Selecting Personal Care Home

Selecting the Right Personal Care Home for Your Loved One:

One of the reasons personal care homes are difficult to locate is because they don’t have the budget to run large ads in the newspaper, and most don’t have the resources to advertise on the internet. The Alzheimer’s Association provides families with a list of personal care homes, if they feel that this option is best for them. Most senior citizen centers and social workers at almost any nursing home maintain their own lists of referral sources. The best way to find exactly what you’re looking for in a facility is to “do your homework.”

Take a look at the following list of questions. Think about what you would want in a personal care home and answer the questions for yourself, then call around to different facilities and ask to talk to the owners. Conduct a phone interview with the owner of the home and ask them the same questions.

How long has the facility been in business?
How many residents do they care for at one time?
What is the staff to patient ratio?
How many people are employed there?
How many bedrooms do they have?
Do they provide transportation to and from doctor visits and is there any charge for this?
Is special assistance with bathing, dressing, and toileting provided?
What is a typical daily menu?
Do they know how to prepare food for special diets such as diabetic, low sodium, or pureed diet (this applies only if your loved one is on a specific type of diet)?
How much experience do they have with hospice care?
What will you do if my loved one has to get up at night?
Is there an exercise program available for the residents?
What kind of activities do the residents participate in?
Can my loved one keep his own doctor?
Can my loved one use his own furniture or do the rooms come furnished?
Can my loved one bring his pet?
Can my parent have a phone in his room?
Can I come and have dinner with my loved one occasionally?
What is the monthly fee?
Are there any other monthly costs?

Ask these questions during every phone interview and then compare all the answers. When talking on the phone with the owners listen for and make note of any noises you hear in the background. Compare all evaluations in their entirety when you’ve finished interviewing. Select your top three choices and compare those with the questions you answered yourself. See how close a match you can get.

Don’t feel obligated to make an appointment on the spot. Explain to the owners that you are just making phone calls at this point and that you will call back when you’ve made a decision.

After you’ve conducted your phone interviews and decided on a few facilities to consider, make an appointment to go visit their homes. When you arrive at each home, pay close attention to the following details:

What kind of neighborhood is the home in is it a place where you would feel your loved one is safe?
How does the yard and grounds look – is it clean and well-maintained?
Notice the smell when you walk in the building – is there any smell of urine, mildew, etc?
Does the house look cluttered or in good order?
Notice the number of staff that is visible
Notice the appearance of the other residents – do they look happy and well taken care of?
What were the residents doing when you arrived?
Ask to use the bathroom, and check it for cleanliness
How did the employees accept you when you came in – were they courteous and accommodating, or did they seem hurried and indifferent?
Does the house feel like an inviting and cheerful environment?
Notice how the staff interacts with the residents
Do the owners live on site?
Was the owner or person you spoke with on the phone look neat and clean?
Ask where the staff sleeps in proximity to the residents
Ask how long the current residents have been living there
Ask how the staff will know if your loved one needs help during the night
Ask yourself if you would feel comfortable visiting your loved one there
Ask if the owner/manager has any objections to your contacting the families of their residents

Don’t fall into the trap of basing your final decision on the proximity of the home; allowing that factor to override the quality of the care provided there. All too often, families care more about how convenient it is for them or friends to visit, than the quality of the care. So what if the home you are the most comfortable with leaving your loved one in is across town. If that home scored the highest on your list, make the sacrifice. Your loved ones comfort, peace of mind and security far outweighs your convenience doesn’t it? It should!

If your loved one is a hospice patient or has dementia, expect the monthly fee to be higher. There is much more care and attention to detail required when caring for someone who is dying or confused. Just keep in mind that their money is there for THEM, their comfort and that they should be made as comfortable as possible these last months or weeks of their life as you can possibly make them. Keep it in proper perspective. If they are in the final stages of life, it won’t cost you or your family for very long. It will be over soon and you don’t want to be feeling any guilt about saving a few dollars when you are attending their funeral. Many people spend more money on the funeral than they ever did for their loved ones care. You must consider all of this when making plans for someone to take care of them.

Also, if you just try to save money, disregarding the care (and you are truly able to afford better care), you may find that in a few months, that you got what you paid for and end up having to put them through an uncomfortable move anyway.

There are no shortcuts when you are dealing with somebody’s life. Take the time to make a quality decision and when all is said and done, you will have peace and so will your loved one.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 2:39 pm and is filed under ‘Caregiving 101’ Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.