Taking care of elderly parents can be an emotionally stressful job. In your heart, you want to take care of them yourself, but you know you cannot provide them with the level of daily care that they need, so you place them in a nursing home. Even if you spend months looking into nursing homes and collecting information about your local options, you may find that your parents are not being cared for in the way you want them to be. In some cases, the problem is that the home is understaffed, and your parents aren’t getting the amount of care and attention you feel they deserve. In other cases, you may have concerns that your parents are being mistreated by nursing home staff.
If you have even the slightest inkling that your parents are in a bad nursing home, it is best to move them out of there quickly. While you may be hesitant if you can’t prove anything or if there isn’t anything directly wrong but you have a bad feeling about things that are happening, you don’t want to risk the health and safety of your parents. Here are the steps you should take.
1. Identify a new option.
Whether you find them a new facility or arrange for nursing care in your home until you can find a new facility, it is crucial to have a plan before picking up your parents. You want to act fast, but you also need to be prepared. If you decide to move them in with you until you can find a suitable place, you need to make sure they have what they need in your home. This may mean installing safety bars in the bathrooms, placing no-slip mats on the floors, or rearranging furniture to make it easier for them to get around.
2. Move all of their stuff out of the home.
Since you will be picking up your parent, you don’t want to have to worry about their belongings or about the nursing home doing anything with their possessions before you can return. Hire professional movers to move all of their things to their new home or a storage facility until you make other arrangements. You can pay for the packing services so you don’t have to worry about anything other than your parent. The moving process can be stressful, but professionals with years of experience can take good care of the whole thing. You can find professional movers regardless of where you or your parent lives. For example, Phoenix moving companies do extensive work with older adults and retirees.
3. Talk to a professional.
Contact a nursing home abuse firm about your concerns after your parent and their belongings are moved. While your priority is making sure your parent is safe, you also want the situation looked into so no one else gets hurt or taken advantage of. There are legal firms that specialize in nursing home abuse cases and nursing home abuse investigations. Choose a firm with years of experience to ensure they know the possible signs of physical abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect. They will thoroughly investigate the facility and provide you with their professional opinion on what is going on.
While there are processes to protect vulnerable populations, including the elderly, from varying types of abuse, bad things still happen. It is vital to be critical of everything you see and hear as an adult child. If you have concerns, address them directly. Even if you have only a gut reaction that something terrible is going on, it is vital to look into it.
