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Demand for Quality Assisted Living and Nursing HomesFar Outweighs Price ShoppingDemand for Quality Assisted Living and Nursing Homes Far Outweighs Price Shopping 'Choosing the assisted living facility for our mom was so nerve-racking. We toured all of them, met with their key staff members, asked around and we even went online to see if there were any violations. We took our time; we really wanted the best for mom. In the end, we trusted our gut feelings. It ended up a disaster.' The assisted living facility that Beverly chose was not the least expensive of her choices. When making her decision between the six facilities near the town her mother wanted to live safety was in fact the deciding factor. She believed that her mother would both be safe and feel safe, she was wrong. There is a growing need for aging services that people can trust. From the standpoint of owning and operating an assisted living facility or nursing home how does one relay trust to the public? The consumer (senior citizens and adult family caregivers) want (in fact are beginning to demand) an independent method that will attest to the survey results or report on the facilities quality of care. 'When we finally convinced dad that he would have a higher quality of life by moving from his home in to a nursing home we knew we had to get it right the first time. It would be a disaster if we moved him from his home in to a facility and then found we had to move him again,' states Peter V. of Scottsdale Arizona. Adult children of seniors are often times put in a position of encouraging, for the overall well-being and safety of a parent, to move from a long-term family residence in to some type of assisted living environment. It’s not an easy thing to do and Peter is correct. You don’t want to go through this dramatic change only to learn the facility chosen is not the right fit. Word of mouth reporting works well if you are fortunate enough to know a family that has experienced the process of finding, selecting and then contracting with an assisted living facility. You will naturally feel confident in your selection if your friend reports a good experience. Third-party validation is in fact the preferred method of any family when faced with the stressful task of selecting any elder care service. However, due to liability issues the consumer is hard pressed to find any published listing that doesn’t have some type of disclaimer attached to it. Example of a Disclaimer Search results provided by --- are not recommendations for any facility. --- makes no warranties with regards to the licensed programs or the data provided. All information about the facilities/home health agencies has been obtained from the organization itself or a publicly held source. In a recent article published by Second 50 Years, author Elinor Gale writes, 'As the senior population grows, the need for quality care and services increases. In response, service organizations claiming to meet the needs of the elderly are multiplying. How to choose? How can seniors and their adult children know which services are safe, reliable and able to deliver on the promises they make?' She then recommends a privately owned company, Senior Approved Services. Certified Quality Elder Care to those providing services and Seniors Approve for those in search of services. 'Senior Approved Services actually endorses and recommends the elder care services listed within their exclusive network. Senior Approved Services actively advocates for the right of all seniors to receive excellent care and provides, at no charge, quality of service reports on select elder care services.' (Article entitled ‘Senior Approved Services Leads Consumers to Excellent Care’ can be read at Ezine for Seniors and Family Caregivers Trust is earned and though there is no such thing as a perfect company it is important to learn how the staff of an assisted living facility responds to a family’s concerns. In other words, most consumers want to know definitively whether or not the facility will be just as responsive to the families’ loved one’s needs and desires after the move-in as they were during the initial tour. Finding methods to relay the fact that your facility is one worthy of trust is far more important than trying to compete in your market by cutting your monthly fees. In the end, fulfilling your promises and following through with the assurances you’ve made to the family far out-weigh any concern over cost. Resources For Seniors and Family MembersWhere can families turn in order to obtain documented proof of quality service for assisted living and nursing homes?The following are free: Each assisted living facility listed at Senior Approved Services has met or surpassed 90% or higher rating and support the mission of advocating for seniors to receive excellent and safe care. Free checklists on how to select an assisted living facility are on Aging Parents This will guide you and Aging Parents endorse Certified Senior Approved Facilities Call the Caregiver’s Resource Helpline toll free at 888-791-7301 to learn how to select an assisted living facility and to learn about other options. This will help you and the helpline endorse Certified Senior Approved Facilities Medicare publishes information on how to compare nursing homes and home health care agencies based on reported deficiencies and quality care issues at Medicare Nursing Home Reports A consumer watch organization for nursing homes is the National Citizen’s Coalition for Nursing Home Reform and you can view which nursing home is currently on the ‘watch’ list at Nursing Homes Watch List Many assisted living facilities across the United States belong to associations that recognize the fact that some method does need to be in place to help families. AAHSA has embraced a program called ‘Quality First’ and which provides facilities a step-by-step method to implement quality procedures and participating facilities are indicated (for the benefit of the consumer) by displaying the Quality First logo. So though you cannot learn details from a third-party to verify or clarify the actual quality as perceived by current residents, the Quality First Logo does indicate the commitment towards quality procedures. For a Fee: Jonathan Brickman is a freelance writer. He writes on a number of subjects with health care being his primary focus. Back to March Featured Articles
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