While you may not want to place your elderly loved ones in a nursing home, you may have no choice. They may need more care or companionship than you have the time or capacity to provide.
You may naturally experience worries about their safety, especially with the many horror stories in the news revealing abuse and neglect in such facilities. Residents of nursing homes are already extremely vulnerable, and being in the power of others makes them even more so. However, you can take steps to shield them from neglect.
Personally investigate the nursing home prior to placement
Besides looking at online reviews and giving the place a call, you can also visit it in person. Talking to the staff and even the current residents if allowed can give you a good idea of the overall mood of the nursing home. A place with a calm or cheerful atmosphere is more likely to be safe than one with a tense or angry one. Open caretakers who freely answer questions like “What is on the menu?” are less likely to be hiding things like neglect. One sign a nursing home is less likely to harbor neglectful personnel is one that encourages socializing and group activities because isolation is a common form of psychological abuse and makes it harder to hide neglect.
Institute frequent visits and calls
By keeping a close watch on your loved ones, you encourage the nursing home staff to take better care of them. It also grants you the opportunity to note potential signs of abuse or neglect and shows your loved ones you are there for them to talk to if they have trouble.
Your loved ones rely on you to help ensure their care. By being thorough when researching nursing homes and putting in the time to check on them, you help keep them safe.
