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Personal Care Homes - When you wish Homelike Assisted Living
As the senior population increases, and several families no longer live with or near their aging parents, for individuals who require a little bit of assistance the personal care home concept has become common as a small and homelike option to the larger and more formally organized assisted living residence.
Depending on where in the nation you reside, personal care homes could be referred to as board and care homes, foster homes, residential care facilities, as well as - just to add to the confusion - assisted living homes.
In general, a "pc home" looks like every other home inside a residential neighborhood. They have from two to ten residents who have their very own bedroom, or they tell a roommate. Their own personal furnishings decorate their rooms, plus they gather in the kitchen or dining room to see relatives style meals as well as in the den for watching television or any other group activities. Living in a personal care house is much like residing in any private home.
The main difference is that these care residences provide varying levels of trained supervision and help with personal care needs (toileting, bathing and grooming, dressing, eating, supervision of medications). Personal care homes are not licensed to provide medical or nursing care.
Most states possess some type of licensing or certification of these homes, but not all such homes have undergone the process of becoming licensed or certified. Small pc homes with only two or three residents are often exempt from all of these requirements. Some authorities think that as much as 1 / 2 of all care homes are not licensed or certified.
The unlicensed/uncertified personal care homes may be hard to locate since the regulatory agencies don't include them on their data lists. Word of mouth, local resource booklets, professional advisors, and also the Internet are all way of locating personal care homes in your area.
Excellent customer service inside a Personal Care Home:
Are there enough caregivers? There should be at least one caregiver to 3 residents. Is the house clean and neat? Check out the kitchen and resident bathrooms. Are all bathrooms equipped with basic safety devices such as grab rails, hand-held shower wands and shower stools/benches? Is the home free of obstacles, throw rugs, raised thresholds and steps? Are all doorways wide enough for any wheelchair to easily pass through? Is the home over-decorated? Some newer homes are showplaces that could easily be featured in a home & garden magazine. That's lovely for any photo, but is it livable? If the residents must be wary of disturbing or breaking the decor, the home isn't resident-friendly. Who accounts for administering medications and what training does this person have? Where are medications stored? Who calls a doctor or the pharmacy for refills? Are special diets available? May be the kitchen open to the residents at any time for snacks? Are there organized activities? Are the residents ever taken out for recreation? Are caregivers interacting with residents outside of meals or personal care activities? In a personal care home a caregiver who sits and chats with residents within the common area is providing valuable socialization, particularly if the TV isn't on at the same time. Does the residence use a physician or nurse practitioner who makes house calls? Otherwise, who takes the resident towards the doctor? If they provide this service, how do they report to the household? Is there an evacuation plan in case of emergencies? Which side residents go when the home cannot immediately be re-entered?
Visit two or three times, if you can. Whenever you find a residence you want, be sure to carefully evaluate the admission agreement and then any other documents. Remember that attachments, handbooks, or other documents might be just like legally binding as the personal care home "agreement."
