Questions to Ask When Choosing a Nursing Facility For a Loved One

You want the best for your parents, especially now that they're aging and unable to care for themselves the way they once took care of you.
It's hard to see them this way, and it's even more heartbreaking should one of them be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
You know they will become unable to meet any of their own needs eventually, and someday down the line you're probably going to have to secure nursing home care.
The thought can be agonizing, and the actual act of taking a parent from their home and putting them into a nursing facility can be almost more than you can bear.
Before you choose the facility you're going to entrust with their care, it's smart to ask a few questions.
There are different ways to treat Alzheimer's.
You can either use behavioral techniques designed to lessen the aggression, or you can drug the individual into passivity.
Since you want your loved one to enjoy every bit of life they possibly can, there's no way you want to see them drugged into oblivion unless absolutely necessary.
When you consider a facility, ask what percentage of their dementia patients are being calmed with anti-psychotic drugs.
If the answer is more than 25%, then you need to look somewhere else.
Find out what the ratio of staff to patients is.
The recommended numbers are 1 to 5 during the hours from 7 a.
m.
to 8 p.
m.
, and 1 to 9 overnight.
The higher the ratio of patients for one caregiver, the less attention your parent is going to receive.
Caregivers who are over-stressed in this way have less stamina and patience left to deal with the needs of their unique and demanding patients.
Don't just visit the home during the week, either.
Some homes cut down to bare-bones staffs on the weekends to reduce cost, but the patients need the same care no matter what day of the week it is.
As you walk around in a nursing home, how does it make you feel? * Is staff attentive and pleasant? * Do you see staff members giving patients hugs and other signs of caring? * Are residents being provided with activities to keep their minds active, or do they just mainly sit staring mindlessly into space? * Does the place smell bad? * What are meals like? * Would you feel comfortable living in this environment? If you don't like what you see, hear, smell, or taste in the home, then chances are your parent isn't going to want to stay there, either.
Poorly-run facilities are what give nursing homes a bad name, but they all aren't bad.
Keep looking until you find one that satisfies you.
You can also move your parent somewhere else if you find that the home you select isn't meeting your expectations.