogerson House first. They not only know how to care for people with dementia, but they are willing to do the hard physical and emotional work associated with this ruthless disease. When I first began looking for a residence for my Dad, the facilities seemed similar in their programs and services. But it is the "culture of caring" that is so hard to judge from a tour or brochure. At Rogerson, respectful, empathic care is their specialty. read more

I placed my mother here in May of 2014. She has been happier here than when she was in an independent living facility. In that facility she just stayed in her room and played Sudoku. At Rogerson House she is out in the community all day. She plays music, she sings with other residents, and she looks forward to sitting outside in the garden or playing word games in the sunroom. I've found the staff to be caring and helpful. I would recommend this setting to anyone. My mother is safe, at ease, and involved in daily activities. read more

My father has been in the day program at Rogerson for three years. It saved him. He was losing his memory and was very upset, anxious, depressed, and talking about wanting to die. Rogerson gave him back his will to live. He looks forward to going there every day; on the weekends he just waits to go back. The staff there is marvelous. They are gentle and tactful, and know how to deal with people on all parts of the dementia spectrum. The arts focus has been wonderful for my dad, even though he was never very interested before losing his memory. The social life has been great, and the staff knows how and when to intervene. I highly recommend the Rogerson day program. read more

Getting to know the staff and the patients at the Rogerson House has been a life-changing experience. My neighbor Bill was placed in the Rogerson four years ago. As his health was deteriorating, his memory getting increasingly worse, I had plenty of opportunity to observe the staff's extraordinarily way of helping him adapt to his new and painful situation. Their care and love for him was genuine. Many cried at the Memorial Service arranged for him. I would visit Bill without ever giving advance notice: every single time, Bill would be engaged in one of the many activities provided--music, French lessons, bingo, poetry reading, gardening. While the patients had seemed a blur when I first arrived, the staff made sure to introduce us and to ease the relationship between patients, families, and visitors. I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten to know some remarkable people--Gertrude, a historian who wrote many books, Joan the minister's widow who loved dogs and many others. The selflessness of the helpers and administrators is beyond anything I could have imagined. Bill was made to feel very special at the Rogerson. Granted, he was one of the most charming people on earth (I am biased), but he was treated according to his great gifts, his wit, and sense of style. The staff would always make a great fuss over his outfits, they would make sure his television was tuned to the Animal Channel, and they treated him with great respect. But even if Bill hadn't had his charming ways, he would have been cared for with the same devotion. Toward the end of his life, when he became incontinent, they did their best to help him without embarrassing him. I was disconsolate when Bill was asked to move to the second floor (for advanced Alzheimer patients). I protested at first, finding it dehumanizing to uproot him from his friends and helpers. But the reasons they gave me were compelling: what they said was that when a patient stops making sense, becomes fully incontinent, the other patients begin ostracizing him or her. They explained that Bill should remain the star. The moment he would start noticing that he was being shunned, he would begin avoiding his fellow residents. This is actually what happened. Before he moved upstairs, he started eating alone, becoming less and less talkative. They were right. Rather than losing his status, he had preferred to isolate himself. At first, it was quite a shock for me to see him upstairs, with patients who seemed significantly more advanced in their disease. But it really was better for him. He didn't seem as ashamed or confused. One of the most wonderful aspects of this move upstairs is that the staff reconstituted his room with absolute precision. Same pictures on the wall, same everything. This helped Bill make the transition without feeling displaced in the least. I would give 5 stars to the Rogerson for their great humanity, their resources, the tremendous personal attention they pay to each resident. I think the food could be improved. Perhaps some good quality pot pourri could be added to dispel some of the residual smells. It was also not utterly clear to me how a family was supposed to deal with the patient once the condition really deteriorated. We got additional help to make sure Bill was dressed/undressed and shaved and cleaned. However, it wasn't completely clear to me whether this service could have been gotten with his insurance. Had we not been able to afford the added help, would he have had to leave for a nursing home? Those questions are worth asking. At any event, Bill stayed to the very end. He was comforted by remarkable people from Hospice and must have felt, despite the tragic situation he found himself in, that he had gained a second home. I will always be grateful to the remarkable people at the Rogerson. They taught me how to look beyond a condition that often makes us forget its victims deep intelligence and sensibility. Now that Bill is no more, I miss his friends and those who cared for him so beautifully throughout his illness. The genius behind the Rogerson House is the philosophy that nobody should be allowed to feel disoriented or displaced. Everything is designed to rekindle a sense of safety. Even if the residents' short-term memory has eroded, the Rogerson House is there to rekindle long-term experiences and joys. Their garden is truly idyllic. Looking at two women walking arm in arm, I realized that Alzheimer's or not, the Rogerson stresses above all else that we are all part of one humanity. I thank them for all they did for Bill and his friends. read more

Our aunt spent the last three years of her life - 2009-1012 - at Rogerson House and we could not have been more pleased with the care she received there. The Director is a warm and engaging person who made the difficult transition to assisted living about as smooth as it could be. Staff members treated our aunt with great kindness and provided her with excellent care. We delighted in watching our aunt enjoy the many activities provided to residents each day; in watching her sing, play the piano, enjoy good music, paint, listen to news stories, watch documentaries, and participate in exercise routines. We loved spending time with her on the beautiful grounds that surround Rogerson, looking at the flowers and vegetables, and listening to and feeding the birds. We enjoyed watching videos with her on the house computer. We enjoyed seeing her excitement when children and animals came to visit, something that was a frequent occurrence. And it made us feel good to see how many staff members knew our aunt by name and interacted with her when she walked, and later rolled down the hall in her wheel chair. We never went two feet without someone greeting her and making her and us feel welcome. We were pleased by how well she ate and how good the food was. We almost always found her bathed and well groomed and that wasn't easy to accomplish given her resistance to being helped. Our aunt, though delightful, was not the easiest person to care for and we were amazed by the patience, persistence, and kindness with which the staff approached her and their success in getting her up and going each day. The hard work and generosity of the staff make Rogerson a very special place. We would strongly recommend it to anyone looking for an assisted living facility for an elderly relative with dementia. read more