When our relatives get older, you must start thinking about how to choose the right nursing home, especially if you cannot afford home care. The most common option is sending elderly loved ones to nursing homes where they can get elderly medical care.
Nursing homes have become widespread, and more are being built daily to handle the increasing elderly population. There have been cases of abuse at these facilities, which makes it imperative to choose the right one for your aging relatives. The following are tips to help you choose the right nursing home for your aging relatives:
Get Referrals
You probably have friends and relatives who have sent elderly relatives to nursing homes. They are the best source of information about the quality of nursing homes as they have first-hand information.
You should ask them for referrals to nursing homes if you trust their judgment. It will substantially narrow your search and allow you to do a more comprehensive evaluation of the top nursing home candidates. It would be best if you also considered asking healthcare providers, social workers, and others who may be better placed than you for advice.
It is crucial to note that referrals are not a substitute for doing your own research. To best support your elderly parents, research each facility as much as possible.
Check for Any News Stories About the Nursing Home, e.g., if They’ve Been Sued.
Part of your research will be to check the nursing homes’ reputations. It is essential to do so because of the negative stories from some nursing homes about resident abuse. Therefore, you should check for any news stories about the nursing home to see if they have any history of resident abuse.
You should check the Nursing Home Lawyer’s website to see if they have ever been sued. If the parties reached a settlement, there might be no publicly available record of the nursing home’s misconduct. A background check is paramount as a lack of a state license and board certification should automatically disqualify many homes from your list.
Visit The Facility
Unfortunately, many people only review nursing homes online and do not visit the nursing home personally. As social media has proven, you can paint a beautiful picture online, whereas real life is an entirely different picture. Therefore, you should ensure that when you are satisfied with a background check of the staff and facility, you visit it. Evaluate as many aspects of the facility as possible, including staffing, relationships between residents & staff, food quality, cleanliness, maintenance, and more.
It would be better to make a list so you can write down your evaluation of the above factors. Tour the facility multiple times to be sure they are not putting up a facade for visitors.
Check The Contract
When you take your elderly relative to a nursing home, you must sign a contract establishing the facility’s conduct, the resident, and the guardian. You should always ensure you adequately check the contract, understand the terms, and agree with them. You should especially evaluate the pricing.You might be amazed at the exorbitant fees some nursing homes charge. You should continually evaluate the pricing before selecting a nursing home.
If it is a Medicare-certified facility, Medicare should cater for the expenses. Check if the facility accepts Medicare payments, or you will have to pay for the facility out of pocket. You should also confirm if insurance payments are accepted at the facility.
There is much to confirm when evaluating nursing homes for elderly loved ones. You must ensure you check the contract, visit the facility, get referrals and check for any negative news stories. There is much more to do, but the tips above should ensure you have a worthy list of candidates.
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