Nursing Home Concerns? Check This Forum

AlzheimersNotes.com 

I was fortunate because Auntie and Mother received very good care at the nursing homes where they resided.  Auntie, with no funds of her own, was a Medicaid patient.  Mother was a private pay patient, and all her funds were used up for her nursing home stay of nearly nine years.

However, I have no complaints about either patient’s care.  They had become my responsibilities, so visiting them and monitoring their care fell to me.  Auntie resided in a home in New York State and Mother in two nursing homes in New Hampshire.  (Her change was necessitated because the first home ran out of funding and had to close.) 

I also had cared for Auntie and Mother before they moved to nursing homes so I was aware of some of the challenges that caregiving involves.  When I visited, never announcing my visits beforehand, I saw them receiving very good care.  I did take a great deal of interest, asking questions, learning about Alzheimer’s, inquiring about medications, spending time with them.  Whether this made a difference, I don’t know.  But I can give those nursing homes high marks where my relatives were concerned.

Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t have these positive experiences.  I found an interesting discussion on a forum at Alzheimer’s Weekly.com that may give you some ideas about what to do and where to turn if you do have concerns about your family member’s nursing home care.  Check out Nursing Home Care – Fighting Nursing Home Neglect.

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen