Oy! There are many things to ask, depending on your father's needs. If he is cognitively competent, he should be able to ask for what he needs as well - and he should be at the meeting.
You MIGHT want to show them you are cognizant of the law.
42 CFR § 483.24 Quality of life. Quality of life is a fundamental principle that applies to all care and services provided to facility residents. Each resident must receive and the facility must provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, consistent with the resident's comprehensive assessment and plan of care.
Ask them how they will achieve your attaining or maintaining your father's highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well being.
Based on what I have seen nursing homes barely achieve caring for residents' physical needs - and do virtually nothing for their mental and psychosocial well-being. Hopefully, the nursing home where your father is going is an exception.
One other thing: In one fashion or another make sure they allow visitation AT ANY TIME. Again, under the law, family members are entitled (unless it is against the resident's wishes) to have immediate access to their loved one. I would recommend visiting as much as possible (e.g. daily) including showing up around 8 or 9 PM every now and then.
Ask about activities and get the monthly calendar for the current month and next month.
Ask about how many RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and housekeeping staff they have on staff and how many staff are scheduled per shift and on weekends. Ask specifically what their staff-to-resident ratio is.
Be blunt and ask directly what their staffing challenges have been. If they say they haven't had any staffing challenges, ask them how they manage to not have any.
Ask if you can meet some of the caregivers who will be taking care of your father. When we moved my FIL from the independent living part of his building to the assisted living part, the director walked us around and introduced us to everyone who was on shift that day.
Ask about the menu for meals and snacks.
Ask about security and how they ensure that their residents are protected from fraud and from other residents wandering. Ask if they've had any incidents and how they handled them.
As for COVID, people are very divided about how to handle it and other contagious diseases like flu. I'm of the opinion that lockdowns did more harm than good. That said, I do not believe that people who are showing signs of illness should be allowed to visit or that residents who are showing signs of illness should be allowed to congregate with others. Staff and residents should be protected from people who are sick. That means isolating those who are sick rather than forcing everyone to endure another lockdown. Loneliness - especially in elders - is devastating.
I’d be very curious about how they protect staff and patients from Covid. With hospitalizations rising now, it’s a serious matter. The vulnerable should be better protected, but I’m not seeing that in my state.
Are you talking about the intake meeting? Care meetings aren't held till a few weeks after entering the facility. The one I had was the staff telling me what they were doing for Mom. I was given 15 min and no time for questions.
I have 3 nursing homes within 15 min of my home. I toured each one of them. The one I chose had a large Common area with chairs, sofas and a fireplace. The activites room was large and was used as a dining room. The people were clean and no smells. They are seemed as happy as they could be. The staff were friendly.
Glad you seem to have found a good one - they are not common. I would LOVE to know the name and location (city, state). Feel free to private message me if you prefer. Thanks.
Melann73... Are you placing dad in a Skilled Nursing facility (aka "nursing home") or are you placing him in a Memory Care facility? Most Skilled Nursing facilities are not locked units and if he is apt to wander a locked Memory Care might be a safer option. **If he requires Skilled Nursing that is different and I am sure they will make sure that he is not able to wander**
Do expect that he will decline He may or may not return to the cognition that he currently has.
Ask if the staff will encourage him to join the others in activities. Keep on them to do what they have to do. One of the things I noticed when my Husband was in rehab the oral care they provided was non existent. And grooming as far as shaving him was a bit lax. When you visit if you find that he is soiled or wet you need to say something right away. And I do not think they ever thought to have him wash his hands.
Ask about their weekend staffing. My ILs nursing home was great Monday through Friday. Unfortunately, the weekends were understaffed and relied heavily on contract help.
He has dementia and it is getting worse he is wondering around town and he is having a hard time taking care of himself. He has a hard time seeing and hearing. He also told us that because he can't do those things that it would be better for him .
Your father is a very rare person to accept that he needs to be in care and doesn't expect his family to enslave themselves so he can have it.
Good for him.
You can ask all the questions you like in a care meeting but the only way you're really going to know if a palce is quality or not is to see.
Observe what the staff is like at different times of day and on weekends. Take notice of how the residents look. This is important. The cleaner and better kept the residents look the higher quality the care is.
Talk to family members of other residents in the facility. That's always a sure indicator of the quality of a place.
You MIGHT want to show them you are cognizant of the law.
42 CFR § 483.24 Quality of life.
Quality of life is a fundamental principle that applies to all care and services provided to facility residents. Each resident must receive and the facility must provide the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being, consistent with the resident's comprehensive assessment and plan of care.
Ask them how they will achieve your attaining or maintaining your father's highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well being.
Based on what I have seen nursing homes barely achieve caring for residents' physical needs - and do virtually nothing for their mental and psychosocial well-being. Hopefully, the nursing home where your father is going is an exception.
One other thing: In one fashion or another make sure they allow visitation AT ANY TIME. Again, under the law, family members are entitled (unless it is against the resident's wishes) to have immediate access to their loved one. I would recommend visiting as much as possible (e.g. daily) including showing up around 8 or 9 PM every now and then.
Ask about how many RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and housekeeping staff they have on staff and how many staff are scheduled per shift and on weekends. Ask specifically what their staff-to-resident ratio is.
Be blunt and ask directly what their staffing challenges have been. If they say they haven't had any staffing challenges, ask them how they manage to not have any.
Ask if you can meet some of the caregivers who will be taking care of your father. When we moved my FIL from the independent living part of his building to the assisted living part, the director walked us around and introduced us to everyone who was on shift that day.
Ask about the menu for meals and snacks.
Ask about security and how they ensure that their residents are protected from fraud and from other residents wandering. Ask if they've had any incidents and how they handled them.
As for COVID, people are very divided about how to handle it and other contagious diseases like flu. I'm of the opinion that lockdowns did more harm than good. That said, I do not believe that people who are showing signs of illness should be allowed to visit or that residents who are showing signs of illness should be allowed to congregate with others. Staff and residents should be protected from people who are sick. That means isolating those who are sick rather than forcing everyone to endure another lockdown. Loneliness - especially in elders - is devastating.
Isolation lol it can either be handled well or badly.
How they handle if there is a health crisis (such as COVID)?
I have 3 nursing homes within 15 min of my home. I toured each one of them. The one I chose had a large Common area with chairs, sofas and a fireplace. The activites room was large and was used as a dining room. The people were clean and no smells. They are seemed as happy as they could be. The staff were friendly.
Are you placing dad in a Skilled Nursing facility (aka "nursing home") or are you placing him in a Memory Care facility?
Most Skilled Nursing facilities are not locked units and if he is apt to wander a locked Memory Care might be a safer option.
**If he requires Skilled Nursing that is different and I am sure they will make sure that he is not able to wander**
Do expect that he will decline
He may or may not return to the cognition that he currently has.
Ask if the staff will encourage him to join the others in activities.
Keep on them to do what they have to do.
One of the things I noticed when my Husband was in rehab the oral care they provided was non existent. And grooming as far as shaving him was a bit lax.
When you visit if you find that he is soiled or wet you need to say something right away. And I do not think they ever thought to have him wash his hands.
Good for him.
You can ask all the questions you like in a care meeting but the only way you're really going to know if a palce is quality or not is to see.
Observe what the staff is like at different times of day and on weekends.
Take notice of how the residents look. This is important. The cleaner and better kept the residents look the higher quality the care is.
Talk to family members of other residents in the facility. That's always a sure indicator of the quality of a place.
His mind still works well enough that he doesn't want to be a burden to his family. Good for him because that is a rare person indeed.