How to Avoid Nursing Home Abuse

Remember Happy Gilmore? Adam Sandler's character became a professional golf player so that he could make enough money to buy his grandmother’s house back and remove her from the nursing home where she was currently residing. Ben Stiller played the nursing home attendant who chronically abused “Nana,” making her nursing home experience miserable. 

Abuse is the fear of anyone who has ever had to put a loved one into an assisted living institution, whether it be a nursing home, a retirement community, or a medical treatment center. We know that no one else can deliver the same quality care that we can, but for whatever reason, we don’t have a choice.

So how do you locate a nursing home where you know that your loved one will be safe?

First of all, research, research, research! The Internet is a bountiful source of information when learning the quality of businesses and organizations. Check out the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Attorney General webpages to look for complaints or unresolved disputes. Check Internet forums focusing on this type of information, and read articles from newspapers and other sources. You can also try RipOffReport.com, which is a consumer advocacy website dedicated to the complaints and testimonials of customers world wide.

Talk to friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and people you meet on the street. Find out if they have ever looked for a nursing home, and ask what they discovered. Nine times out of ten, if they had placed someone in a nursing home before, they will have multitudes of stories and anecdotes about the places that impressed them and the places that shocked them. Listen carefully, because their experience could be yours.

After you’ve gathered your background information, schedule interviews with the staff of every nursing home on your list. Request personal tours of the cafeteria, bedrooms, bathrooms, common rooms, offices, and grounds so that you can inspect the level of care.

What to look for: