Helpful guides for families comparing nursing homes, assisted living, memory care, rehab, retirement communities, and skilled nursing options.
Compare adult family homes, adult foster care, personal care homes and board-and-care homes with assisted living by size, staffing, services, licensing, cost and future care needs.
Custodial care is ongoing help with everyday activities such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and supervision when skilled medical care is not the main need.
There is no perfect nursing-home visiting schedule. Learn how to choose a sustainable visit rhythm around your parent’s preferences, dementia, distance, transitions and family capacity.
A nursing home may charge separately for some optional personal services. Learn what to check about cable, phone, TV, Wi-Fi, written fee schedules, Medicaid rules and disputed charges.
When belongings go missing in a nursing home, document the item, report it promptly, ask for a search and written follow-up, and escalate repeated loss or suspected theft appropriately.
When a nursing-home resident dies, families may need to coordinate the facility, funeral home, belongings, resident funds, Social Security, Medicaid, final bills and estate paperwork. Use this staged checklist.
If an older parent is sleeping much more than usual, look at medications, nighttime sleep, illness, depression, sleep apnea and whether the change is creating unsafe gaps in daily care.
Repeated unsafe wandering can be a sign that a home care plan needs to change. Learn when memory care may fit and what families should assess first.
When an older parent refuses a walker, identify the barrier before escalating the conflict. Learn what to check about fit, pain, home setup, cognition, fall risk and care needs.
Repeated falls from bed deserve an individualized clinical and environmental review. Learn what to ask about causes, bed setup, nighttime toileting, safer alternatives and bed-rail risks.