Care Facilities Placement

[disykat]

My parents had pre-selected a multi leveled senior residence that they reluctantly moved into when they were having a lot of difficulties living on their own. (The biggest difficulty was getting my parents AND my siblings to admit they were having difficulties. I was the one trying to keep up with their health and dietary needs, etc. because everyone insisted they were fine, but they weren't.) It helped that we had discussed this earlier in their lives. They cycled through residential, then assisted living, then memory care. After my dad passed, I moved mom to a similar facility near me. This was an excellent route for people with assets and they got wonderful care. The food varied, depending on the head chef, but I never had complaints about care in 7+ years. It's a great option for people with assets. Some of the places in both my town and theirs had the ability to convert to Medicaid after a certain amount of time if needed, although my parent's didn't. My Godmother was in a place where care converted to Medicaid after two years if needed and it was also a nice place. That's an important thing to watch for depending on assets available.

My MIL wanted to remain in her home and did so with a lot of family help and a few short-term rehab stays in a nursing home. The nursing homes definitely felt more like a hospital than a home and she didn't care for it. That said, I met people there that were there more long term and had made themselves a home there and seemed content.

So many choices when you get to that point, but we're definitely aiming for one that doesn't convert to Medicaid since they're the best choice in our town. In order to do that you probably have to have a decent monthly income, invested assets and/or a home to sell. If we move closer to one of our sons, which is our plan, so he doesn't have to go through what we did, we'll look at what's available in his town that meets our budget.

We plan on really starting to make plans in our mid 70's. Hopefully we won't NEED the plans until much later, but having toured some places and having some possible plans in place will help. We're in our 60's right now and concentrating on home organization and getting rid of "crap." Our parents had a lot of stuff they hadn't used in years and SOOO MUCH paperwork!! We're trying to simplify so our kids aren't left with as much work as we were.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Hug, WEDWDW, and to all with care facility experience, no matter the circumstance it's never easy. This is near to me because I was in such a place for way too long to regain walking mobility. My perspective is of a much younger and otherwise blessed to be healthy person than others in such an environment.

My main suggestions are absolutely to check out any potential places ahead of time and at different times of the day/week. As the day got later or over the weekend, things had a way of changing where I was. Talk to any willing residents/their family. Someone else recommended the Ombudsman, that can be wonderful resource. Know your loved ones rights and get any important promises from the facility in writing.

Remember, at any facility, there are a lot of truly kind people who work there. Administration and overall operations are crucial. I would also find out whether a facility is for or non profit as that can also factor in.

Peace and extra prayer to all.

 

[KPeterso]

I had to move my mom to a facility last year. Like a few others above, I chose a Residential Board and Care facility. There are currently only 5 residents (there is space in a double room for a sixth but they do not seem to be actively trying to fill that spot). She has her own room and everything that she needs is there. The caregivers are all amazing (although she does have a #1 favorite one that she looks forward to) and so caring. The food overall looks pretty good - there does seem to be a lot of Filipino dishes as all the caregivers are Filipino so like cooking their foods. She only sometimes complains about that. They decorate for all the holidays and have little celebrations for them and always have nice parties for each birthday. It is fairly convenient to me and I can take my dad (since he does not drive any longer) to see her each day. We have become very friendly with the other families and residents and all seem to be there for one another. Yes, it is expensive, but I am very happy with the place I chose. The hospital set up 3 places for me to look and only 1 was an automatic no.