How To Assess the Quality Of A Senior Healthcare Facility

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As an experienced assisted living and senior home care establishment, Buckingham South is aware of the efforts required to care for the elderly. We are understanding of our residents’ needs and are dedicated to helping them with their basic requirements and more. At our senior care facility, we aim to offer our residents a better quality of life, and to do this, we are ready to go the extra mile for them.

Unfortunately, not all senior care homes work in this way or consider their residents like family. This often leads to neglect and mistreatment. To prevent putting your loved ones through these sad and unfortunate circumstances, you need to look for a reliable and compassionate senior care facility. If you’re unsure of how to do this, don’t fret, as our experts have explained below three specific areas of senior care that you need to assess before choosing a home care service. Keep reading to know what they are.

1. Food services
One of the primary essentials in a senior care facility that most people overlook is the food. Checking the kind of food provided by a senior home care will help you see if they will pay attention to the health and wellbeing of your loved one. You want to make sure that their meal plans include fibrous and protein-rich food options, healthy and nutritious foods, and fresh homemade meals. If they use canned products every now and then, ask about the brands that they use. Some canned goods contain high amounts of MSG and sodium, which can be harmful to older individuals when consumed.

When you’re checking the food services of a facility, try to visit just before lunchtime to see what kind of meals they provide. Remember, garnish and eye-appeal are important, but the nutritional value of the meal should far surpass any low nutritional garnishing.

You’ll know if a senior care facility is worth it when there are nutritious alternatives and various choices that appeal to many palettes with sufficient fiber and protein in all of them. No options or very few choices may indicate that the facility cares very little for the ones they serve. Another way to determine quality is by inspecting the facility’s cleanliness, hygiene, and their infection control protocol.

If you want to know more about a senior care home’s food services, ask them how and when they make their food, how it is served, and who is allowed to enter the kitchen where the food is being cooked. At the same time, pay attention to the variety of fiber and protein options that they provide and how it can be varied. There are many creative ways to deliver nutritious meals, and your loved one should receive the best.

2. Caregiving services
While caregiving is the basic requirement of a home for seniors, how it is delivered can speak volumes about an establishment and it’s service quality. To check the quality of caregiving offered by a senior care facility, you need to look for continuity of care, a proportionate staffing ratio, supervision of the caregivers, accountability, monitoring of response times, and check-ins. All of these aspects must be consistent to ensure the residents enjoy a better quality of life. Also, if you can tell who the caregiver is accountable to and how they are held responsible, you will be able to determine if the home care specialists take their duties seriously.

Another way to check the quality of caregiving at home for seniors is to ask questions about the average amount of time that a caregiver spends caring for residents and how long they have worked at the facility. If you are aware of the constant turnover of staff at the facility, this could mean that they are mistreated by the facility, which is a reflection of how your loved one may be treated there.

3. Skin integrity monitoring
A common issue that many older inactive people experience is bed sores and skin infections. These can lead to nasty problems and severe discomfort. To avoid these skin problems from occurring, a senior care facility must ensure that its residents are sufficiently active. They must also have a nurse on the premises who performs regular skin assessments to avoid potential problems from occurring. Another method that will prevent skin issues is daily physical hygiene and cleanliness.

To know if your loved one will receive optimal care at a specific facility, you need to ask if they have a medical specialist who performs regular full-body assessments to check for skin breakdowns. Another way to determine if they are concerned about the integrity of their residents’ skin is to ask how often they bathe them to clean the surface of their skin.

For reliable senior assisted living or senior home care in Savannah, GA, reach out to the experts at Buckingham South. Our services are based on years of traditional values such as courtesy, kindness, and politeness. All of our experts have sufficient experience in healthcare and can efficiently assist the elderly, especially those with health and mental conditions. You will be happy to know that our senior care services are incredibly affordable, and the quality of our services is unmatched.

To learn more about our services, please click here or get in touch with us by clicking here

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