Too often, there is little choice in nursing home care; it happens after an unexpected hospitalization. Decisions must be made in hours.
And even with time, there are few guarantees.
“Things can go wrong in even the best nursing homes,” said Alison Hirschel, program director and managing attorney of the Michigan Elder Justice Initiative and a decades-long advocate for nursing home residents. “And even in problem nursing homes — those with chronic understaffing and quality issues — there are compassionate, good staff.”
Above all, it’s important to advocate — whether you’re a loved one or the resident. Nursing homes are paid billions of dollars every year to provide quality care to residents, their consumers, said Eric Carlson, an attorney who leads advocacy efforts for long-term care at the Washington-based advocacy organization Justice in Aging.
“People are generally really hesitant,” Carlson said. “How many hundreds or thousands of times have I heard something along the lines of ‘I don’t want to create any trouble,’ or ‘I don’t want them to think poorly of me or my parents.’”
