From Deseret News archives:

Gray Area: Picking a nursing home? Hang around and watch

Published: Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 12:08 a.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Linda Strasburg moved her mother from a nursing home Strasburg didn't like. She said they overmedicated her mom, lost her glasses, didn't clean her up or brush her teeth, her clothes were dirty and the hair on her chin was an inch long. She advises that the most important thing you can do for an old person you love is stand up for them.

Adds Helen Rollins, who is managing her mother's care from 2,000 miles away, "the polite word is advocate. The real word is 'warrior."'

The experts offer advice on picking a nursing home or assisted living center: Don't just walk around but hang around, says Paul Fairholm, immediate past president of the Utah Assisted Living Association. Visit at least a dozen. And don't wait until you're in crisis mode, which is the worst time to make a decision. See how the staff interacts, adds Marilyn Luptak, University of Utah College of Social Work. "Do they stop and talk to the residents?"

One expert suggests not using the nursing home physician, who may only see the patient irregularly and at odd hours like, say 5 a.m. But you have to ask about policy on using outside physicians; some nursing homes won't allow it.

Story continues below
It's important to look at the inspection reports for nursing homes, kept in binders at the Utah Department of Health. But you should also remember that the "deficiencies" they track measure a few specific things and are not definitive on good versus bad. They're indicators. For instance, someone may hate breakfast and choose to sleep in, but it counts against a nursing home at inspection time if every resident didn't get breakfast. You have to pay attention to the details. "It's a snapshot in time, but a facility with three deficiencies may not be any worse than a facility with one," says Greg Bateman, long-term care survey manager for the Utah Department of Health.

Deb Burcombe, Utah HealthCare Association deputy director, says to be wary if administration blames problems on the residents. That's a very bad sign. And take the lobby with a grain of salt, she adds. A chandelier in the lobby looks nice, "but it's the philosophy and attitude of the caregivers that matter."

Adds one nursing assistant: "If you're a family member, please, please check up on them. Make sure their briefs are dry. Just pop in on them, and not every day at the same time."


E-mail: lois@desnews.com, jarvik@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image

Bill Davison, center, gets a high-five from Brittany Smith after he accomplished numerous laps during the Walk & Talk fitness hour at Hillside Rehabilitation Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 26.

previousnext

Latest comments

Unga might enter NFL draft

Aloha, my BYU friends!! Just thought I would remind you that: Hawaii 1...

Boxing momentum has taken hit

boxers that do not like the new scoring system, or who complain about judges,...

Anonymous 1:38: Nice to see you join Max Hall in "classlessness."

Depleted uranium OK'd for storage

First, depleted does not mean it's been used beyond is max output for power...

Read the title---it is about the Magic. They dominate most teams on the...

New Irish coach Brian Kelly

There is a clear hierarchy to college football. Notre Dame nabs Cincinnati's...

This one is a slam dunk - it's just a matter of time before he comes clean or...

Putting self-preservation first

We have the best governing money can buy--for the campaign donors--NOT THE...

@@SO4 7:43 a.m.: "How does one explain the decrease in temperatures in the...

AFL readies new schedule

Heeeeee Haaaawwww!!!!

Advertisements