Choosing a Care Home

One of life’s most agonising decisions is putting our elderly loved one into a Care Home, it can be a traumatic time for all concerned, tinged with guilt and fear, and therefore it is essential to make the right choice.

You may already know of Care Homes in your area, perhaps you know someone who is resident or someone with a relative in residential care. Start by talking to anyone you know with ‘inside’ information, ask questions about every aspect of the Home you may be interested in.

When you have a shortlist of prospective Homes, make an appointment to view. First impressions count so take notice of your thoughts as you enter the building, are you greeted with a smile, does it ‘feel’ like home?

The Manager should provide you with all the necessary information regarding the practical side of things and answer any queries you may have, however, she, or he, certainly will not tell you about any negative points so when you are given a guided tour keep your eyes and ears open! A good Care Home should be ‘buzzing’, residents should be chatting, laughing and generally enjoying their day.

Some things to ask yourself that may help you decide:

• Do the residents look happy, are they awake or are most asleep?
• Is there any chatter going on, any music playing, or is all very quiet?
• Is there an Activities Organiser providing stimulating things to do or do the residents appear to be left alone in the lounge?
• Are the Staff seen to be interacting with the residents?
• Does the home have any unpleasant odours of any sort?
• Are the rooms bright and cheerful, is the home nicely furnished?
• Do they provide entertainment from outside sources, do the Clergy visit?
• Does the home have a mini bus or some arrangement for trips out?
• Are there any suitable areas outside e.g. a patio, seating, lawn and garden?

The home should be exactly that, a home not an institution. The daily life of the residents, as far as practicable, should be of their own choosing, their wishes should be respected, they are not there to conform to any sort of regime.

One other point I feel worth mentioning is that it seems to be the norm these days for care homes to have a proportion of foreign staff; this can sometimes pose a problem with communication when English is not their first language.

Elderly people quite often have impaired hearing and can find it difficult to understand what is being said to them, this can be made even more difficult when the speaker has a strong accent.

It can also be a problem for the residents to make themselves understood too so perhaps it would be a good idea to inquire as to what percentage of the staff are foreign.

All care homes are regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection who produces an inspection report, which should be displayed in the home, this is for you to read to help with your decision. It is quite a lengthy document and time might not allow for reading the whole thing on the day of your visit, however, the Commission also use a quality rating, this is given in the summary at the beginning of the report and indicates how the home is performing against national standards, this will give you a good idea of how well the home is run.

It is not easy to place a loved one in residential care, but I hope at least, this information has been of some assistance to you in making the right choice.