HOW TO CHOOSE A NURSING HOME
The burden of care giving can be overwhelming for family and friends. Care giving tasks are numerous and require a very high commitment. Sending the loved ones to a nursing home can be a controversial issue depending on your own culture. Please take a note that this is not a first decision, but maybe we have to do it in certain cases which is unavoidable. If we really have to do it, let’s do it right. Choosing a nursing home is not easy. There are a lot of areas that we need to be considered before we can send our loved ones.
The burden of care giving can be overwhelming for family and friends. Care giving tasks are tremendous. This will includes…
- Managing medical /psychiatric crises
- Control of symptoms
- Carrying out of prescribed regimes
- Supervision/physical care tasks
- Adjusting to changes in the course of changes disease
As a care giver, you need to assess your needs:
- What is my loved ones functioning?
- What type of help need?
- How do I pay for the help?
- What days/times do I need help?
- What assistance can my family and friends provide? Surprisingly, sometimes friends are more beneficial and helpful than family members.
- What specific type of help is needed to help my loved ones?
- Who can help me find assistance I need?
- What assistance can I provide?
Normal care:
- Write down the names and phone numbers of this network of family and friends
- Include a list of tasks they are willing to do
- Make schedule what need to be included
When community care alternatives are necessary, you may need to get proper information or perhaps a referral letter to specific care centre. Again, a few things need to be taken into consideration. The following is the type of institutional care that you need to know.
Adult day care centre:
This is very useful place where you can drop your parents shortly before going to work and pick them up after finishing your work. This type of centre may offer participants the opportunity to socialize. Services include care, supervision, activities, nutrition meals, transportation and recreational. This may also include nursing care, medication and family counseling. However, you still need to confirm with each centre which services they offer and which are not and you should make clear on this to prevent hassle. Adult day care works well for care givers who can’t stay at home at certain time in the day.
Home care:
Many people will look for home care where the services usually include skilled and unskilled services such as dressing, bath, housekeeping and shopping.
Respite care:
This will offer relief for family and friends where they can take a break from the care giving tasks. This type of care is provided at home, generally offered overnight or for a weekend. Some limited coverage with private insurance and entitlement programs.
Hospice care:
Provides special services and therapies to individuals who is terminally ill and death is reasonable expected within 6 months. In other words, hospice is caring for the dying with a team approach basis.
Transportation is another important aspect. Some centre will provide transportation from home to the centre itself and from the care centre to the hospital, hemodialysis unit, etc. This will suit people who are busy or have difficulty with transportation.
Getting started to choose:
- Cost – Make sure the cost is affordable. Some nursing home is supported by charity and some are not. Make sure that you are clear about the payment before making any decision. Don’t forget about the expenses on transportation, meals, etc.
- Location – Preferably not very far from where you live and easily accessible.
- Appropriate level of care – This is subjective and differs from each person. Just make sure that it suits you.
- Quality of care
- Reputation – I highly advised you to send your loved ones at a place that have good reputation which you can trust.
- Physical plant
- The last thing, follow your gut feeling.
You need to plan early in choosing a good nursing care. If you do it the last minute, you might not get the quality services that you want.
- Get help – ask help from family members and friends, if you don’t ask they will not know that you need one.
- Talk to others
- Visit local facilities
- Review survey data
- Ask questions
- Quality care and time
Visit the nursing home(s):
- Consider the location. It might be too far, however it might not cause so much problem if the transportation is provided and the place easily accessible.
- Note the posting of the most recent inspection survey. It has a lot of information regarding the reputation of each centre and the quality of services they provided.
- Talk with staff and residents and get a big picture about the particular nursing home.
- Visit at different hours – mealtimes, early morning, night.
Observe and chat with staff and residents:
- Are activities held they can participate?
- Are they dressed appropriately?
- Is the facility clean?
- Is there anything that makes they feel like they have loss dignity and privacy?
- Make your loved one’s room as personal where it is often difficult to make the transition from home to institutional care.
- Better choose a facility easy for you to get there. Establish a relationship with the staff that works with you. Look how the residents have been treated.
Contacting resources:
- Be clear about what you need
- In age care
- Plan ahead – for any eventuality
- When making calls, have specific information
- Be assertive and specific about your needs
- Don’t terminate the call until you are clear, if it is necessary, you have to visit the specific nursing home to get more information and to see the truth
- Need to be individualized including you and your parent’s need, care and therapy
- Ask regarding special services needed like transportation, physical and occupational therapy
As summary, sending your loved ones to institutional care is your choice and it is very objective. Do what you want and NOT what the community wants. In each case, guilt and conflicts should be wisely weighed. Don’t let anyone put you off, they may come once and say not very nice things to you, but they don’t even care for your loved ones and they don’t even know about the burden you are carrying on your little shoulder. So, don’t be afraid in doing the right thing.
Tags: day care, hospice, nursing home, respite care
Technorati Tags: day care, hospice, nursing home, respite care
thanks for the advices!