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Elder Care Information |
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5 Myths You Should Know Before Choosing Elder Care
Myths associated with selecting quality nursing home care suggest quick and easy ways to identify quality care. In fact, relying on these myths can lead to disastrous results. I have identified a few of the most common myths in hopes of helping you avoid some of the problems commonly found in many nursing homes. 1. The Smell Test You've heard it repeatedly: "The best way to determine the quality of care a nursing home provides is to be alert to bad odors when you visit the home." It seldom, if ever, works. Why? Nursing home administrators have heard the very same advice. As a result, they are particularly sensitive to unpleasant odors in any area that might receive visitors. Almost all will do their best to remove offensive odors as quickly as possible, even when it means avoiding their primary responsibility to their residents. 2. The Personal Recommendation Recently, I heard a guest on a radio talk show state that the very best way to find great nursing home care is to get recommendations from a friend. Like other myths, there is a grain of truth here, but you must check whether your friend has had extensive interactions with the nursing home recommended. Often that is not the case. Last weekend I dealt with an emergency call from Jim, a friend who had placed his mother in a nursing home recommended by a friend. Although she was recuperating from a stroke, no nurse or aide checked on her condition for more than 14 hours. Jim discovered her in the morning with many cuts and bruises, her bedsheets soaked in blood. He was astonished that anyone would recommend such a poor care facility. "My friend said her grandmother was in this particular nursing home," he reported. "So, I thought it would be good care." "How often does your friend visit her grandmother?" I asked him. "I didn't think to ask," he responded. "And did you check the latest survey for that nursing home?" "No," he answered. "I thought a personal recommendation was all I needed." Jim's mother is now back in an area hospital. No one knows yet how much damage this experience caused to her recovery. 3. You Get What You Pay For Nowhere is this statement less applicable than in nursing home care. In fact, I'd replace it with another shibboleth -- "Buyer Beware." Our own research, encompassing more than 6000 nursing homes and more than 100 assisted living facilities shows no relationship between cost and quality of care. You may find quality care in an expensive facility, or you may not! Similarly, the fact that a facility is low-cost does not indicate whether you'll get poor, average, or quality care. You have to do your homework. Relying on price as the sole indicator of quality care can lead to disastrous results. 4. Adequate Staffing Equals Quality Care A recent report by the Senate's Special Committee on Aging indicated that quality care for a single nursing home resident requires more than three hours each day of nursing and nursing aide time. However, statistical analysis of the latest federal database on nursing home deficiencies indicates no relationship between quality of care and staffing levels. This finding is consistent with a number of university studies. What should you look for, then, in nursing home staffing levels? There is a level below which nursing homes are so understaffed that quality care can not be provided. I'd suggest that you not consider any home providing a level less than two hours per day per resident. For levels greater than this, I'd focus not on the number of hours available for care but on the motivation of staff available to provide care. Those who are motivated to care for the elderly will do so. Those who are motivated only by a paycheck will probably provide shoddy care regardless of their numbers. 5. A Well-Known Chain Will Provide the Best Care This is another myth that can lead to tragedy. Sometimes, well- known companies do provide top-quality care. In other instances, however, a quick review of newspapers and magazines will show you other companies with long records of legal troubles stemming from accusations of neglect and abuse. One such company has been sued simultaneously by several states' attorneys general. How will you know? The company is not likely to tell you, so you won't know unless you take the time to look into the company's historical performance. There you have it -- 5 myths exploded! What does work? There is no substitute for your own personal investigation. With a little research, with personal visits to nursing homes before you sign anything, you can avoid many of the difficulties that have come to those who relied on such myths. About The Author Copyright 2002, Phyllis Staff. Phyllis Staff, Ph.D. - Phyllis Staff is an experimental psychologist and the CEO of The Best Is Yet.Net, and the author of How to Find Great Senior Housing: A Roadmap for Elders and Those Who Love Them (2002).
MORE RESOURCES: Cabinet touts NT$290bn elder-care tech program Taipei Times When a 91-year-old renter in Toronto is evicted with nowhere else to go, our governments have failed completely Toronto Star Visionaries Unite: How the West Coast Conference on Aging is Rewriting the Future of Senior Care The Daily Scan The Quiet Crisis in Long-Term Care Facility Staffing savingadvice.com Applying Psychology in Elder Care: A Personal Reflection British Psychological Society Nova Scotia Health’s Dignity of Risk Program leading change in caring for older adults living with frailty and dementia Nova Scotia Health Alumni Impact Series: Kevin Ye – Shaping the Future of Elder Care through Entrepreneurship University of Waterloo NTI Invests in Community Facilities for Elder Care Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. Cardinal Senior Care Provides Trusted Elder Home Care Assistance in San Antonio, TX The Globe and Mail ‘What they wanted to see’: Rankin Inlet elder facility to welcome 22 residents in April Nunatsiaq News Canada’s aging crisis and a call for reform in eldercare The Hill Times Mark Yaffe: Pioneering Excellence in Elder and Mental Health Care McGill University 'Don't open another bed': St. John’s doctor says there's a better way to keep seniors out of long-term care PNI Atlantic News AI Companions Redefine Elder Care: 3 Ways They Fight Loneliness, Boost Safety And Scale Support Forbes Ontario Supporting Seniors and Their Caregivers Ontario Newsroom Your Company Needs an Eldercare Policy Harvard Business Review BPK student research looks to history to find a way forward for Indigenous elder care Simon Fraser University Anglican elder care specialist and advocate named to Order of Canada The Anglican Journal Video: How the Immigration Crackdown Threatens Elderly Care The New York Times B.C. government close-lipped on watchdog report that finds seniors care is worsening - Vancouver Sun NHN donates AI care robot 'Badugi' to Jincheon to aid elderly care digitalization - CHOSUNBIZ Chosunbiz Asking Eric: Wheelchair user gets no sympathy from caregiver Sterling Journal-Advocate Elderly patients can deteriorate hourly in the ER. This team works against the clock to get them out CBC Stepping towards better health: Early Mobility team wins Nova Scotia Health Quality Award Nova Scotia Health Initiative to address women’s care load in Africa expands with two new projects | IDRC IDRC - International Development Research Centre Bay of Quinte Mohawks donate $60K each to Elder Care Home project, Belleville General Hospital Foundation Kingstonist News How AI chatbots can improve aged care Information Age | ACS Ageing India needs to invest up to Rs 72k cr over five years in caring for its seniors The Economic Times Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act Ontario Newsroom How will Medicaid cuts affect Minnesota nursing homes? Austin Daily Herald Geriatrics Sinai Health How companies can ease the strain on employees taking care of elderly parents or ill family members CNN Seniors Helping Seniors® In-Home Care Services Expands to Georgia’s Mid-South Region Franchising.com Bonjour Résidences at the SMASH Conference in Las Vegas: Technological Innovations for Senior Care Bonjour Résidences Should we subsidize elder care more? Stockholms universitet A Model for Elder Care? Supported Housing Offers Some Hope for the Future Center for Retirement Research AI And Robotics: Shaping The Future Of Elder Care And Assistance Quantum Zeitgeist Nursing home and elder-care residents could be hit hard by potential Medicaid cuts The Washington Post WHO calls for urgent transformation of care and support systems for older people World Health Organization (WHO) Gary Horton | California Corporatizes Senior Care Santa Clarita Valley Signal Deputy urges fresh talent to fill elder care gap China Daily Research Groundbreakers: Dr. Roxanne Weiss Is Advancing Elder Care and Delirium Prevention The University of Utah Digitalization for Improving Elder Care Asian Development Bank Statewide: The difficulties in accessing and paying for elder care Northern Public Radio New long-term care home coming to Squamish BC Gov News Increasing Women's Workforce Participation in Mexico requires support for Child and Elder Care World Bank Blogs Emotional needs and service process optimization in combined medical and elder care: A TRIZ approach ScienceDirect.com Love & Toughness: For Nurses In Elder Care Homes, The Job Is Taxing, But the Rewards Are Worth It Arkansas Money & Politics China to use AI in elder care as population ages: official The Economic Times MHA grad rewrites policy to benefit elder care USC Price School |
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