{"id":1394,"date":"2014-07-14T17:33:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T22:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2020-10-13T19:47:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T00:47:00","slug":"how-to-find-a-skilled-nursing-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2014\/07\/how-to-find-a-skilled-nursing-home\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find a Good Nursing Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

How to Find a Good Nursing Home<\/h1>\n

\"How<\/p>\n

Finding the right skilled nursing facility for yourself, a family member, or a friend can be a major task, but it\u2019s not impossible. There are lots of factors that will go into making a decision, and taking things one step at a time will make the process easier and possibly faster as well.<\/p>\n

Decide where the nursing home should be:<\/h2>\n

For short-term stays, it usually makes the most sense to choose a nursing home near the patient\u2019s home. For chronic conditions that require long-term care, it may make sense to relocate the patient to a facility near family members who are involved in the patient\u2019s care. The impulse to keep parents or grandparents in their home town is understandable, but if the only relatives live far away, visiting could be difficult, impossible, or unaffordable. A major move may be inconvenient in the short run, but it might be best for everyone involved over the long term.<\/p>\n

Also, if your loved one currently lives in a part of the country where skilled nursing care costs much more than average, such as New York, New England, or Hawaii, a move to be near family in another part of the country could have the added advantage of more affordable care as well as more family visits.<\/p>\n

Decide which nursing homes to consider:<\/h2>\n

If Medicare or Medicaid will cover any of the nursing home costs, then the next step is to find out which retirement homes in your chosen area are Medicare or Medicaid certified. Medicare offers a Nursing Home Compare tool<\/span><\/a><\/strong> that can give you a list of all the certified skilled nursing facilities in your region.<\/p>\n

Depending on the patient\u2019s condition, you may also need to seek out a specialized nursing home\u2014one that deals specifically with dementia, rehabilitative physical therapy, pain management, or hospice care.<\/p>\n

Find out which nursing homes have the best reputation:<\/h2>\n

Once you\u2019ve decided where to look and found the homes that meet your insurance and specialty requirements, start asking around. Talk to friends, neighbors, and co-workers to see if they\u2019ve had any experience with the homes on your list. Be sure to also ask the patient\u2019s doctor and hospital social worker for their recommendations. Take notes on these conversations\u2014you\u2019ll thank yourself later.<\/p>\n

Check SeniorAdvisor\u2019s reviews of the retirement homes<\/span><\/a><\/strong> on your list to see what other people have to say about them, and call your state\u2019s department of aging or department of health to see what information they have about the homes you\u2019re considering.<\/p>\n

Start making appointments:<\/h2>\n

Once you have a sense of which homes you\u2019d like to visit, it\u2019s time to call and request appointments for tours. Ideally, you will have time to visit each home on your list at least twice to see how things are at different times and to ask questions of the staff. If you\u2019re unable to visit the skilled nursing facilities or can\u2019t get to them all before the patient needs to be admitted, then a friend, relative, or a hired eldercare concierge service may be able to visit some or all of them and give you a report on what they find.<\/p>\n

Whether you or someone else makes the visits, be sure to ask lots of questions of the staff\u2014and of patients, if they\u2019re willing to chat with you. Seeing how people respond to your questions is as important as the answers they give you. Look for a place where the staffers can have time to talk with you, know the answers to your questions, and treat their patients with respect.<\/p>\n

The big decision:<\/h2>\n

After you\u2019ve made your visits, it\u2019s time to make a decision. Get input from the patient, the patient\u2019s doctor, family members, and use all the information you\u2019ve gathered from online reviews, friends, and in-person talks with the staff. With all of this research behind you, you\u2019re in the best possible position to make a good choice for yourself or someone you love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to Find a Good Nursing Home Finding the right skilled nursing facility for yourself, a family member, or a friend can be a major task, but it\u2019s not impossible. There are lots of factors that will go into making a decision, and taking things one step at a time will make the process easier and possibly faster as well. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,5],"tags":[127,332,121],"class_list":{"0":"post-1394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-families-caregivers","7":"category-nursing-home","8":"tag-long-term-care","9":"tag-nursing-home-2","10":"tag-senior-care"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Find a Good Nursing Home - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to find a good nursing home. 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