In the event of a family member needing care, there are a few options that should be taken into consideration. One may be to bring them into your home and look after them yourself or hiring a professional carer, while another is moving them to a care home. Storage Units
Making the decision is a difficult one and will require a lot of research and information collecting. Once this is done, there will be a need to sit down with the family to discuss the way forward. Probably the most difficult is deciding on the care home that is most suitable.
The benefit of medical care offered by care homes, whether just on a limited basis as offered by a residential home or more complex as in a nursing home will depend on how you see your loved one’s health needing to be managed.
One of the easier decisions to be made is what to do with the possessions leftover once the move is made. As Stop & Store Sutton in Ashfield we can assist with a suitable storage solution to this problem with our storage units.
Sifting through the information about care homes, you may wonder what to ask when looking for the ideal one. We have a few suggestions.
Finding a Care Home
Choosing the right care home is critical to the long-term welfare of your loved one. It is the most important decision you can make.
Care homes are either privately managed or they are run by welfare organizations like NGO’s or charities, or they have local council involvement. From here there are two options.
Firstly, a residential home which besides the accommodation offered, provides elementary services in the form of personal care such as washing and performing basic health care like medicine dispensing, changing dressings, and toilet assistance. Look for ones offer extra services such as outings or shop visits.
Secondly, there are nursing homes for people requiring a greater amount of health care. They have a nurse on standby and can offer more complex health support including care for someone with a disability.
With more involved care comes a bigger cost, so expect to find nursing homes to be more expensive than a residential home. If cost is excessive and exceeds your budget, apply to the council for support. You will need to do an assessment to get the outcome.
What Type of Environment is Best?
There are several pointed questions that can be asked to get some idea of the perfect care home for your loved one. As finding the ideal home is the biggest consideration and the most stressful part, getting it done is your challenge. Once done, its home and dry.
Focusing on health, identify the extent of dedicated staff to health care, how many there are, what are their professions. Ask questions about the medical facilities in place.
You’d want a place with some activity so ask about the presence of wi-fi, if there are visiting hours whether the home arranges outings and social events.
Depending on the distance to the shops, how your loved one would get supplies, is it safe, and what sort of transport backup there is.
Being near to you may be important, so ultimately it could mostly be about location. But as there is a cost associated with everything you may have to do the maths yourself.
First Impressions Count
Often first impressions last, and this may be the case when you first go to the care home you are visiting. Starting with the person at the helm, they will set the tone and how the place runs. Observe the staff and their relationships with the residents.
Ask to see the menu, and how often it changes, and check around to look at how clean the place is. The residents will be glad to share your stories and try and filter the moans and complaints if there are any!
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an organization regulating the health and adult social care facilities in the UK. This is a good reference point to check out the care centre when you chisel down your shortlist.
Preparing for the Move
You can get your family and loved one accustomed to the thought of moving earlier than the actual day. It will help when the time comes. Do this by getting everyone together to discuss the issue. Arrange a trip to the care home of choice, so that everyone is comfortable with the surroundings.
This will acclimatize your family member in the coming move and look for an opportunity to get to know some staff and residents.
If the new room is available, have a look at the layout. Get a mental picture of what furniture can fit in where so that you can have an idea of what will be left behind. If shelves will be required, get them done beforehand. It is good to have things accessible and handy.
Even when the move happens don’t rush to sell or give away family possessions. When in doubt, put them in storage units until the day comes when you want to deal with them. If anything extra is needed, simply retrieve it from the self-storage unit.
Final Thoughts
The relief when your loved one is safely moved to a care home can’t be underestimated. It will save you both from having to give home care or worrying about the health or medical condition of your loved one.
Get out there, ask questions of others who have taken the step, do a needs assessment and find out for yourself. It’s worth it.
Moving to the care home could be a new lease on life for your loved one, however, and this stage of life, it may just be what is needed to regenerate the spirit, in a new environment, having people to show care. Instead of worrying about their possessions, simply consider self-storage units for them until you have worked out a permanent solution.
We offer storage units of various sizes all designed to suit your needs. Being safe, secure, dry, and pest controlled they are perfect for short- or long-term storage.
We are situated in Sutton In Ashfield, NG17 1BP, and we can be contacted at Phone Number 01623 372051.
Look on our website https://www.stopandstore.co.uk/sutton-in-ashfield/ for more information.