Traditions of Dedham

Is Traditions of Dedham a certified assisted living residence in Massachusetts?

Yes. Traditions of Dedham at 735 Washington Street, Dedham, MA 02026 is listed as Certified on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence (AGE) list of certified Assisted Living Residences dated June 25, 2026, and has held certification since September 25, 2002. Massachusetts certifies assisted living residences rather than licensing them, so there is no license number to look up — the state identifies each residence by name and address.

Traditions of Dedham is one of the longer-running residences in Norfolk County: its certification dates to 2002, the first years of the Massachusetts ALR program after the 1994 law that created it.

Check the record yourself on the mass.gov page for Traditions of Dedham, which also lists the unit counts, ownership flags and any posted Compliance Review Report.

What did the latest Massachusetts compliance review of Traditions of Dedham find?

AGE's most recent posted Compliance Review of Traditions of Dedham, conducted August 23, 2024, resulted in a Plan of Correction required across 5 lettered finding areas, 4 of them marked as repeat findings from the prior review.

The report's findings covered emergency-call (e-call) response times, resident assessments and service plans, bed-rail assessments, the quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program, on-time reporting of resident incidents to the state and controlled-substance counts.

A Plan of Correction is the standard outcome of a Massachusetts compliance review: the residence answers each finding in writing and AGE grants recertification once the fixes are accepted. It is not a suspension or fine. Nearly every residence with a posted report in Greater Boston received one, so the useful comparison is which areas were cited and whether they repeat.

For context, the median posted report for a Norfolk County residence lists 6 finding areas; Traditions of Dedham's latest lists fewer than that.

Read the full Compliance Review Report on mass.gov →

Does Traditions of Dedham offer memory care in Dedham?

Yes. Traditions of Dedham has a certified Special Care Residence with 14 units — about 15% of its 95 certified units. In Massachusetts, memory care is delivered in a Special Care Residence (SCR) inside a certified ALR; it is not a separate license.

Statewide, the median ALR with an SCR has about 20 SCR units, so Traditions of Dedham's Special Care Residence is smaller than typical, which some families prefer.

Where is Traditions of Dedham located in Dedham, MA?

Traditions of Dedham is at 735 Washington Street, Dedham, MA 02026, in Norfolk County. Hospitals families in Dedham commonly use include Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Needham and Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital.

Dedham, the Norfolk County seat, sits just past Boston's West Roxbury and Hyde Park neighborhoods along Route 128.

There are 2 other certified residences in Dedham: Charter Senior Living of Dedham, NewBridge on the Charles.

Veterans and surviving spouses can be served by the VA Boston Healthcare System (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury and Brockton campuses) and may qualify for VA Aid & Attendance toward assisted living costs.

How does Traditions of Dedham compare with other assisted living in Norfolk County?

With 95 certified units, Traditions of Dedham is larger than most among the 37 certified residences in Norfolk County (number 9 by unit count); the county median is 77 units.

30 of those 37 residences have Special Care Residence units, 4 report nonprofit ownership on their state profile, and 5 list low-income options.

Closest in size among Norfolk County residences, from the same state records:

How much does Traditions of Dedham cost per month?

Massachusetts does not publish prices for individual residences, so ask Traditions of Dedham for its written fee schedule. Statewide, AGE's 2025 census report puts the median monthly fee range at $4,228–$9,225 for traditional units and $7,218–$10,886 for Special Care units.

Greater Boston generally runs above those statewide medians: this site's cost research puts typical assisted living at $5,800–$8,200/mo in 2026, with Brookline, Newton, Cambridge and the Back Bay at the high end.

Traditions of Dedham's state profile lists low-income options — usually affordable units created under housing programs such as Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Ask how many such units exist and how long the waitlist is.

MassHealth does not pay assisted living rent. Some residences accept MassHealth Group Adult Foster Care (GAFC) or a Senior Care Options (SCO) plan for personal-care services; ask the residence directly, and see our Frail Elder Waiver guide for at-home alternatives.

What should you ask when touring Traditions of Dedham?

Start with the areas the state already flagged at Traditions of Dedham — emergency-call (e-call) response times, resident assessments and service plans, bed-rail assessments — and ask what changed after the review; then cover staffing, fees and move-out triggers.

• What is your average pendant/e-call response time overnight, and can I see last month's response log?
• How often is a resident's service plan reassessed, and who attends that meeting?
• Do you assess bed rails and other devices for safety before use?
• What has your quality-improvement committee changed in the past year?
• How do you handle a hospital discharge back to the residence?
• What is the full monthly fee for my parent's care level, and what triggers an increase?
• Which care needs would require a move to a nursing home?
• How long have the executive director and resident care director been in their roles?

Visit twice — once at a meal — and read the residency agreement before paying a deposit. Massachusetts gives ALR residents specific resident rights, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program can help if problems come up later.

How does moving into Traditions of Dedham work?

Before anyone moves into Traditions of Dedham, Massachusetts rules require the residence to screen and assess the prospective resident and agree a written service plan with the family.

• Residency agreement and disclosures. The residence must give you its residency agreement and a disclosure of fees, services and discharge terms; take them home and compare them before paying a deposit.
• Special Care Residence admission. Admission to Traditions of Dedham's 14-unit Special Care Residence is based on a dementia diagnosis and an assessment that the secured setting is appropriate; ask what criteria would move a resident between its traditional and Special Care units.
• Medication plan. Decide whether your parent will self-administer, receive Self-Administered Medication Management (SAMM) help from aides, or need Limited Medication Administration (LMA) by a nurse — it affects both care and fees.
• Payment. Rent and care are almost always private pay in an ALR; long-term care insurance and VA Aid & Attendance can offset them.
• Affordable units. Ask Traditions of Dedham for the income limits and waitlist for its low-income units.

Most moves take two to four weeks once a unit is available; a hospital discharge can compress that to days, which is when a second set of eyes on the agreement helps most.

Frequently asked questions