You may be visiting our website if you have an aging loved one with physical and cognitive deficits. While you may be able to care for your elderly loved one at home, you may not have the clinical skills nor financial resources to do so. Our blog posts reveal the physical and cognitive benefits of nursing home and assisted living placement. Your questions and concerns regarding physical, occupational, and speech therapies are addressed here, as well as your concerns about nutritional interventions and social activities offered in nursing homes. After reading our helpful posts, you'll feel more confident in making the right long-term care choice for your senior loved one.
Physical And Cognitive Benefits Of Long-Term Care Facilities
Often-Overlooked Questions When Evaluating Nursing Homes For A Loved One
Alice Cox
Determining a loved one requires long-term, around-the-clock care in a nursing home can be a difficult decision. However, the more time you spend evaluating the options and assessing different facilities, the more secure you can feel with your decision. Evaluating nursing homes takes a lot of assessment and asking questions. Take a look at a few often-overlooked questions to ask when trying to find the best nursing home for your elderly family member.
What are the visitation policies?
Visitation policies vary from one facility to the next. Many long-term care facilities have relatively flexible visitation policies, while others can have more limited policies. These policies affect how you interact with your loved one while they are a resident. Therefore, be sure to ask about things like:
- If the facility has set visiting hours each day
- How many visitors are allowed with a patient at a time
- If there are daily limitations regarding the number of visitors
What levels of security are in place to keep residents protected?
Elderly individuals, including those residing in nursing homes, can be more at risk than the general population. Therefore, security can be a top concern in long-term care facilities. Be sure to ask about general facility security, but dig deeper and ask:
- What kind of access control systems are used at entry points
- How visitors are screened to ensure they are safe
- What kind of surveillance the facility uses and where
- Where patient valuables are kept
- Whether there are alarm systems in place at facility exit points
How does the nursing home ensure proper nutrition?
Inadequate nutrition is a common concern for elderly individuals. Therefore, most nursing homes have exceptional meal plans in place to ensure residents have access to nourishing meals. However, it is also important to know the facility's nutrition team caters to patients with special dietary needs, monitors intake during meal times, and helps patients who may not be able to feed themselves.
Are nursing home residents allowed time outdoors?
Outdoor time can be so beneficial for the elderly. However, not all nursing homes have policies in place or facility features that allow time outdoors. Check with the facility director about outdoor activities and which patients can be involved in outdoor activities.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio at the facility?
Some states set requirements in terms of staff-to-patient ratios in nursing homes, but some do not. Regardless, this ratio can give you a better understanding of how much direct care your loved one will get in each place. For example, say one place has a CNA (certified nursing assistant) ratio of one CNA for every five patients and another has a CNA ratio of one CNA per seven patients. The one-to-five ratio would likely mean more direct care for your loved one.
For more info about nursing homes, contact a local company.
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