Nursing home research
Hi all,
My siblings and I are starting to talk about what nursing care might look like for our aging father, and we're not really sure where to start.
We have a sense that we should look into putting his name on a nursing home list, but not sure how to go about researching what facilities are out there, and going about getting on lists, etc.
Does anyone have any experience with this process/ advice to give? Is there a directory of nursing homes in the Bay Area? Does anyone have a recommendation to share?
One complication is that our father suffered a head injury decades ago, so he has some unique cognitive / memory support needs (although as I watch friends' parents age, these needs may not be to far from what all aging folks need).
Many thanks for any advice / recommendations.
Parent Replies
Hello!
A lot of long term care depends on how much money you have to spend. Long term nursing home use is primarily for medi-cal eligible patients. If you are looking that route I would suggest looking at nursing home compare online where Medicare puts star ratings based on various performance factors. If you have the funds, I would highly suggest a board & care situation. Board and cares are private home with 5-7 residents and 2-3 live in caregivers. They are a fantastic option! Good luck and feel free to reach out directly if you'd like more advice. I work in hospice as an RN and have seen many different types of facilities of the years. Email:debg325 [at] yahoo.com
I am not sure if you are looking for a skilled nursing facility or an assisted living. If you are looking for an assisted living, I have had a family member living at Tiffany Court in Walnut Creek for almost 5 years now and it's been a positive experience. My family member is very happy there and they treat her very well. I might even go as far as to say they spoil her (they make her special food and take her to Broadway Plaza on her request). Tiffany Court doesn't have memory care, but many of the residents living there need memory support. I encourage you to visit and talk with Patti and the residents. Assisted Senior Living Walnut Creek, CA (tiffanycourt.com)
This is a very overwhelming process to navigate. Fortunately, because of that, there are some local care consultants - many of whom went through this with their parents - who can provide guidance based on their experience. I worked with Helen Lindberg at CareQuest to help find a place for my mom, she was lovely to work with. https://carequest.us/
We worked with Bryan Riddle at www.careplacementadvisors.com (on the recommendation of the realtor selling their house) when looking for an assisted living place for my parents. He was helpful and friendly and able to kind of talk us through the options and help us clarify what they needed. He didn't charge us a fee - I think he gets a kickback from the facility if you select one of the places he recommends. I'm not sure if he works outside Contra Costa, but maybe there's something local in the area you're looking for. Definitely tour a variety of places - it was time-consuming but I felt like that was invaluable for helping us see what was out there and get a feel for where they would be happiest. Good luck - it's a process but ultimately it feels good to know they're taken care of!
You are wise to take this on and fortunate that you have siblings to share with this task. It can be an overwhelming task and the variety of senior residences is vast and varied. I participated in a caregiver group for advanced Parkinson's and recently completed a search for a memory care facility for my dear sister. The Family Caregiver Alliance is a good resource and perhaps a good place to start. There are also senior resident facility advocates that can help you search, based on your father's needs. FCA can point you in that direction. https://www.caregiver.org/
Best wishes for a good outcome and that your father thrives where you re-home him.
What kind of placement you ultimately get for your father depends on how much money is available and what his needs are. The first thing to figure out is how much can be spent per month for his care. Assisted living facilities (ALF) offer residents their own apartments and the most autonomy, but are quite expensive. Given the cognitive issues you mentioned, it is not clear if your father was diagnosed with dementia and would require a locked unit which some ALFs offer, but again this would be a pricey option. I agree with someone else's recommendation about a board and care (B&C). They are less expensive than ALFs and offer more hands-on supervision and care. Prices vary based on the location and whether it is a private or shared room. If there are no private funds to pay for placement and your father is on Medi-Cal then you can try to obtain a custodial bed in a skilled nursing facility (SNF), however, these are notoriously hard to secure because so few are available. There is no master waiting list for SNFs and you would have to contact each facility directly if searching for an open custodial bed.
If you are headed in the direction of an ALF or B&C, you can work with placement coordinators who can offer placement options based on your budget and they can even set up tours of any facilities you might be interested in. The services of placement coordinators are usually free. Here are some additional recommendations: Fernando Aquino 510-938-0017 (Your Senior Living Consultants), Sherry Cardenas 925-595-8533 (Alternative Beginnings) and Andy Hashimi 925-525-2727 (Lighthouse Professional Placement & Caregivers).
Hope this information helps you. Best of luck!
I went through something similar with my mother, and found Janet at A Love for Seniors to be incredibly helpful. She walked us through the different types of options/what the landscape looks like and what types of services we might want. A Love for Seniors is a referral agency, so she keeps tabs on all the local places and was able to talk to us about both specific options. She was also just incredibly kind and empathetic, which I really appreciated.
925-765-7171; https://aloveforseniors.com/