If you have an elderly loved one in your family, one of your top concerns is their health, happiness, and safety. This is often the reason behind choosing to move a family member to a nursing home facility: You are unable to provide your loved one with the care they need, and hope a professional can help.
Starting the nursing home selection process can be intimidating because you care for the elderly people in your life so much. You want more for them than a place to sleep — a nursing home should be a true home where patients can get the medical treatment they need, and feel truly happy, comfortable, and safe. To find a facility that meets those needs, you should complete a comprehensive selection process that involves research, comparison, gathering the opinions of others, and visiting the elder care centers yourself.
Start with a Checklist of Your Needs
The first thing you should do before starting the research process is to think about why you are moving your family member into a nursing home, and what you want from the facility. Consider their medical conditions, nutritional needs, current routine, and anything else that may impact their experience in a care facility. Once you make your list, you will have an image in your mind of your ideal facility, and can find the establishment that best suits that image.
Research Online, and Talk to Your Friends, Family, and Neighbors
Once you know what you are looking for, you can begin conducting research. Search online and read the reviews, but refer to people you know for more information. Real-life testimony of the merits of a nursing home can provide perspective on how a facility really is. Trusted opinions are not something you can usually find online. Reviews can certainly be helpful, but speaking with people you know can guide you to the right choice. If there are any people you know with nursing home experience who care about your loved one as much as you do, those people will be your best resource for choosing a home.
Conduct an In-Person Analysis
Through research, you can develop a list of a few nursing homes you are interested in. The final step of the search process is in-person visits. Visiting a nursing home allows you to see its conditions, meet the staff, and ask them questions.
Did a nursing home fil to provide proper care to your loved one and subject them to abusive and neglectful conditions? Contact Pierce, Sloan, Kennedy & Early LLC if you have a case — call (843) 968-0886 or send us a message to reach our attorneys.