Crucial Steps in the Search for the Right Nursing Home
After a stay in the hospital, most of us would prefer to go home to recuperate, but that may not be possible. If you or your loved one needs more medical care, rehabilitation or supervision, you'll have to find a nursing home or skilled nursing facility before your loved one is discharged.
Families are often given little time and guidance to make an informed choice. The hospital's discharge planner will provide a long list of facilities but no recommendations. Choose the wrong facility, and stress, confusion and regret will be the result, with profound implications for everyone. Your search should begin as soon as realistically possible. Even better, before a health crisis, create a list of places you would be willing to consider. "The saying goes, 'Discharge starts at admission,'" says Eilon Caspi, a gerontologist at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.
But what should you look for, and who is a good source of impartial information? Nursing homes are a business with marketing personnel whose job it is to sell you on the place, but you need more than glossy brochures and vague promises to go on. Because many nursing homes didn't fare well during the pandemic, you should be especially vigilant in your search now. Read more