Choosing a Nursing Home

Our friend just went throught the ordeal of moving her grandmother to a nursing home. Grandma’s Alzheimers was getting worse. Getting her to eat was a battle at every meal, medication time was a fight. She needed more care than they could give at home. After years of in home care, it was time to turn to a nursing home for help.

Placing Mom or Dad in a nursing home can be such an emotionally charged experience. But for many people who need more intensive medical care, making the move to a nursing home is absolutely necessary. The process of selecting which home will be best suited to your loved one, can be complicated and overwhelming. But this process can be simplified by some quick prioritizing and simple checklists before you begin your research. Consider what are the most important things to you when choosing where to place your loved one?

Location

Keeping Mom or Dad in close proximity to family and friends is perhaps the most important consideration since frequent visits with familiar faces often make the biggest impact on a resident’s quality of life and positive mental health. Keeping close ties with family is more important than the asthetics of the grounds and buildings.

Nursing Home Quality Assurance Report

That said, doing a little online research before heading out to personally check each site can save you a lot of leg work. Top priority here would be to check the safety and quality assurance reports of each nursing home you are considering. Many items on your checklist will be addressed in those reports.

Quality assurance reports are usually done by a neutral, third party company, and are random checks on everything from occurrence of bedsores and neglect to having adequate, qualified staff. These safety reports can be obtained directly from the nursing home or may be found here. These reports identify Oregon Nursing Homes which have safety violations. These reports may give you an idea of which nursing homes you need to avoid.

Cost of Nursing Care

No one wants finances to be a deciding factor, but because of the high cost of nursing home care, unfortunately costs must be taken into consideration. Some nursing homes will accept Medicare. For a list of Oregon Nursing Homes covered by Medicare, click here. Other nursing homes are willing to work out a payment plan or have some kind of financial assistance. Check with the individual homes for more information on this.

Finally, with checklist and questions in hand, visit each nursing home to get a first hand look. Is this a place going to work for Mom or Dad? Request an appointment to go over any questions you might have. Making repeated visits on different days and at different times is recommended to get a more complete picture of what the nursing home is really like.

While not a particularly enjoyable decision to make, choosing a nursing home doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a little preparation, you can make the decision with more confidence and find the place that suits you and your loved one the best.