Choosing a Nursing Home

How do I choose a good nursing home?  It’s a question I am asked at least once a week.  There is a lot of good information available on choosing a nursing home for an elderly loved one.   An article in the Savvy Seniors suggests calling local agencies to find out the latest information on the staffing, health inspections, and quality of care.   You can research any negative reports about the facility through the Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly.  Get a list of the facilities in your area and visit several facilities.  This will give you insight into more subjective things such as the decor, activities, size and configuration of the rooms.  The most criteria to me is how close the facility is to where you live. Is it convenient for you and other family members to get to?  Is it close enough to your home or your work that you could stop by for a few minutes a day every day, or several times a week?  The quality of the care your loved one will receive will often depend on how often you, or other family members visit.

Nursing Home Care

CBS news recently aired a piece about a government report that indicated 88 percent of the Medicare paid for anti psychotic drugs in nursing homes – they went to patients with dementia. Those types of drugs are never approved for elderly patients with dementia. This article brings light to a common problem in nursing homes. Patients are not supposed to be given medication as a “restraint” to try and control behavior. Elderly patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s are often difficult to deal with, but giving them anti psychotic drugs to control behavior can b dangerous. To read more visit http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/09/eveningnews/main20061257.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

When my clients ask me for a recommendation about a nursing home, I always tell them the same thing: the “best” nursing home is one that is close to either their work or home, that they can visit at any different times during the week, and is convenient for them. The more often you visit your loved one in a facility, the better off they will be. Don’t just stop by once a week on a Tuesday when you are on your way home from work, visit in the morning, stop by for lunch, go two days in a row. Get to know the various caregivers schedules so that you are aware of differences in care, or changes in your loved one’s behavior. If you find your family member unresponsive, ask about the medications they are receiving.