Working to Ensure a Senior Loved One Receives Proper Care

Last Updated: August 19, 2019

There comes a time when our parents or senior loved ones are no longer able to care for themselves. Some families choose senior living communities to care for a loved one’s needs during this time.

It is important to continue to check-in with a loved one in senior living periodically, however, to confirm that they are still receiving appropriate senior living care as their needs change. Read these seven tips on how to ensure that a loved one is receiving proper care in senior living.

7 Ways to Ensure a Senior Loved One Receives Proper Care

While visiting your relative is a matter of love and loyalty, it is also a matter of security. Visiting with a parent or senior loved one at least once or twice a week, allows you to confirm that they are receiving proper care.

My grandmother is currently in a skilled nursing facility and when she moved in, I told her that she could tell me any problems that she had when I visited. I try to stop by at least three times a week to make sure she is both emotionally and physically cared for.

Here are some observations I like to make and questions I like to ask when I visit:

1. Are there bedsores, bruises or weight loss?
2. Are there significant changes in a loved one’s emotional state?
3. Are there any missing items or money?
4. Ask a loved one: Did you ever have to wait a long period for help?
5. Ask a loved one: Do any of the employees or other residents make you uncomfortable?
6. Ask a loved one: Do you feel like you need more care than you receive?
7. Ask a loved one: How are you feeling?

Unfortunately, not all family members can report if they are receiving appropriate care if they have a cognitive issue or an inability to communicate. This makes it vital that you visit regularly.

About the Author

Alan Brady loves visiting his grandmother and losing at Scrabble because it means her mind is just as sharp as ever. He fills his time writing about how nursing home abuse attorneys can help families whose relatives have been neglected to find justice.

SeniorAdvisor.com Staff

Senior Advisor's knowledgeable writers blog about senior care services, trends and more.