Dr. Eboni Green
July 8, 2021
Caregiver Support Services is dedicated to offering a compassionate community for family caregivers. Along with the following article, visit our blog for more great content that will help ease some of the burdens that come with caring for a senior loved one.
For families that can’t provide full-time care for their elderly loved ones, nursing homes can be their last viable option to ensure their loved one gets high-quality care. Even the seniors who can still look after themselves consider going to an assisted living facility at some point. So, if you’re a family member looking to place your loved one in a nursing home. or a senior who’d prefer living in an assisted living facility, it is imperative to find the best option that will match you or your loved one’s needs.
Choosing a reliable nursing home or an assisted living place for a parent or senior loved one is a difficult decision with numerous essential factors to think of, including your circumstances, their abilities, available funds, preferences, and values. The stress of this decision can be alleviated by considering a few crucial aspects.
For seniors who don’t require around-the-clock care, but need help with certain daily activities, a care facility may not be the best option. Moving to a smaller, more manageable home and hiring a part-time healthcare worker could be more ideal. Doing so will be the less expensive choice and will allow the senior to maintain some independence.
If you go this route, make sure you take certain safety steps to ensure your or your loved one’s safety. To start, hire a lock smith to change all of the locks on the new downsized property. You can google “lock smith near me” to find a specialist or use a site like Angie.com to find a reputable contractor with satisfied clients. Next, be sure all tripping hazards are eliminated after all items have been moved in. Lastly, along with a healthcare professional, hire pros to take care of home cleaning and maintenance tasks. This not only frees up time for the senior, but also keeps them out of harm’s way.
If downsizing isn’t the best option, you’ll need to start researching local senior facilities. Thanks to the internet, you can find nursing homes or assisted living facilities in your preferred zone. Most retirement homes have a website depicting their programs and services and any other aspects that set them apart. Numerous federal websites also offer comparable rundowns of nursing homes or assisted living facilities in various states. For instance, Medicare offers a search function that can be set by location or name of a nursing home. This page provides a general overview of every nursing home located within the search range and includes information such as staffing levels, health inspection reports, quality of residents’ care ranges, and an overall rating.
This may seem obvious, but an essential factor of an individual’s quality of life in a nursing home is receiving regular visits from family members. When the nursing home is located nearby, it’s easier for loved ones to visit. If possible, the facility should be close enough to a hospital so the seniors can receive the proper care immediately if something happens.
If you or your loved one going to a nursing home has a medical condition that requires a specific treatment method, ensure the facility you are considering can accommodate these needs. If you or your loved one need either incontinence care or memory care, you must find a nursing home that provides access to such care. Similarly, if you or your loved one cannot cook anymore and need help with meals, check if this service is also available. Still, choosing a nursing facility that offers comprehensive care is a fantastic idea even if you or your loved one do not have significant health issues at the moment.
While nursing homes offer long-term care services, other facilities provide varying services and health care. Even though some services are crucial to meet the resident’s unique needs, others are just as important to enhance life quality. For instance, great nursing homes allow their residents to play a role in planning and selecting activities they can participate in or offer residents a dining experience once in a while. This improves people’s overall satisfaction and helps them deal with various mental challenges like depression and anxiety.
A nursing home’s staff members are there to ensure your or your loved one’s safety. You and other residents need to consider their attitude, expertise, and professionalism, so ask many questions and spend time observing the facility staff before you make a final decision.
Lastly, a decisive aspect you need to consider is the cost involved and whether you need to depend on Medicaid. You need to pay for the services the nursing home provides, and one option is to sell your or your loved one’s home to cover assisted care expenses. To figure out the profit you can make from the home sale, you must factor in the real estate agent’s fees, your or your loved one’s home loan balance, and the region’s average selling prices.
Moving into a nursing home or placing a loved one in an assisted living facility is never an easy decision. Still, by doing your research and selecting a nearby, safe, and reliable nursing home or assisted living facility, you will have peace of mind that you made the best decision possible.
Harry Cline is a retired nursing home administrator, father of three, and caregiver to his ninety-year-old uncle, so he knows how challenging and rewarding caregiving can be.
He created his website, NewCaregiver.org.
