gruntlabor
Well-known Member
- Location
- Last Frontier, Age 83
I do, thanks to SeniorForums
Tough Video Essay: Nursing Home Life
- Thread starter dilettante
- Start date
I do, thanks to SeniorForums
OregonGuy
Senior Member
My stay in an assisted living facility was quite the opposite of what the vid claims are "truths"
Yes! People have choices. Due diligence is necessary.
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Isn't assisted living quite a different thing from a nursing home?
I know the labels and descriptions vary a lot from place to place, but surely there are different types and levels of long term care facilities?
I would think that the "entry level" might be a senior housing facility with separate units (apartments or something like college dorm rooms). Perhaps with low level assistance such as a cafeteria, laundering of clothes and bedding, and periodic cleaning (carpet steaming, deep bathroom and kitchen and appliance cleaning, thorough ceiling and wall sweepdowns). Maybe a daily "wellness check" even if by phone.
From there you might have growing levels of care and staff involvement.
I know the labels and descriptions vary a lot from place to place, but surely there are different types and levels of long term care facilities?
I would think that the "entry level" might be a senior housing facility with separate units (apartments or something like college dorm rooms). Perhaps with low level assistance such as a cafeteria, laundering of clothes and bedding, and periodic cleaning (carpet steaming, deep bathroom and kitchen and appliance cleaning, thorough ceiling and wall sweepdowns). Maybe a daily "wellness check" even if by phone.
From there you might have growing levels of care and staff involvement.
OregonGuy
Senior Member
IMO you are describing an assisted living facility. Its for fokes who can get around by themselves and feed themselves.
Nursing homes are for folks who need nurses and are bed ridden. Others may have different definitions.
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
Yes, that's what I thought the video was talking about.
Either entirely bedridden, or mostly in a private or a double room in bed with some time in a common room. Probably in wheelchairs stuck watching cable news or out through a window.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
This is assisted living and a lot of the facilities have the options to upgrade on services. So no change of location.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
No, it depends on the facility. MIL is bed ridden but can use Alexa. Staff takes her to daily activities from Bingo to who knows what, PT in room, hairdresser in room, garden strolls when weather permits, ... . Physically she is totally dependent.
Very few people like to take care of old people, especially not blood related old people. This is universal.
I just hope I can live independently until my last day. I'd rather die early than moving to NH, just to have few more breaths.
gruntlabor
Well-known Member
- Location
- Last Frontier, Age 83
Let it be so
Me too.....this is quite sufficient to satisfy my need for inter-action with other humans.
AprilSun
Senior Member
That is exactly how I feel. I hope it works out for both of us and others like us!
My father-in-law said he would rather live with the squirrels than in a nursing home. He did die at home and yes, there were squirrels. We offered him a room but that it what he said. He sounded serious.
I don't think my husband or I could afford a nursing home, so hope to live in our home.
I don't think my husband or I could afford a nursing home, so hope to live in our home.
Twostep
Well-known Member
- Location
- Tiny town Oklahoma, OK
We will take care of each other as long as we can and cross the bridge when and if we get there.
CooCooforCoCoPuffs
Senior Member
You are so good to have offered him a room.
One of my goals is to get our home sold and our land sold and find a home with at least one casita so I can offer veterans who have served in combat and who are alone, a place to stay at very minimal cost, accompany them to appointments, get their groceries for them.
My step father died at age 72 was in Navy as a jet mechanic; for 28 years; did WWII on air craft carriers, Naval air station Azores; then worked putting WWII, Korea and Vietnam airplanes in dry storage here in Tucson.
I just want to say thank you to any other veteran who served hard time in a meaningful way.
To let them know they are safe with us, until they say goodbye to this world.
OregonGuy
Senior Member
You are a wonderful person!
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
Exactly so, Lethe.
This video strikes me as clickbait with a lot of unnecessary scare tactics.
DH & I walked three of our parents through fairly lengthy end-of-life journeys that included short nursing home (aka convalescent home) stints after surgeries or injuries.
They received regular PT and OT sessions that DH & I couldn't have provided. Their motivation for engaging fully with the therapy sessions and taking regular walks through the halls? The sooner their mobility improved to X level, the sooner they'd safely return to their previous residence.
None stayed even as long as a month - most were two weeks or less, and they were free to discharge themselves at any time.
Nursing homes are not menu type options people choose. (Hmmm... should I go with assisted living, a cruise ship, independent living, nursing home, stay in my house, or see what's in the box that Jay is bringing down the steps...)
Long-term nursing home residents cannot manage reasonable levels of independent living, requiring care beyond what's offered by assisted living or memory care facilities. Basically, it's low-level hospital care. Like hospitals, they run on schedules and don't pretend to be highly stimulating environments. Their job is pretty much limited to keeping people safe, alive, and offering appropriate therapy.
Not defending them - they're not fun places to be. Merely pointing out that they're not luxury resorts, nor do they pretend to be. That's not their role.
OregonGuy
Senior Member
I totally agree!
CooCooforCoCoPuffs
Senior Member
I hope I stay well enough to do what I plan. When we bought here in Tucson, the goal was to build the home and casita(s) here. I got the land 4 acres and had my build plans finalized in 2022, but by the time post-Covid building prices when sky high, then interest rates..I could no longer
build. So now we are exploring other states. I'd like at least two veteran beds/casitas; ten acres, place for gardening, a pool, outdoor spaces, walking paths or wheelchair accessible paths at least. DH wants Texas but I am much more flexible on where, now. Something already built would be nice because I am not getting any younger, though both DH and I are very healthy.
Am setting it up as a non-profit.
Don't veterans get pension and/or social security payment like the rest of the population?
Nursing home, assisted living, independent living, living in a memory care facility are not all the same although some facilities incorporate all these functions. It would be interesting to hear other comments. I am 91 and still live by myself, but we don't know what the future holds. My wife passed away in a hospice facility. A friend some years back had hospice care at home from the VA.
spot on Manatee - not only are the descriptors different and mean often vastly different things but then there are the differences between countries - different names ; services etc - we could all be talking goobly gook with each other here [no disrespect intended] but things can be vastly different across this planet. I have worked in a small cross-section of these services over the decades in varying capacities - i have seen the bare bones and the flash jobs too - vastly different even in the same country - this is a minefield remember
dilettante
Well-known Member
- Location
- Michigan
I thought the video tried to give a serious list of things you'll deal with in a nursing home, suggesting that one not think of it as an option to "try out" expecting that if it turns out to be too much you can change your mind.
StarSong
Awkward is my Superpower
- Location
- Los Angeles Suburbs
People can leave nursing homes with little fanfare unless:
They're a danger to themselves or others
They're legally incompetent and appointed guardians working in their best interest says they must stay (but even that is tricky to enforce).
Their medical condition requires continuous skilled medical care that can't be adequately provided outside the nursing home. (This can also be overridden).
My main objection to the video was the highly-flawed underlying premise that people would be interested in "trying out" nursing homes as a long term option for any reason other than absolute medical necessity, just as most people wouldn't try out a hospital as their new home.
Nursing homes are expensive ($10K/month average), noisy, are run similarly to hospitals (bland, institutional foods served on schedule, and offer little to no stimulation beyond PT and OT visits. Medicare & Medicaid won't cover the expenseses unless the stay is considered medically necessary.