I have no choice but to put mom in a nursing home now. I did a search on the site, but could not find anything on what to watch out for when looking for a home. I found out that Kaiser in Ca has a nursing home placement service. After talking to the gal, she said that moms good point is that she is kind and docile. The sticky point is that she has brittle type one diabetes, which has to be monitored more often. Even when she was in the hospital, they would only check her 4 times a day.She was in a home for a brief time when she broke her hip. It looked like a great place, you could eat off the floor. It was a nightmare, feeding her without giving her insulin etc. I took her home ADA!!! Any advice on what to look for?? ----Jack

Jack, what a wonderful son you are, and such a caring caregiver. You've done your mother proud. Good luck with the placement, I hope you find the perfect place. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your mom.
All the best, Gerry

Jack,

Sounds like you are doing the right thing. Many (half?) of our LBD loved ones in the Northern CA support group end up in a care facility.

What a good service Kaiser Sacto offers! See this post on selecting a nursing home:

"Picking a Nursing Home"
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2172

It contains three different articles with suggestions for how to select a nursing home. (I'm pretty sure these were all sent to you previously as a member of the Northern CA support group.)

In California, check out:
http://www.ltcombudsman.org/ombudsman/california
and
http://www.cahnr.org

And there's Medicare's Nursing Home Checklist
http://www.medicare.gov/nursing/checklist.pdf

Robin

You are astute to realize that appearances can be deceiving. Some very fancy-looking facilities give marginal care, at best. You can find ratings online based on state surveys but I honestly don't know how they translate to real-life care in general. I can tell you that my husband was in a dementia care facility a year ago last summer that had the highest rating possible and it was an excellent--although not perfect--facility. You will not find one-on-one care as your LO had at home but CNA/resident ratio is important. The residents do tend to make a mess of their rooms and rooms usually get cleaned at least daily but I wouldn't look at that as much as the interaction between caregivers and residents. Find out if the caregivers and activities director are specially trained in dementia care. Find out how often the nurse sees the residents. With your mother's fragile condition, I would recommend a unit that is part of a larger complex that includes a SNF [skilled nursing facility]. If a problem arose she could be transferred to the other unit as needed for as long as was necessary.

Hope you find a good one. Usually, you need to look well before you need one, as the best ones often have waiting lists. Good luck!

Thank you for your help. Mom is going into skilled nursing, she can not even stand with help anymore. I can not find out how to get to the website that gives the 5 star ratings. Can anyone give me the address to the site? I have a list of homes and this would be a great way to start.---Jack

Hi, when my FIL went into a dementia care home, we looked at the reviews on the internet and was happy with what we read. We then visited the facility and found it to be clean and friendly, the other residents looked like they were well cared for and there was a good amount of staff around. Whenever, I go to visit, I dont ring beforehand I just turn up and everytime my FIL is clean, shaven, dressed nicely, I also check his room which is always spotless and fresh smelling. If I were you I would try to find reviews and inspection reports on the internet. Hope it all goes well for you.

Jack, these webs sites are state-specific so you would need to do a search based on 'X-state nursing home survey ratings' or something similar. Wish I could send you a site link but WA state results wouldn't do you any good.

Jack,

I suggest you call the Alz Assoc chapter in Sacto and get their top recommendations.

You can also try the sites I've listed above (two are specific to CA) but I think word-of-mouth is the way to go.

Robin

Jack,

Go to Medicare.gov. The rating system is theirs and it is based on their inspections. We just placed Mom in a facility. I paid the most attention to the overall rating and the staff to patient ratio rating. I'm glad I did.

Medicare also has a list of questions to ask when visiting nursing facilities and a great deal of advice.

Good luck!

Kate

Here's the precise address:

http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/inclu ... ompare.asp

Kate

Well, I took mom to a REAL nice nursing home yesterday. It was real stressful. I am used to have things done now and with continuity. Most of the experience was good, but not all. The next day I feel better now. Kaiser has been wonderful in the transition. They have a placement dept that goes way out of their way to get the job done. They give you a list and you just chose which ones that you feel are OK. There is one nursing home group in the Sacramento area that has a very good reputation and I asked if any beds were available. Just happens that one was, only one! The home said that I had one day to make up my mind, me thinking it would be a month it was kind of weird!! The place is very nice and I am happy with the care. The main thing to remember is that Kaiser buys lots of spaces from these companies and has LOTS of pull to get you in, if they do not take Kaisers long term people the company does not get Kaisers short term patients!! A very good resource!!----Jack

Good job, Jack!

Jack,
Did you move your mom in yesterday? That's great! We just visited a local support group member today in her new dementia care apartment. It's very stressful on everyone. But at least there's peace of mind with facilities providing good care.
Robin

I placed her Friday. I hung around all day just to see how they operate, was impressed.---Jack

Jack,
I am glad the placement is now behind you and you were so impressed with what you seen, hope she will adjust well!