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Aug. 7, 2006 -- Poor-quality nursing home care is still too common in the U.S., but there are ways to avoid it, says Consumer Reports.
The magazine's September issue includes Consumer Reports' analysis of 16,000 U.S. nursing homes.
"We ended up classifying 4% of the homes in the country as homes to consider, and 3% of homes in the country as homes to avoid," says Charles Phillips, PhD, MPH.
Phillips directs the Health Services Research Program at Texas A&M Health Science Center. He worked with Consumer Reports on the nursing home project.
"Our data is really a starting point for families when they begin to look for a nursing home," says Trudy Lieberman, who wrote the magazine article.
Lieberman directs the Center for Consumer Health Choices at Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports.
Lieberman and Phillips discussed the article in a media teleconference.
Tips for Finding Good Nursing Home Care
Consumer Reports suggests these steps for people looking for a nursing home:
Get the names of local facilities. Call Eldercare Locator (800-677-1116) to find your local agency on agingaging.
Check Consumer Reports Nursing Home Quality Monitor, which has state-by-state findings, at www.consumerreports.org/nursinghomes.
Check on ownership. Independent nonprofit facilities may be better than for-profit chains, according to Consumer Reports.
Check with your local long-term care ombudsman. This government official can be found through your local agency on aging. He or she should know about local nursing homes.
Don't rely on the federal web site. Nursing home information at www.medicare.gov may be "incomplete and possibly misleading," says Consumer Reports.
Visit homes several times.
Read each home's Form 2567. That's the facility's state inspection survey.
Check on the staff. Talk to the home's administrator; and ask about top-level staff turnover.
Nursing Home Visits
Consumer Reports has specific suggestions for nursing home visits.
First, make unannounced visits. And go at different times of day.
If you go in the morning -- say, around 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. -- see how many people are still in bed. "Homes with too few staff members don't get people out of bed until late in the day, if at all," says the magazine.
If you go around dinner time, check out the dining hall.
"If 75% of the residents are eating in their rooms, that's not a good sign," says Consumer Reports. "Most people prefer to be out of bed and to eat in the dining room."
Those aren't hard and fast rules. But visiting before committing may give you a better sense of what life is like in that nursing home.
Already Made Your Choice?
Do you already have a loved one in a nursing home? Consumer Reports' web site offers these tips for ensuring good care:
Not All Bad
The vast majority of nursing homes in the study -- 93% -- weren't rated either as a home to "consider" or one to "avoid."
But 12 have been on Consumer Reports' poor-performance list since the magazine started the list in 2000.
"I don't want to leave the impression that all nursing homes in this country are bad. There are many nursing homes that are doing a good job of trying to provide care," Lieberman says.
Nursing home leadership can change quickly, so some poor performers may improve while others may decline, Lieberman adds.
Poor-quality nursing homes are a "chronic, tough issue," Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, says in the Consumer Reports article.
But "for every bad story, there are probably 50 good ones," Yarwood adds.
SOURCES: Consumer Reports, "Nursing Homes, Business as Usual," September 2006; vol 71: pp 38-41. Charles Phillips, PhD, MPH, director, Health Services Research Program, Texas A&M Health Science Center. Trudy Lieberman, director, Center for Consumer Health Choices, Consumers Union. Consumer Reports, "How You Can Find Good Nursing Home Care," September 2006; vol 71: pp 41-42. ConsumerReports.org: "Ensuring Good Care." ConsumerReports.org: "How the Nursing Home Quality Monitor was Created."