Seniors Home

Before making the final decision of sending your parents to live in a retirement home, you need to investigate it properly. Do not judge everything based on a single first visit because appearance can be misleading. You need to get in contact with at least one person that has lived there or is living there. Only in this way you will get first hand information about that living facility.

A guided tour is also a great option but only if you are allowed to see the places you want to see. If the person guiding you is showing you only certain rooms and certain people, then maybe something is wrong. Ask him a lot of questions and do not be shy about it. While on the guided tour, talk to the people you meet there and ask them about the living facilities. Pay attention to their reactions.

Nursing homes are somehow a closed environment and there have been many cases where abused happened and nobody knew about it. This is why picking up on abuse takes a long time of monitoring. So do not rush into making a decision and take time to think about all the aspects.

You also need to know what the signs of abuse or negligence are in a retirement or nursing home. Here are some signs that abuse took place:

- Injuries that need emergency hospitalization

- Fractured ribs and hips

- Any type of injury or even death occurring a short while after an episode of wandering when the personnel does not know the person was missing

- Heavy sedation and medication

- People losing weight rapidly or gaining weight.

- The unexplained death of an elderly resident