05.02.07
Elderly Care Facilities Choice and Comparison
Consumer Reports on Choosing an Assisted Living Facility
Assisted Living Consumers and their Children
Elderly Care Services and Assisted Living (ECSAL) is a national organization dedicated to protecting the rights and needs of the elderly by informing the public about concerning issues in Assisted Living facilities, nursing homes, and in-home health care.Assisted Living Consumers and their Children,Assisted Living is less of a medical term and more of a marketing term used to describe many different facilities with a wide variety of different services to assist the elderly. Because some of the facilities can only do so much it is important that you do not allow your parent or loved one to stay beyond the capabilities of the facility. The assisted living facility should tell you if your parent is beyond their scope of help but many times they allow them to stay in order to make more money and your parent is left neglected and humiliated more often then not.
Not all assisted living facilities do a bad job. There are several facilities that have things in order both professionally, legally and ethically. Because there is not a set type of design for an elderly care facility like there would be for a hospital or nursing home you end up with facilities out there that struggle to keep up with the elderly residents medical needs and problems. There are facilities that are small enough to be able to monitor and take care of your loved one without a problem but they are likely more expensive. If your parent is beyond being able to be taken care of at an assisted living facility it is up to you to make that judgment call and instead place them in a nursing home. There are many nursing homes that are not much fun for the elderly but there are some out there that have activities, games, and social activities very similar to a retirement community.
A typical setup in an assisted living facility is a one room apartment which is much better then nursing homes which sometimes have only a curtain to separate two roommates. A retirement community that basically offers no medical assistance at all is a great place to start off. These retirement communities usually have meals, medication reminders, housekeeping, and minimal assistance. The problem with these low maintenance facilities is that they will sometimes keep your parent beyond their scope of abilities. Your parent ends up becoming abused and neglected through lack of training and equipment to handle an incontinent elderly person. An assisted living facility that specializes in bathing adults, assistance in taking medication, picking them up and clothing them, changing their depends, along with on-site nurses is more expensive but often times very necessary when your parent gets to that point. By leaving someone at a facility that cannot handle their medical needs it is very easy for them to be neglected because they cannot remember or express the abuse they have received while there.
Take time to find a good facility that actually cares about your loved one and has the staff and equipment to handle their needs. Keep in mind the sales person will often times overstate things the facility can do that they may not be completely prepared to do on a daily basis. Be sure to question the sales person intently on if the services offered really will be done daily and if this is listed in the contract you will be signing for the lease.Below is a checklist to use when comparing several Assisted Living facilities you go to visit. By filling this checklist out and comparing from one facility to another you will save yourself, time, money and heartache later on down the road.
By the time you have been through this checklist several times after visiting your choice Assisted Living facilities you will have even more questions to think about and ask and will be well on your way in making a wise informed decision on this important matter.
Thanks,
Elderly Care Services
| Assisted Living Facility 1 | Assisted Living Facility 2 | Assisted Living Facility 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assisted Living Contract | |||
| Costs Involved | |||
| General | |||
| Facility Environment | |||
| Staffing (Quality and Number) |
| Assisted Living Facility 1 | Assisted Living Facility 2 | Assisted Living Facility 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care, Health and Wellness | |||
| Medication Assistance | |||
| Safety | |||
| Meals | |||
| Activities and Socializing | |||
| Discharge (example: moving to nursing home) |
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