What are the BEST questions you can ask when touring a care facility or adult family home? What information would save you stress and frustration later on?
FACT: When evaluating a senior care home (or facility) nine-out-of-ten people ask irrelevant questions. No offense.
Questions like… “what are your visiting hours?” and “how much does it cost?” or “Can I bring my own furniture?”
Off course, you want to know those things. But this type of question does little to help you avoid unpleasant surprises after you have moved in. It does not let you discover the quality of care you’re about to get, the skills of the provider, or how your cost might change once you need more care.
So how do you get past the usual questions everyone asks? What key questions should you be asking instead? How can you uncover areas of potential stress or unpleasant surprises?
The form has those key questions.
It’s like having a geriatric care professional in your back pocket, whispering the right questions to help you stay clear from bad care and unpleasant surprises.
If you’re anything like me, “good surprises” are the only kind you want!
Recently, I helped someone who was being discharged from an adult family home after running out of private funds and applying for Medicaid. They had moved-in just 11 months ago so they were quite distressed about the situation. But here’s the saddest part; they worked with a senior placement service who advised them to move-in, even though they knew the facility would only accept Medicaid payment after three years of private pay!
A conflict of interest can have dire consequences. Learn how to spot them.
So many people get overwhelmed at the idea of touring senior care homes. It’s understandable, but it does not have to be that way.
Part of the overwhelm is not knowing what you’re looking for, not knowing what questions you should be asking, and generally being unsure about whether or not you are making the right decision.
It’s not your fault and you’re definitely not alone. This is not something most people learn how to do, and no one is teaching you how to do it.
Fortunately, I’ve been in the business of caring for seniors and helping people just like you for nearly 28 years, so why not take me touring with you?!
I have put together a 2-page form that contains the “31 Must-Ask Question When Touring Any Care Facility” and I want you to have it, for free.
The questions I prepared on this form are based on my 26 years as insider in the world of long-term-care.
As a veteran geriatric nurse and elder care provider, having cared for hundreds of seniors and worked with dozens of senior care providers as a coach, consultant, and teacher at Seattle College (AFH Administrator Certification class), I’ve learned firsthand what matters most in preventing unpleasant surprises, avoiding frustrations, in making sure your needs are met, and quite simply, finding good, loving care for someone you really love.
I want you to have this form so that your search will be smoother and hopefully stress-free.
A disorganized search leads to a disorganized decision. This form will help put order and organization to your search process which will facilitate your final decision.
Pre-touring questions and activities are important, and can be very quickly. The form has specific step-by-step instructions on what to do before you even set foot in a care facility – it’s what the the professionals do.
The form has a “comprehensive summary recap” section to conveniently summarize and recap what you’ve seen and give you a final big-picture Birdseye view based on what you learned from touring facilities.
