Is your loved one in a nursing home? Here's why you should be alarmed

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

All Americans should be deeply troubled by news that hundreds of nursing homes with a "persistent record of poor care" were kept secret by government authorities.

They should be equally alarmed that, although the Trump administration says it really cares about this issue, the reality is that it has relaxed oversight of the industry, potentially placing seniors in jeopardy.

It's a matter that goes way beyond the estimated 1.3 million people now in nursing homes. As the median age of the U.S. population steadily rises, more and more of us will be turning to senior care facilities for aging parents and, eventually, ourselves.

"You'd like to think you could expect high-quality care, but that's not the case," said Eric Carlson, an attorney with Justice in Aging, a nonprofit organization focused on senior poverty.

"People should be worried - not sky-is-falling worried, but I-need-to-do-my-homework worried," he told me. "You can't take anything for granted."

-more-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/healthcare/is-your-loved-one-in-a-nursing-home-heres-why-you-should-be-alarmed/ar-AACID64?li=BBnbfcN

[blueinredohio]

1. I worked in nursing homes year's ago

and I always said as long as I could help it my parents would never go to a nursing home. They both had to go or a couple of weeks of rehab after bouts of sickness but luckily they got to live out their lives at home with dignity.

[Butterflylady]

4. Amen

Me to! Worked years in nursing home as cna (certified nursing assistant) and told my family if I ever hear one word about a nursing home, they'll never see or hear from me again.

Thank goodness my daughter also worked as a cna and she said that will never happen. Here in PA the state will pay a family member to keep someone in their home and care for them. They say it's cheaper then a nursing home. I have a number of people where I live that have daughters and granddaughters coming in to help them with all sorts of things. I've even seen a grandson here staying overnight to help is grandmother who is wheelchair bound.

I do however believe a nursing home or such is needed for someone who is diagnosed with Alzheimer. That takes someone who is specifically qualified in caring for those patients. Families try, but they get overwhelmed.

[msongs]

2. nursing home is a euphemism for death palace nt

[Hoyt]

3. Even if the nursing home is rated well, it's a dismal place.

At least with rehab, you will hopefully go home. It’s not likely once place in a long-term care facility funded by Medicaid. Sometimes people improve, but not often.

Assisted living is different.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. It's nice when people say they will never put their parents

or themselves in a nursing home, but the reality is most of us can't do 24 hour nursing care of an elderly relative. Or spouse. And not all nursing homes are hell holes.

Plus, I think people are conflating nursing homes with assisted living. Have you seen those stories about people retiring to live full time on a cruise ship because it's cheaper than a nursing home? Maybe, maybe not, but a cruise ship absolutely is not the equivalent of a nursing home. It's a lot like independent living, which is what its cost is comparable to.