What do you look for when you are researching facilities for when you can no longer care for your DH

lrj451

My DH's Alzheimer's is progressing to the point that I have decided to start looking for a facility for him when he no longer knows who I am.  I don't want to make the decision under duress.  I want to make it when I have had time to check out the different facilities in our area.

Joe C.

Irj, Below is a previous thread on this topic that has lots of good information.

 https://www.alzconnected.org/discussion.aspx?g=posts&t=2147552810

Ed1937

You're quick, Joe. I just found it myself, and came to post the link.

Ed1937

Linda, welcome to the forum. Sorry you have a reason to be here. We have a lot of good people here to help in any way they can. Please keep posting.

I just read your profile. WOW! You have had your hands full! I'm sure you need to get away from it for a while. I hope you can get things squared away soon.

aod326

I placed DH in MC last August. From the info in the original thread posted by Joe, plus looking at the Medicare site, I put together a list of 52 questions that I asked each of 6 places. Everything from staff:resident ratios and training, to whether I could bring our dog to visit. It really helped me to compare the final three options. One thing I didn't probe enough on, though, is specifically what types of behavior would lead them to require an additional aide. 

I asked each facility how they would handle behavioral challenges, because his behavior was one reason I needed to place him. They all explained the de-escalation techniques they used, and made it sound fine. I even asked about what circumstances might cause them to ask DH to leave.  But rather than asking hypotheticals, I should have asked something like how many residents have additional private aides and for how long. And how many times have residents been asked to leave.

A week into DH's first MC they insisted I provide a 24-hour private aide to help with his "issues". After 4 weeks of that, at $4,300/week (on top of the MC fees!), I moved him. This time I grilled them and they turned out to be much more appropriate. It was a much better fit for him.

You're very wise to do this research and planning before you reach any crisis point - good luck.

janeymack

aod326 - Are you willing to share your list of questions? We're way off (I hope) from this, but it makes sense to take stock of resources early on. Thanks!

aod326

Happy to. You'll see a reference to Archie - that's our dog!  Of course I'm not saying it's a perfect list, but it might trigger some questions.  Good luck!

I created it in Excel, but had to convert it to pdf in order to attach it.