All About Our Health

When placing a loved one in an assisted living residence, you’ll want to ask the right questions about the quality and safety levels of the nursing homes in your specific area.

Be sure to ask the right nursing home questions to ensure you have the right answers.

The first step in getting the information you need is to be sure you are asking the right people. It isn’t enough to simply take a tour of nursing homes around town and ask the staff members about the care they provide. Since those staffers often have a vested interest in having you sign up with their particular facility, it behooves you and your loved one to dig a little deeper.

In addition to the information nursing home staff members offer, consider a few alternative sources:

-Doctors in the area: ask your own doctor or a friend’s doctor any questions you may have. These can actually provide for great resources.

-Be social: social networks are a great way to hear about good and bad experiences with the local facilities. Chances are if your immediate network doesn’t recommend any someone they know might have some good answers.

-BBB: the Better Business Bureau is always a great resource to figure out what facilities in your area have had complains in the past.

-Watch Organizations: since the Internet has made a splash there are many watchdog organizations out there - including the Abuse Blog (nursinghomesabuseblog.com). Feel free to Google and look at the top results - chances are you can interact with these blogs and forums and get the right answers you need.

-Your local police department: your police department might provide some great insight to what facilities have had incidents in the past 5-10 years.

While researching thorough answers for the nursing home questions you may have, these 5 outlets will be a great place to start. Make sure you do the proper due diligence needed to ensure the safety and comfort for you or your loved one.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 4:13 am and is filed under disease. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.