Having to drop off your parents or in-laws to a care home, when the time comes, can sometimes be an upsetting experience for both parties, you and them. If they’ve lived inside of a comfortable home, that they built years ago and are now no longer able to because they need extra care which they cannot get from home, this may be the only option left, go to this site: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/18/never-wanted-parents-in-care-home to find out more about other people’s personal experiences.
But all is not lost, a majority of the reputable care homes, maybe similar to and sometimes better than their own homes. There is always a silver lining, and if you choose correctly, you can find the perfect one for them, where they will be comfortable, happy and well looked after.
There are a few steps to take when choosing a decent care home for the elderly. If your lucky and you get a recommendation from a trusted family or friend, your set. But if that’s not the case and you need to look for one yourself, there are a few things that will help do this for you easily.
Have the Talk
Choosing a good home for them will include first and foremost speaking to them about what they want, and the type of care options they prefer including things such as location and facilities, or if they need a specialist to look after their health problem. This is a very important decision to make for them and they may have looked after you your whole life, it’s the least you can do for them.
Speaking to your parents about this is no easy task, it can be emotional and ridden with guilt. But it needs to be done and done promptly and at the right time. Some tips include choosing the right time to speak to them, choosing the right setting to speak to them, involving all the decision-makers if there are any other family members, have all the right information at hand, and lastly, discuss the finances too.
Narrowing Down Your Options
You will have to do a thorough search to narrow down a few options and check what type of facilities they offer. Check their care home inspection reports, which should be available online on their website, and if not, you can request for them.
In England and Scotland, all registered care homes that are part of the care services directory, such as the Ealing care home facility, will be able to provide you with all the information you need, for instance, if the care home provider rates the individual carers, or things such as the percentage of staff turnover, or what the inspectors have mentioned in the reports and how frequently the premises are inspected; these should all be deciding factors.
Once you’ve narrowed down your search to 3 places, based on the above criteria the next step is to contact them
Contacting the 3 Individual Homes
The shortlisted care home list you have in front of you is a very important one and will make or break the final decision. Be sure to contact them immediately as sometimes they may not have space. The initial chat can be done over the phone, thereafter if you are interested in the place you will book an appointment for a viewing.
If the home is reluctant about divulging into any of their fees, make sure to ask them about this in any case. It will save you the trip. Also, for their sake, it is good to discuss this upfront as they will also need to know if your loved one is funded by an authority, insurance company, or self-funded.
Other things to discuss are the availability of space, costs of individual rooms, and ask them to send through a brochure and other information that is essential to the decision-making process. Ask whom you will be seeing, and make sure it is a senior in the home who has the right experience. But do not limit yourself to speaking to just one person, ask the nurses and other people who work there what it’s like to get a real feel for the place. Don’t forget to inquire about visiting schedules as well.
We hope the above information can help your parent(s) ease into the transition, and feel a home.
