Top Tips When Visiting A Potential New Home.
There are lots of things to consider when making the choice to place your loved one into a residential home. We know this is a difficult and often confusing and overwhelming time for the whole family.
Here are a few pointers that should help you decide as a family.
Please ensure you take further advice by contacting professional authorities.
1. Before you even begin to choose a care home, you will need to decide on the right type of care your loved one will need at this moment but be mindful his /her care needs could change. Talk to his/her health care professional and take advice on how to finance your loved ones care.
2. The internet is your ideal place to get the best information regarding the type of care home available in your area.
3. Choose more than one or two. It is always useful to visit more than a couple.
4. Show your loved one pictures from your chosen homes website, how do they feel about what they are seeing?
5. Call ahead and make an appointment, care homes can be very busy and turning up without an appointment can be disruptive for them to provide care for their existing service users. Making a viewing when the Manager is around will give you all the answers you need.
6. When you walk into the care home first check if it has safety monitoring on the exits.
7. Ask if there is an activities coordinator, discuss with them what activities they do with the service users, will they incorporate your loved one’s favourite activity?
8. Check for safety monitoring in communal areas. If your loved one should have an accident or an incident happen – having transparency is vital in receiving answers should it occur in these areas?
9. Check the care homes comments /visitors book.
10. Will they cater for your loved one’s diet? Ask to look in the kitchen. Talk to the chef regarding the types of foods they offer.
11. Do residents get taken out weekly or can you take them out?
12. Can you visit any time day or night?
13. Could you have safety monitoring in your loved one’s room? ( if your loved one cannot make this decision)
14. Are staff trained in relevant areas? If your loved one has dementia, its essential carers understand the complexities of this condition can bring and therefore are staff equipped to cope?
15. If your loved one has ‘challenging behaviours’ re dementia, ‘i.e. shouts, swears, distressed during certain times, are they trained to understand this?
16. Check out the Care Home’s CQC report/rating before you make your decision.
17. Trust your gut instinct. If you wouldn’t want to live there why should your loved one?
18. Remember an excellent care home with professional management will want to be open and transparent and will be eager to work with you as a family. Show them you want to be involved and make them aware you are the first point of call should anything happen to your loved one under their care.
19. A good care home manager will be eager to ask questions about your loved one regarding likes/dislikes etc. Ask if they hold regular family meetings to update you?
20. Visiting a care home for your loved one may stir up feelings of guilt, sadness and failure especially if you can no longer manage to care for them. A good manager will recognise this and offer you reassurance.
These tips should help you and your loved one make the smooth transition from home life to a care setting with peace of mind!
