When a Massachusetts resident makes a long-term plan for their financial management and personal care, they may include in their budget the costs of needing to eventually live in a nursing home.
Nursing homes and other care facilities provide invaluable services to individuals who do not have the capacity to provide necessary care for themselves. In a nursing home, a resident may be given medical care, help with managing their own personal needs, and have friendship through interactions with other residents and staff.
However, selecting a nursing home can be hard. Readers have likely heard horror stories about the mismanagement and maltreatment that some individuals have received in long-term care facilities. It is therefore important that when a person is looking at nursing homes for themselves or loved ones that they know what questions to ask.
To begin, a person should know how much it costs to live in a particular nursing home or facility. They should inquire into whether their MassHealth or other benefits will help offset their costs of living there, and they should find out if the facility has a waiting list. They should investigate how residents are treated, whether they can follow their own schedules, and if they must furnish their own rooms in the facility.
Perhaps the biggest consideration that individuals should have when looking at nursing homes is safety. Facilities should be willing to share information about how they manage emergencies and what their records are when it comes to handling threats to their residents’ safety. This is only a short list of what is important to consider when evaluating a prospective nursing home, and readers can speak with their elder law attorneys about other matters they may be important to them.