Institute offers tips for avoiding nursing home care - Brief Article

AORN Journal, Sept, 2003

Although most older adults do not want to live in nursing homes, many have not done the financial and logistical planning necessary to avoid this possibility, according to a July 28, 2003, news release from the Long Term Care Learning Institute. Cutbacks in government-subsidized home health care and a shortage of qualified home health care workers make preplanning and understanding the system important to make home care possible.

The institute offers five recommendations about how to avoid nursing home care.

* Save money to help with home tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, paying bills, shopping, and managing medications. These activities do not qualify for government or long-term insurance benefits.

* Understand that residence in an assisted living facility almost always is temporary. Declining health usually makes a nursing home the next move.

* Improve accessibility in the home before such changes are necessary or move to a home that is better suited to older adults' needs.

* Protect against physical, emotional, and financial abuse by appointing an advocate. Home-based care requires supervision.

* Paying with private funds gives individuals the option to fire or replace an unsatisfactory home health care worker. Consumers who rely on government programs usually find that nursing home care is covered but home health care is not. Long-term care insurance is a good option, but it is not all-inclusive.

How to Avoid a Nursing Home (news release, Plymouth, Mass: Long Term Care Learning Institute, July 28, 2003)