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[quote=Anonymous]Has Mom liked where she has been the last several years? She hasn't been calling you to complain etc?
Has she been eating in the dining halls the last several years? Has she made friends there that she eats with?

Is it a continuing care facility? Understand these can be tough to find.

Mom has alzheimers and I've toured assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes in 3 states: Maryland, Delaware and Florida.

I've learned a lot just by talking to workers in the parking lots when they are going into shifts or going home. It is amazing what you can learn. I ask how they like working there? How long they have worked there etc?  Some are positive. Some tell you they are very burned out and are looking for other jobs due to lack of staff.

Also make sure you drill down to learn glove change policy. I've had 2 private duty CNA's that work for Mom in Maryland tell me that when they worked for independently owned nursing homes in Maryland they had to wear 1 set of gloves for all of their patients each morning. NASTY. One facility was on the western shore and one was on the eastern shore.

In general from touring facilities in the three states I came to the conclusion that the older, smaller rural  facilities in all three states gave better care. Staff worked in these locations sometimes for many, many years. Rooms are small. Hallways are narrow but clients seemed happy and workers seemed happy.

I also toured what is supposed to be the best Continuing Care facility in Florida on multiple visits. It was new. Rooms were large. Hallways were wide. The problem was you could never find staff.

I also found it helpful to go to the facility website and search the help wanted/jobs area to see how many openings there were.

There are no easy answers on this journey.  If her current location allows you to hire an outside aid I'd look into that.

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