So the first rule is give yourself a lot of time to find the Care home that is right for you. The last thing you want is to make a rushed decision ? it may be very trying and inconvenient to change it later.
It is essential to make a distinction here ? that between a care home, (which is taken to mean a residential home,) and a Nursing home. When we talk about care homes, we usually mean a home that provides residential care only, that is, somewhere to live, with meals provided, and someone to take care of your normal needs. A nursing home is for people who require specialist nursing care because of their state of health.
However, the information here is of use whether you are trying to find a nursing home or a residential care home.
Remember, you're the buyer, that means you're in charge
Through this whole process, remember that you (or your family) are the buyer. You are choosing and buying a service to meet your needs. Take advice, of course, but resist people making decisions for you. They may be well-meaning, but they are not the one to be staying in the Care home.
Thousands of older people are living very happily in care homes. After they have made their decision to decide on a care home and have lived in the care home for some time, plenty of them wonder why they were so anxious about taking a step that turned out to give them more independence and freedom to live a much fuller life than when they were living on their own, struggling without sufficient support.
Timing
The events that lead to a move to a care home often happen quite quickly. A fall, hospital, or the sudden realisation that you can?t cope in your own home any longer all trigger the search for a suitable care home. Panic sets in, and you or your relatives and carers may feel that you've got to grab the first available place. remember the first rule, give yourself time to decide on a care home.
Good decisions are rarely made in a don?t have to settle for a home you don?t like. If you have to move immediately, you can always stay somewhere temporarily and move on when you've found somewhere more to your liking.
Keep a record
It will help if you make notes of every step you take. It's so easy to forget names and numbers, or to confuse the details of one home with another. Buy a notebook just for this and keep a record right from the beginning. If you have a digital camera, take pictures, or even a short video, most cameras can do this nowadays. bear in mind to label the digital photos so you can match the photos/video to the care home.
Location
If you're planning to stay in the same area, consider local homes first. Good homes have lots of visitors, and residents? friends and families are involved in the home's life. There are likely to be various events to go to such as coffee mornings, art exhibitions or fetes. You may already know someone who works in a local home or has gone to live there.
After all, the people who live in your local care home are your neighbours just as much as the family who live in the next street or village. A care home should be part of your neighbourhood quite as much as the shops, pubs, church or mosque, or post office.
Find out what homes are available
You can do an internet search, talk to Age Concern or get hold of a copy of the Care Select guide for your area or you can call them on 0800 389 2077 and Care Select will arrange for you to be sent details of suitable homes.
Alternatively, you may be a member of or have a connection with a profession, association or society that runs homes for its members and their families. Or you may want to be with other residents who share your culture or religion. Often these are very well run places and you are assured of agreeable, supportive and interesting company with people who share your background and interests. Examples of such organisations are Woking Homes for ex-railway workers, the Musicians? Benevolent Fund, Printers? Charitable Corporation and BEN.
The national inspectorates for care homes (The Commission for Social Care Inspection ? England; The Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales; and The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care) all have lists of care homes on their websites. You can search for homes within specified distances from your own home. The inspectorates also produce reports on every home which can be sent to you or downloaded from their website.
Ask for a care needs assessment
If you are in hospital and in need of care when you leave, or if you are already getting assistance at home through your local health and social care services, someone will assess your care needs in any case. However, if you are still fairly independent of care services (but may be receiving a lot of help from your family, friends or neighbours) and you are contemplating a move into a care home, it is crucial to ask your local social services for an assessment whether you think you will be paying for your care or not.
Your care needs assessment will help you to choose a suitable home and will help the home itself to decide whether they can meet your needs. (Care homes must not accept residents that they can?t look after properly.) In addition, the assessment will take you to the next stage ? your financial assessment; in other words, to what extent, if at all, you will contribute towards the care home fees. So, the next step is to take financial advice on fees. You will then be in a position to narrow your search for a care home and select some that may be suitable for you.
Make a shortlist
You may have already decided that the care home you want to live in is one you already know, but if a home you know doesn?t turn out to be suitable after all, or if you haven?t been able to get to know a local home, you now have to narrow your search down to those homes that can meet your care needs and are within your budget.
selecting a care home is like selecting any other place to live in. If you're looking for a house or flat to buy or rent ? to move to ? before you take trouble and time to go and view, you weed out all those places that you already know are not going to be suitable: price, location, size, garden, neighbourhood, transport links etc.
If you get information about homes from the inspection reports or from the other advice organisations, you will be able to find answers to these basic questions:
A home `with nursing? or not? (If your care needs assessment has shown that you need a home with nursing, there is no point in looking at homes that don?t provide nursing care.)
Can you afford the fees? If your financial advice ? or assessment ? has provided you with a limit on fees, then look only at those homes that are within your limit.
Location? Is it near enough for you or for your relatives and other people who are likely to visit you?
What sort of home? Are you looking for a home with more of a `relations? feel to it, or one that's more like a hotel?
Would you prefer a place that is in a rural setting or would you prefer somewhere near the shops and other amenities?
Have a closer read of the inspection reports for the homes you are now thinking may be possible choices.
When you've narrowed your search to just a few homes ? your shortlist ? the next step is to go and see them and meet the people.
Visit
You can find out a lot about a place from the way they answer back to you on the phone. (But like all other information, be careful not to let just one good or bad experience sway your decision too much either are trying to get an overall picture of the home.) bear in mind, that the atmosphere ? the people and relationships ? in a care home is even more crucial than the physical environment. When you are looking round a home, notice how people are with each other and with you. Is this the sort of atmosphere that you?ll be happy in? What are the other residents like?
Get an overall impression
Your first visit is to get an impression and collect more information (such as a copy of a contract).You?ll want to look round, see all the communal areas (sitting rooms and dining room), and see a resident's room. If there's a vacant room, that's probably the room you?ll be shown, but if all the rooms are occupied at the time of your visit, it may of course not be possible to look in someone else's room, so you?ll have to do that if and when a suitable room becomes vacant. `No Vacancies? can be a good sign, but it does mean that you?ll be joining a waiting list. Get a look at the weekly and daily menus and ask if you can see the kitchen, if you want to get an idea of general hygeine and efficiency (around meal times). If you go around meal times, does the food look and smell appetising?
On this first visit, try to form an impression of the people and the place as a whole. Talk with as many people as you can ? residents and staff. Do the staff enjoy their work? Are they sociable, polite and friendly yet professional? Do you feel a real sense of hospitality and kindliness? If you see other visitors (like relatives), ask them what they think of the home.
Vital questions
How much is it really going to cost? Are there any `extras?? Do different rooms and levels of care cost more? Sometimes groundfloor rooms cost more than upstairs rooms. Are there at least two lifts if one breaks down? (Don?t forget to ask for a sample contract, and other written information ? to take away and examine closely.) Is the home capable of meeting your care needs? Can the home accommodate your lifestyle ? the way you are used to living? Ask questions like: `Can I get up at about 9 am and have a late breakfast?? or `I often have a pint of beer in the evenings and watch the 10 o?clock news.Would I be able to do that here?? Can you come and go whenever you like, inside and outside the home?
Choose
You've made your first visit to at least a couple of homes; you've got a good idea whether they measure up to your expectations, and you've come away with more information.
It's now decision time to decide on a care home ? but not your final decision! Review your notes and mull it over with your relatives and friends. Try not to be hurried. There will always be pros and cons with any home.
At this point, you may feel that the choice is clear and one home stands out. Or, you still can?t decide.
Visit again!
The second visit is to check that your first impressions are accurate. Ask if you can spend a number of hours at the care home and have a meal there before making up your mind. Take a relative or friend with you. Any good home will be happy for you to check them out in this way Some homes will even encourage you to stay overnight.
Arrive in time for the mid-morning drink and make sure that you sit with the other residents, just as you might if you were living there. Have lunch and stay long enough to see if there's anything going on afterwards. Enquire about the home's activity programme as well. Some care homes have the weekly activities pinned up on a notice board.
Even when you've made your choice and moved in, you can still change your mind because all homes must give you the option of moving in `on a trial basis?, check the contract and ask as well if this is the case.
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