Retirement home – what should you consider when choosing it?

29 April 2021 maius

Retirement home – what should you consider when choosing it? In some cases, a retirement home is the only good solution if we want to provide an elderly person with a compatible and safe autumn of life. According to the provisions of Polish law, every single person who needs professional help due to his illness or age has the right to use care services. All demographic forecasts indicate that the number of older people will be increasing rapidly. Our society is aging at an alarming rate. What services can seniors count on from public institutions? We will try to answer these and many other questions in this article.

Polish society is aging at an alarmingly fast pace

The home for seniors will be an increasingly popular place for the elderly. All demographic forecasts indicate that in 2030 more than half of the households will be run by people over 65. At the moment, older people living alone are increasingly deprived of any support from their families. Such a phenomenon will have an ever wider range. Young people constantly decide to enter from their homeland to look for a job, which makes it significantly more difficult for them to later take care of their ailing parents.

Professional care for seniors is today something that is very much appreciated by many people. Seniors who are not able to live independently must go to retirement homes. Recently, there has been an approximately 25% increase in the number of people referred to retirement homes in five years. These data prove that the problem of caring for seniors is growing.

What is a nursing home?

Social welfare homes, or nursing homes, are a type of retirement homes financed by local governments. They are dedicated to such elderly people who are healthy enough that they do not need to be referred to specialized medical institutions. In such retirement homes, the elderly can achieve their most important life needs. We are talking, of course, about food, a place to live, clothes and care. In such homes, physical activity classes are conducted, thanks to which seniors feel much better than before.

What should you consider when choosing a retirement home?

How to choose a retirement home for your parent? In this regard, it is best to choose places that are as close to our place of residence as possible. How can you check the list of currently functioning retirement homes? To do this, go to the website of the voivodeship office. The retirement homes listed on this website guarantee that they meet all the requirements contained in a special ordinance of the Minister of Social Policy of 2005, which define the conditions in which people should stay in retirement homes. Before choosing any retirement home, it is worth visiting in person. You have to verify yourself if everything works as it should. So you have to visit the canteen.It is necessary to obtain information about the menu and whether it is possible to adjust the diet to the individual needs of a given senior.

When visiting a retirement home, it is also worth checking if there are any facilities for people with disabilities – lifts for transporting people in wheelchairs and on stretchers. It also pays to ask how many staff are employed in a given facility and how often the seniors are examined by a doctor. It is also extremely important whether a given retirement home constantly cooperates with a local clinic.

Visiting hours are also important. A good home for seniors will be one where visits are possible at any time we choose. On the other hand, if we live far from a given retirement home, check whether it will be possible to contact the senior via the Internet. It is also worth finding out if it is possible to arrange a room for an elderly person with your own equipment. Another issue is the possibility of meeting the spiritual needs of the residents of the house. Let’s find out, then, whether seniors can participate in Sunday Mass, receive pastoral visits, take part in pilgrimages, etc.

Before signing a contract with a retirement home, you should also carefully read all its provisions. It is absolutely unacceptable to include provisions such as the reservation by the retirement home of the possibility of immediate termination of the contract if the fees for care are paid late. Another provision that requires special attention is one that says that a contract with a senior may be terminated when his or her health and mental condition deteriorate. The home may not contain clauses in the contract in which it completely waives responsibility for valuable items and money that our senior will keep in the nursing home. As you can see, there is a lot to consider before choosing a particular nursing home. Let’s spend as much time as possible to make sure that our senior will go to the right place with friendly, competent staff.