South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

Online Nursing Home Resource Provided by IQ Nursing Homes.  IQ Nursing Homes announces the launch of their new website, a comprehensive online research tool for nursing home residents and concerned family members.

(EMAILWIRE.COM, July 17, 2008 ) New York - IQ Nursing Homes announces the launch of their new website, a comprehensive online research tool for nursing home residents and concerned family members. A national nursing home directory, up-to-date nursing home news, nursing home deficiency reports, and legal resources for victims of nursing home abuse and elder neglect cases are now just a click away on one easy to navigate site.

With increased life expectancies in today’s society leading to higher numbers of nursing home residents, IQ Nursing Homes recognized the need to create a free, complete online nursing home resource. Careful research is imperative to ensure that the nursing home to which you entrust your loved one’s care is reputable and safe. When you visit IQ Nursing Home’s national directory to locate elder care facilities in your area, you can also check nursing home deficiency reports to make sure the facility you choose provides the best care possible to its residents.

In addition to directories and information, IQ Nursing Homes provides a way for nursing home employees, residents, and their families to combat elder abuse and neglect. These are serious, prevalent problems that can result in physical and emotional suffering. Painful bed sores, broken hips, and even death are among the afflictions the nursing home residents face at the hands of negligent or abusive caregivers. Resources to help individuals recognize and report these problems are available on the IQ Nursing Homes website, including signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect and an anonymous abuse report form.

If abuse is suspected, a free nursing home abuse case evaluation is also available on the site. IQ Nursing Homes has partnered with expert nursing home lawyers and law firms throughout the country with the goal of putting a stop to the victimization of the elderly. By holding negligent and abusive staff members accountable for their actions and making it financially devastating for nursing homes to allow abuse and neglect to occur, this epidemic can be put to an end.

Be IQ Smart. Visit http://www.iqnursinghomes.com/ to learn more.

This press release was issued through GroupWeb EmailWire.Com. For more information on unlimited press release distribution service, go to http://www.emailwire.com

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

I saw a great article discussing the process of choosing and entering a nursing home.  The article tells the story of a woman who scouted nursing homes with a home-like setting where the staff-to-resident ratio was low.

More than 5 million people in the United States receive some form of daily care, according to Joseph L. Matthews, a California attorney who specializes in elder law and is the author of "Long-Term Care: How to Plan and Pay for It."

More than 2 million people older than 65 are in some type of nursing facility or other residential care facility at a cost of between $30,000 and $150,000 each per year, according to Matthews.

One out of four of those nursing-home residents stay in a facility for longer than a year, and 10 percent stay for more than three years.

Medicare covers the first 20 days of care at 100 percent. After that, a 20 percent co-pay is required for the next 80 days.  Some supplemental Medicare insurance will pick up the co-pay, but patients without that coverage could find themselves paying $130 or more per night for the remaining 80 days, Honig said.

While Medicaid will cover the cost of nursing home, residents have to spend down their assets to qualify, she said. But the spouse still living at home can keep residential property, a car and a limited number of other assets. 

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

How to Choose a Nursing Home

© 2007 ElderLawNet, Inc.

Last Updated: 4/10/2007

Few things are more stressful than finding a nursing home for a loved one. Everyone has heard nursing home horror stories and no one wants that to happen to their loved ones. While there is no way to guarantee that nothing will go wrong, some careful research and planning can help reassure you. Following are some criteria to consider when looking for a nursing home.

Location. No single factor is more important to quality of care and quality of life of a nursing home resident than visits by family members. Care is often better if the facility knows someone's watching and cares. Visits can be the high point of the day or week for the nursing home resident. So, make it as easy as possible for family members and friends to visit.

Special Needs. Make sure the facility can meet any special needs the resident may have, including a ventilator, psychiatric care, or extra supervision. If the resident has dementia, the facility will need to be one that handles dementia patients. Make sure the staff is properly trained for dementia patients; there is enough staff, especially at night; and staff members are assigned to a particular resident.

Personal Needs. Can the facility meet personal needs, such as religious or ethnic needs? Also, if the resident speaks a language other than English, are there staff who speak the same language?

References. Ask the facility to provide the names of family members of residents so you can ask them about the care provided in the facility and the staff's responsiveness when the resident or relatives raise concerns.

Do research. CareScout is an unbiased source for ratings and reviews of eldercare providers nationwide. Detailed, 7-10 page Nursing Home reports are available for a fee, and include more than 100 pieces of information on quality, resident population profiles, and health violations. Medicare.gov allows you to get three years worth of inspection reports on the nursing homes you are considering. Find out who owns the facility and if they own any other nursing homes, and see if you can get reports for those nursing homes as well. In addition, talk to the long-term care ombudsman in your state to find out if there have been complaints against the nursing homes you are considering.

Interview the administration and staff. Talk to the nursing home administrator or nursing staff about how care plans are developed for residents and how they respond to concerns expressed by family members. Make sure you are comfortable with the response. It is better that you meet with and ask questions of the people responsible for care and not just the person marketing the facility.

Tour the nursing home. Try not to be impressed by a fancy lobby or depressed by an older, more rundown facility. What matters most is the quality of care and the interactions between staff and residents. See what you pick up about how the staff interacts with the patients, how well residents are attended to and whether they are treated with respect. Also, investigate the quality of the food service. Eating is both a necessity and a pleasure that continues even when we're unable to enjoy much else.

© 2007 ElderLawNet, Inc.

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

The below website is very helpful in researching South Carolina nursing home facilities. Family members should gather as much evidence as possible before determining which nursing home to place a loved one.

www.memberofthefamily.net/sc.htm

• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks