You may be resistant to placing your loved one in a long-term care facility for as long as you possibly can. But there may come a point in time that a care facility may not only be in the best interest of your loved one, but of your family as a whole. Before you can even consider this, you must work on your loved one’s behalf to ensure their safety while in another’s care. Read on to discover what initiative you should take before placing your loved one in a long-term care facility and how a seasoned California elder abuse lawyer at Cowdrey & Jenkins LLP can support your efforts.
What initiatives should I take before placing my loved one in a long-term care facility?
Before all else, you must conduct extensive research on a prospective long-term care facility. The facility should be regulated at the state and federal level, meaning that this information should be easily accessible to you on the California Department of Health and Medicare websites. Through your research, it may be best to look out for the following reports:
- Whether the long-term care facility is up-to-date on its licenses.
- Whether the long-term care facility has acceptable health inspection summaries.
- Whether the long-term care facility has acceptable staffing report cards.
- Whether the long-term care facility has acceptable quality ratings.
After your online search, it may be best to make the effort to visit the long-term care facility in person. During your visit, you must make note of the following factors:
- You must evaluate whether the long-term care facility looks and smells sanitary.
- You must evaluable whether the long-term care facility offers daily activities for its residents.
- You must evaluate whether the long-term care facility staff handles the care of its residents.
- You must evaluate how you and your loved one are treated by the long-term care facility staff.
What if an elder abuse incident occurs later on?
You may have done everything in your power to make sure that you were placing your loved one in good hands. But unfortunately, an elder abuse incident may still arise unexpectedly. You must not be too harsh on yourself if this occurs. But rather, you must place the blame on the negligent long-term care facility and its staff. The best way to do this may be through an elder abuse claim. Importantly, you should consider this legal action only after you relocate your loved one to a safe environment.
Regardless of what your loved one’s specific circumstances may be, you must not second-guess your instinct to retain the services of a competent California elder abuse lawyer from Cowdrey & Jenkins LLP on their behalf. Schedule your free initial consultation with our firm today.