What do you do when a care home closes?
It’s a nightmare situation. Your parent is settled in a care home when it’s suddenly announced that the home will be closing. You need to find somewhere else for them to live and be cared for well, away from the people and routines that they know, and often pretty quickly.
The University of Birmingham has been looking into this situation that’s difficult for residents, families and staff and have put together a guide to help families take the best control that they can of the situation.
They came to a number of helpful conclusions.
Living in a care home that’s closing can be very stressful and lead to upset, worry and anger. It’s almost like going through a bereavement in that residents lose a familiar place and friendships. Most residents will have thought they now had a home for the rest of their lives. Those feelings are likely to be experienced by families and supporters too.
Focus on the things that you can control
The decision probably can’t be changed, but what can you do? You may be able to influence:
- Timescales – does the resident want as long as possible to make a move, or would they like it over with as quickly as possible?
- Building or room design in a new build
- The amount of information available, including visiting potential replacement homes
- Location of the next home
- Things you’d like to see in the next home that perhaps weren’t available in the next home
In terms of taking control, it’s worth checking that the council has the latest contact details of all those who wish to be involved in planning the next moves.
It’s not always doom and gloom
There can be really good reasons for closing a home, especially if it’s being replaced by a newer facility. Perhaps the building can’t be brought up to current standards, or it might be easier to provide a higher quality of care in a different home.
This means that it is worth entering the process with an open mind. Sometimes change is positive. If the new home isn’t working, residents should let other know that they are unhappy, and discuss whether improvements can be made or another home found.
Making informed decisions
To make the best decision for any resident within the timelines and resources available, the report advises that residents and their families:
- Listen to or read any information they’re given, and ask questions about anything they don’t understand or agree with
- Talk it over with someone they feel comfortable talking to – whether this is their family and friends, care staff or a social worker
- Tell someone if they feel they need extra time or extra support to get ready for a closure
- Seek external advice if necessary, from experts such as Age UK
- Face the future. Putting things off or hoping it won’t happen probably just delays things, and is unlikely to help in the long run.
Advice from those who have been there before
There are things that people who’ve gone through closures have said helped them. Here are some of their tips and suggestions:
- Talk with family, care staff and social workers about what’s happening, including how it’s making the resident feel
- Ask for further information or for someone to explain it again if you didn’t understand the information they’ve provided so far
- Ask for information in the language that works best for you if you don’t speak English as a first language
- Families can ask if there’s extra support available if the older person has dementia
- Ask to visit potential new homes or to look at photos and read about them
- Find out if friends within the current home can move to the same home together, if this is what everybody wants. There is no harm in asking if members of care staff who support you well can also move with the resident, though it may not be possible
- Paying for care homes is really complicated – ask the council for clear guidance about the fees of any new home. Families can get independent advice if they are not sure how all this works
- It’s the ‘little things’ that make a real difference (someone knowing where to keep your handbag, how you like your tea, your favourite foods, what you like to do etc). Think about this when assessing new homes – do you think staff will have the capacity to take these things on board or help to make the resident feel settled?
You can find the downloadable guide on the University of Birmingham project website, which also includes good practice guides for care homes and staff and a social care video.
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