by Jane A Malkoff MSN RN NP
- When is it time to consider nursing facility care?
- How do you make a selection?
- Now what do you do after the move takes place?
#2 How do you make a selection?
How indeed! On many days it is difficult just to select what we want from a fast food menu. It can seem insurmountable to make a confident decision among the plethora of possible nursing facility options, let alone the decision of how the facility care is going to be paid for. Let’s see, there are Assisted Living options, Assisted Living Memory Care options, Skilled Long-term Care options, Skilled Memory Care options, and even a few places that are independent arrangements “with a twist”. The twist could be; on-site visiting medical care, wheelchair accessible transportation, and even personal alert systems.
The fact is, making the selection can be quite a complicated matter. As a good starting point, I am going to touch on the basics with the goal of providing a few must-have tips. However, please feel free to call me at any time you become overwhelmed with the selection process.
- Determine the level of care needed for your loved one and then what type of care setting best matches the need. Learn the difference between assisted and skilled. A liaison from the facility can help with best fit in their building but you can also have a neutral private assessment if you choose.
- Educate yourself on the ways facility care can be financed. Do not assume anything. There may be ways to protect assets. Reach out to professionals in the know before leaping into a facility relationship.
- The word you find on the street in the search for a facility is better than any other endorsement you can get. Ask around, a lot. This is one of the rare instances where personal gossip is useful.
- Go to the web and dig around. It simply isn’t true you can’t get good data from the web.
- Choose a location closest to the person who will visit most and advocate most.
- Visit a 3-5 potential locations unannounced and walk through. Listen, watch smell. Do people notice you, hold eye contact, offer to help? Are there clusters of employees talking to just one another or is everyone busy assisting residents and charting?
- Access the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) web site to look at the survey scores, how many formal complaints have been filed and why, if there have been any warnings issued, what types of care they provide, and more. Here is the link. http://www.in.gov/isdh/23432.htm If you have trouble getting to the map of Indiana (with the push pins) to begin your search, call me.
- Access a tool from Medicare.gov on how to select a facility. Here is the link. https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/02174.pdf
Next time – #3 Now what do you do after the move takes place?