I'm considering opening my home to an individual that needs long term care. I own the home and would become a full time caretaker to this person. I may even bring in two. So essentially, My home would become a private nursing home. I can put together all of the legal paperwork and everything so no problem there. Plus I am a well practiced and excellent caregiver, these people would be quite fortunate to have such a place.
My question is this, What are the difficulties I'm not considering? I'm asking for a judgement call, Is this even a good idea? Problems? Implications? All comments welcome.
She is right about eviction
I think back to the number of times that I have seen someone on this site mention an "ER Dump" and I can only imagine a family getting together money to pay for a month at your "Home" and never to be seen or heard from again.
I hate to be crass but maybe limit your "residents" to those on Hospice. That way the typical length of time would be 6 months give or take. It would also limit the "nursing care" as there would be no IV's, in most cases no "tubes"
After dealing with my Husband I can not imagine caring for more than 1 person with dementia at a time.
I can't imagine trying to change bedding, briefs and clothes on more than 1 person at a time.
She should limit the number of residents to zero because this is a terrible idea.
1. 1 person cannot manage the care of 2 adults needing 24/7 care alone - are you planning to hire and PAY at least one other person to assist you? One is BARE MINIMUM - you would really need like 4 at least. You might be able to do it for a short period - but no breaks, no vacation time, no time away at all, no free time, no freedom - it is not sustainable.
2. You say there is no problem with the "legal paperwork" - have you considered that your homeowner's insurance would have to be updated to cover the people that are essentially tenants in your home and paying you to take care of them? Your homeowners might not even approve the changes or want to cover it due to the risk involved. And you NOT want to do anything in your home that your HO won't cover - because that can be a very painful lesson. You don't want to "act first, ask forgiveness later" - you won't get it.
3. What happens when one needs to go one direction to an appt and the other needs to go the complete opposite?
4. What happens if one has an emergency and has to go to the ER - who is going to stay with the other?
5. What happens if you have an emergency? Who is going to cover for you?
6. What will happen if you just get run of the mill sick - a cold or flu - and need a few days off to rest?
7. What about visitors?
8. Who will coordinate doctors appointments, and other appts?
9. How will payments be handled? Insurance coverages? Medicaid? Private Pay? Who will handle the payments, their finances?
10. Once they move to your home - they become tenants - which means if you have problems you can't just kick them out .They have to be evicted through due process because they have tenants rights.
11. Are you planning to cook multiple types of meals daily? Will they pay you enough to cover the additional expenses in food, water consumption, electricity/gas consumption? What if one likes a cold room and the other a warm room?
12. Are you going to limit them to how much stuff they can bring? What rooms they are allowed to be in?
I could go on - but as others have said NO, DON'T DO IT!! You won't think of all of the potential issues until it is too late. If they are private pay, what happens if they don't pay? Or run out of money?
There are just too many variables. It is one thing to go into someone's home as a caregiver by the hour, there is a start and end time - and even that is an incredibly difficult job. But if you turn your home into a nursing home - and believe me - my FIL's home was one of those homes before he moved to an actual SNF - you will have to have so many things added to make life easier. My last count of safety bars in his house was like 15 throughout the house, plus the chair lift, lift elevator, hospital bed, toilet risers, grabbers, scooters, walkers, wheelchairs, etc that enabled him to live in his own home for a longer time. Are you going to outfit your home to accommodate all of those possible needs? At what expense and who will pay for it?
You will probably need to install cameras for your safety and theirs.
Would it not be easier - if you want to be a caregiver - to find a private hire or agency job?
I am taking it as a given that you fully understand elder care and would enjoy doing it. In fact HAVE DONE IT.
I would tell you that a Forum of caregivers who for the most part did caregiving in their own homes you may get less info here than if you were to honestly ask/pay for a few hours time with people running a Board and Care "six-pack" as they call then. These folks often provide a truly home-like atmosphere for their residents because in fact they often ARE homes and are run by entire families often enough.
I would ask if you can volunteer a few days a week. I would ask if they would be willing to discuss how they deal with State and Federal regulations, bookkeeping, ADA laws, rules, regulations.
Good luck to you.
Would love to see updates.
My question is, As long as everyone involved agrees to the terms, does the state even need to be involved? Is this type of arrangement even legal? I mean people are free to do whatever they want, correct? This would be a very private and select situation. Please Advise. Thank you
I was a homecare worker for 25 years and let me tell you about it. Most of the time it's absolutely disgusting. You are changing adult diapers, bathing clients (often having to fight with them to do this), cleaning up "accidents", and feeding them which is usually just as disgusting. Then there's the other parts. The orneriness, the entitlement, the running around, the doctor's appointments, and the abusive behaviors that caregivers so often have to contend with. Now add the misery, negativity, and gloom and doom we also get.
The good news is you get to go home at the end of your shift.
If you turn your home into a nursing home, you do not get to.
I am going to speak very plainly here because I want to emphasize just how bad an idea this is.
Ask yourself. Do you want to live in a place that smells of sh*t and piss 24 hours a day? Or one that stinks of B.O. because the residents of your home refuse to wash up or change their clothes?
My guess is you don't want to.
Do you have any carpeting in your home? If you do it will have to be pulled up.
Do you have any furniture with upholstery that isn't made of vinyl that can be sprayed with cleaner and wiped off? You'll have to get rid of that too or cover it with plastic covers.
Carpeting, upholstered furniture and nursing home residents are not a good mix.
Do you have any pets? They may also have to go because your resident may not get along with them.
Will there be children around?
I'm not even going to get into how you will make sure you'r epaid every month or making sure that a family doesn't cut and run once they get their "loved one" into your care. I don't need to talk about this because I think I've made my point about what a terrible idea this is and others on the thread have made the financial arguments already.
This is a terrible idea. Please don't do it.
Any activities may need to be considered as well, less the residents are in front of the TV all day.
Please check laws and regulations specific to your state.
We can give ‘warnings’ about how hard it is likely to be on a personal basis, but you need to check the legality yourself. Sure you can go ahead and risk it, but you are risking a great deal if it goes wrong. It might be useful to check whether your home insurance will cover it, or if you are able to obtain other insurance for the arrangement. If you can't, you probably have your answer without going any further.
It wasn’t a ‘group home.’ The home was built to be used for hospice patients nearing death. It was a beautiful home.
There were only three residents. In my state, if there are four or more residents, the state would have to be involved.
There were four bedrooms, one for each person and a guest room if a family member wanted to stay overnight.
The home had a large living room, kitchen and library. Each bedroom had a private patio. Plus, a large patio in the back of the home.
Because there were only three beds, no state regulations had to be followed.
My mother received excellent care. The aides are hired from an agency. They worked in three shifts.
RN’s were provided by hospice. So was clergy and a social worker.
The hospice provider held fundraisers throughout the year in the community.
You will have to hire sufficient staff. Do you have plans to hire nurses as well?
You might want to speak to a death doula. Some people are utilizing their services to help them plan their end of life decisions.
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