Top Tips For Selecting A Nursing Home
Choosing a nursing home (for yourself or a loved one), can be very overwhelming and stressful. This guide can help you get started by knowing the right questions to ask.
Tip #1 – Determine Your Care Needs
When an older adult can no longer receive the necessary level of care at home due to declining health, two senior care options to consider are a nursing home or assisted living community. These two settings are very different in the care that they provide.
● Nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities (SNF) provide a wide range of health and personal care services. Nursing homes focus on medical care and include nursing care, 24-hour supervision, and rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational or speech therapy. Admission to a nursing home requires a doctor’s order for care.
● Individuals may stay at a nursing home for a short time, such as while recuperating from a procedure or illness after a hospital stay. Others may need to stay in a nursing home indefinitely due to a need for ongoing medical care.
● Assisted living communities provide non-medical services to residents based on their care needs. These services may include medication management, meals, and light housekeeping. Because assisted living facilities focus on non-medical care, medical insurance does not cover their services.
Tip #2 – Determine how you will pay for care
Because a nursing home provides medical care, Medicare or other medical insurance will pay a portion of the cost for a set period of time (up to 100 days). After insurance coverage runs out, individuals will have to pay out of pocket or use other government services (e.g. MediCal) to pay for care.
To apply for MediCal, call 800-709-8348.
Tip #3 – Find and visit a nursing home in your area
Here are recommended steps when searching for a nursing home:
Visit Medicare.gov/care-compare for a list of Nursing Homes in your area. Medicare will provide a curated list of facilities and provide a rating for each facility.
Select 2-4 facilities to visit.
Bring a checklist (found on the care-compare website) to help evaluate the facility and know which questions to ask.
Tip #4 – Plan for your admission to a nursing home
After selecting your nursing home, engage your doctor, hospital discharge planner, care manager and nursing home social worker to help with the necessary transition steps.
● Confirm that your doctor has shared your medical record.
● Provide a copy of your advance health care directive.
● Ensure all health insurance information is up-to-date and understand what services will and will not be covered.
● Be sure you have received a copy of your resident rights and care plan, as well as information about how to report and resolve problems if they should arise.
Additional helpful resources:
empoweredaging.org: Empowered Aging- Long term care ombudsman plus resources and support for older residents in Contra Costa County.
canhr.org: California Advocates of Nursing Home Reform- CANHR provides several resources, information, advocacy and support for older residents and their families including factsheets, checklists and guides.
medicare.gov/care-compare: Medicare website provides several helpful resources including nursing home locator, ratings, checklist, and a very informative booklet “Your Guide to Choosing a Nursing Home” OR call 1-800-633-4227 (TTY 1-877-486-2048) to receive the most current information.
ehsd.org/elderly-disabled/area-agency-on-aging/: Contra Costa County Area Agency on Aging or call Contra Costa Information and Assistance 800-510-2020.
aginglifecare.org: National professional association of geriatric care managers. A geriatric care manager can provide support and advocacy for all senior care needs.
medi-cal.ca.gov: Provides information on how to apply for MediCal as well as information for current MediCal participants.
prepareforyourcare.org: Step by step instructions on how to complete an advanced healthcare directive
This blog was written in collaboration with the Advisory Council on Aging- Health Work Group
