Читать книгу Making The Right Move - Gillian Eades Telford - Страница 4

Making the Right Move is designed to help you make good, informed choices about your health and the places where you will live. It will encourage and empower you to consider your options before you are in a crisis so that you are aware of all the factors that can affect this important decision.

Choosing a nursing home for yourself or a loved one is a major life decision. After all, you have decided to move after a lifetime of independent living where you have managed to cope on your own — often with increasing physical and mental chronic conditions. You now realize that you need some help with your day-to-day activities.

But having to leave your family home does not mean that you have not successfully aged. All it means is that you now need a little help. Part One of this book discusses how to cope with the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of aging. It then explains how the health care system works in the United States and Canada and helps you determine what level of care you may need. Part One also introduces you to the many housing options that are available to elders, from congregate living to 24-hour specialized nursing care. Remember, a nursing home is only one example of supportive housing available to you.

Part Two is designed to help you choose a facility that will provide you with quality care suitable to your needs. Using questionnaires that allow you to assess and compare facilities, this section of the book examines the components of quality care and considers what to do when you feel you are not receiving the appropriate level of care.

As you visit potential facilities and work through the questionnaires, keep in mind that the place you choose will be your new home — and it should feel that way. You should feel comfortable both with the level of care you are receiving and with your surroundings. Choosing a new home can be stressful. You may feel pressures from your children, your friends, even the staff of the facilities you are visiting. Take your time and choose the solution that is best for you.