visiting MC facilities

Bailey's Mom

I'm going to have to start visiting MC Facilities and was wondering about dropping by unannounced vs making an appointment. The glossy ads all look so wonderful and the reviews give a different picture, so was thinking that it might be better to just stop in, so that it is not staged. Anyone have experience with this?

harshedbuzz

@Bailey's Mom

I just stopped by. There were one or two times when I couldn't get a tour/full tour. The state veterans' home required an appointment; they're a bargain and have a wait list so they don't need to market themselves. The other place had a new resident in their AL/MC unit who was not adjusting well so they didn't want the intrusion; they did take us through the SNF/MC unit and the regular AL unit and invited us to drop by another time.

TBH, I don't feel as though any place I toured would have looked different or better had I made an appointment.

HB

Bowerbird

My DH has been in MC for about two months. Knowing what I know now about how the facility operates, it would not have made a difference if I'd dropped in unannounced, though that is what is advised in the books and online. There may not be anyone available to tour with you and, of course, you cannot tour by yourself, as the resident areas are locked. There was no staging going on and I'm not sure how that would even work. The behavior of the residents cannot be "controlled" for guests and there are usually at least some bedroom doors open, so you can see what they look like IRL while passing by down the halls. I would advise making an appointment.

BPS

I did it both ways and I don't think there was any effort to look better when I had an appointment. The main difference was with an appointment there was someone available to spend more time talking and answering my questions, sometimes the marketing person is out and others are busy. I think when you narrow your options down you should do both.

Maru

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/75774/visiting-mc-facilities

I made appointments for the places I visited. Of course, they will give you a rosy sales pitch, but you will also see for yourself who the residents are, what they are doing (or not doing) cleanliness and if you go at lunch time as i did, you will have an opportunity to dine and you will know if the food is going to be satisfactory.

Michele P

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/75774/visiting-mc-facilities

You absolutely want to do an unannounced visit and speak to family members of residents. Go during meal time and speak to people in the parking lot who have a family member in memory care.

Lilydaisy

I would recommend an appointment. It is a courtesy and they usually have their day planned. With an appt they can be better prepared to give you the attention you want and should have. It's not like they will run around the facility and spruce it up or hide the advanced patients.

persevere

I agree with the majority here. I don’t think it will make a difference in what you see. But speaking to other family members as Michelle P suggested isn’t a bad idea

annie51

I only did my visits by appointments to make sure the marketing person would be there. They should show you the entire facility anyway, and they really can’t “fake” anything there. The residents are around doing what they would normally do so you should get a pretty good idea what it’s like. Once I narrowed my choices down to two, I revisited both at different times of the day from my first visit. I don’t see anything wrong with dropping in unannounced though just to be sure. Definitely ask them for some family member references that you can speak to. My first choice MC offered that to me before I asked. Speaking to people in the parking lot is a good idea also - people will be happy to give you their honest opinion.

Michele P

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/269982#Comment_269982

As other suggested, make an appointment first to tour the facility and ask your questions. This is what we did. Once you decide on a facility, do the unannounced visit and speak to family members.

Bailey's Mom

Thank you all for your good ideas. I think I will have to go without an appt initially, only because it is so hard for me to plan anything, and I don't want to have to cancel at the last minute if HWD decides to go with me (I will have to say I have a doctor's appt), or has a meltdown and I won't able to go at all. If I like a facility, then I will make an appt and do a proper tour, and gather financial estimates. I agree that it would be almost impossible for the facility to hide the advanced residents and sugar coat things…number, experience and turnover of staff, complaints filed, etc are something to research myself. I would have not thought of talking to family members, and that is a great idea! I hope I don't ever have to go this route, but need to have a plan in place in case it is necessary…you never know when things can totally fall apart with this disease. Anyway…thanks!

tboard

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/75774/visiting-mc-facilities

Any place that will just let you in to walk around at anytime should be viewed with suspicion. My DH is now in a memory care facility. They have a lot of security to protect the residents.

jfkoc

You can start your search from your home. Have a copy of the contract sent, ask what the training program is (initial and ongoing) and have a copy of the recent state inspections either sent from the state or online.

A very good place to discuss facilities ,and also Drs, is after a local support group meeting.

Victoriaredux

And look on line for the inspection reports. My state watered down the amount of detail they give but if they were cited or put on probation that's a better place to evaluate than Yelp.

ARIL

I toured a lot of facilities by making appointments. One I saw first unannounced because a friend’s mother lived there and she invited me to go with her on a visit. The MC my PWD is in now does not allow unannounced visits; I frequently see people touring, always accompanied by staff.

I don’t actually know what “staging” would look like in MC. Residents are living their lives, staff are working…in MC what you see and hear and smell is likely to be how it is. In all the places I visited, only one marketing manager said she wanted me to visit when I could see some particular activity; that was one of the least impressive places I saw (even the show-off activity was depressing).

One thing that mattered to me was whether I saw other families visiting. How involved are most families at this place? Does the facility seem used to having family around? I was going to be visiting a lot, and I wanted a place where that would seem normal.