Residents and Families
Every nursing home resident deserves the best quality care and a living environment that keeps them as physically, mentally and emotionally healthy as possible. It is the job of nursing home staff and caregivers to ensure top quality care, but residents and their families can help too.
It is your job to know the basic questions to ask that will make sure you or your loved one are getting the right care at the right time, every time. Below are some great resources you can find on the Internet to help you learn what you need to know when selecting and starting residency in a nursing home. These resources are provided by the Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes campaign, a national initiative to improve nursing home care and culture of which IPRO is a partner.
Resources
Nursing Home Compare
This federal government website provides information about inspections, staffing and certain measures of quality for every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country. It includes the government's five-star rating system for nursing homes.
Advancing Excellence in America's Nursing Homes-The best place to start is the Tip Sheet for Residents and Family Members, which outlines your role in ensuring quality nursing home care and gives you the 10 most important questions to ask.
The campaign's website contains information about the many different aspects of the campaign and includes consumer fact sheets, access to past webinars on campaign goals, state and national progress on the goals, the campaign newsletter.
Pioneer Network
The Pioneer Network website is a resource for consumers, nursing home administration and staff, and others about culture change. The website includes a consumer guide for finding a nursing home that has adopted culture change.
NCCNHR: The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care
(click on "Consumer Center" and "Fact Sheet")
The NCCNHR website provides a wide range of resources for consumers, including fact sheets on assessment and care planning, the basics of individualized care, family involvement and other topics related to nursing home care.
Alzheimer's Association
The Alzheimer's Association website offers information about Alzheimer's Disease and how to recognize good care for someone with dementia, topic sheets and brochures on a variety of issues and other resources.
