One of the hardest decisions to make when taking care of your elderly loved ones with dementia is moving them to a senior living facility. With these 5 things to consider in a senior living facility, the guilt, however enormous, can be overcome when you have the solid conviction that you are getting them the best care possible.
Be diligent when choosing a senior living facility for your loved one. Considering how the quality of care your loved ones with dementia receive is closely tied to the type (and reputation) of the senior care facility, this article identifies the critical consideration to make when picking a facility.
Learn how to investigate senior care living facilities, the red flags to watch out for, the essentials the facility must contain, the critical questions to ask, how to compare costs between facilities, and more. Ready for the ride? Here are 5 things to consider in a senior living facility.
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What does your physical inspection tell you?
All senior living facilities look amazing on the Internet. Unfortunately, such excellence, most times, doesn't translate into real life.
This establishes the need for a physical inspection of the facility you are considering.
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Let us say you have done your rigorous research and identified the most befitting facilities with the quality of care you envisage for your loved one. It is now time to visit each of these facilities in person.
Aside from giving you an accurate idea of the environmental configuration of the facility, you gain a clearer picture of the type of care service for the cost.
Don't always visit at just one specific time of the day, say just mornings or evenings. No, you want an idea of the quality of the all-around-the-clock care the facility provides. Hence, visit more than once and at different times of the day before registering your loved one.
Here are some of the most critical features to watch out for when on such investigative tours. How well is the facility equipped with safety devices? How furnished is the facility with monitoring systems, window locks, non-slip flooring, and adequate lighting?
Also, watch for the staff quality. How genuinely compassionate and friendly are they?
I admit you may need a bit of emotional intelligence (EQ) to find that out., but not much to analyze the level of attentiveness of the staff. High EQ levels are also not necessary to measure the hygienic conditions of the facility.
2. How specialized is the care?
Not every senior living facility provides the specialized care dementia patients need. Certifications are crucial here.
Is the facility formally licensed to care for dementia patients? Does their staff have their streamlined education in dementia care?
Of course, dementia care education is not a one-time thing. Does the staff have ongoing training to keep in line with the latest advancements in dementia care?
The level of organization of the facility also matters. How optimized are the schedules to the needs of your loved one with dementia? Do they have streamlined stimulating activities (as opposed to generic) for people with dementia?
You also want to consider the number of dementia patients the facility currently accommodates. Does the facility have the staff strength to take care of such patients? This can be determined from the staff-resident ratio on a typical day.
3. How accessible is your choice facility?
If I correctly assume that you are not dumping off your loved one at the facility, be concerned about how readily reachable the facility (and your loved one) is for you.
First is the physical distance. How close is your home to the facility? If the facility is not necessarily within your proximity, how robust is the transport infrastructure for you to reach the facility?
Also, how readily can your loved one access external medical care? Alternatively, does the facility have provisions (regarding transport logistics) for the doctor's appointments?
4. Think about the cost
There is no need to deny it; long-term care doesn't come cheap, especially for dementia.
Considering that the condition progressively deteriorates – most of the time unpremeditatedly – it is essential to discuss the financial outlook of dementia care with the facility.
Can you afford the facility's charges both now and for the possible future needs of your loved one? Be keen on monetary details like how much the facility charges as the monthly baseline.
What facilities or quality of specialized care will this facility provide your loved one within this allocation? More specifically, what transportation packages, dietary regimen, and special dementia medication will your loved one get for what you are paying?
Still, on cost, find out if the facility accepts Medicaid or long-term care insurance.
5. How well are you involved in care?
Agreeably, many senior care facilities could classify your participation in the care your loved ones receive as disruptive interference. Therefore when choosing a senior living facility, ensure to be vividly educated on the participatory allocations you have in your loved one's care.
Are you a critical stakeholder? Are you regularly informed of the modifications in your loved one's care? Will you be consulted beforehand when critical changes are made to things like your loved ones' medication or diet plan? How frequently are you allowed to come in, interact with your loved one, and analyze the quality of care once you have registered?
These 5 things to consider in a senior living facility are some of the critical considerations to make when choosing one for your loved one with dementia. Given the delicacy of your choice, you really don't want to get it wrong.
Also read: Getting Older is Inevitable – Alzheimer’s and Dementia are Not
