Nursing home and assisted care facility research is probably not on your top 10 favorite things to do. Unfortunately, health problems in elderly relatives can pop up when least expected and usually at the worst possible moment. One way to make things a little bit easier is to do some pre-prep work before you actually need it. Then, if the worst occurs, you don’t have to start from scratch. One way of doing that is bookmarking the various resource sites that could be useful to you if the time for deeper research is necessary. Here are two links I found through Mr. Eldercare on Twitter to help you in that quest.
Medicare has an easy to use website that lets you compare every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. You can locate them by city, state, zip code, county, or by their name. http://budurl.com/CompareNursingHm
When my dad was put into hospice, he had a bad reaction to medication. For a short time, we thought we would have to move him into a nursing home. I had no clue what they were like, or how good or bad they were. I would have greatly appreciated this resource at that time.
I plugged in a couple of zip codes where there are nursing homes I am familiar with. The scores seemed pretty much on target to me, however this is just a beginning point. Once you have this information, it is still crucial that you or someone you trust visit the site personally and check it out carefully. One other caveat, I noticed one nursing home I am familiar with was NOT on this list. I presume it is not a medicare or medicaid-certified nursing home, though it is a very nice faith-based facility. So do realize there may be other options available than what you will find on this list.
In fact, USA Today has an interesting and informative article that discusses pros and cons to this chart along with more details and extra charts including one listing the best and the worst options. It would be a good article to bookmark but also to print out and save for future reference, in case it is removed from the site. http://budurl.com/NursHmsRatingsInfo
One step we have taken to help you with this project is to start a list of bookmarks using the social bookmarking site, Delicious. You will find the most recent bookmarks listed at the top of the far right column of this page. Each time I add a link to an article, the link should also be added to Delicious, making it easier for each of us to find important resources in the future. I moved the news headlines down below the Delicious bookmarks. Let me know how you feel about the change – love it or hate it. You can leave a comment below, or send an email to SandwichINK@SandwichINK.com .
