Questions to ask about senior care

Arranging care for a parent means putting hard questions to people you have just met. These sets are for families dealing with nursing homes, hospice and palliative care, hired caregivers and Medicaid lawyers. Others are for talking with an aging parent or sitting with someone who has dementia.

26 sets · 1,039 questions · each with a note on why

A few to start with

What is the plan for a fire, a power outage or severe weather?
Ask whether there is a generator and what it runs: elevators, heating and cooling, the kitchen, oxygen equipment. Then ask how residents who cannot manage stairs get out. A manager who has lived through an outage will tell you what went wrong that day, and that story beats any binder.
From: Questions to Ask an Assisted Living Facility
Do we need to choose a funeral home in advance, and what do you need from us?
The hospice usually needs a name on file to make the call for you. Doing it now removes one decision from a day when you will not want to be making decisions.
From: Good Questions to Ask Hospice About Your Loved One
What do you want to know about the person you'd be caring for?
The best candidates ask about routines, food, sleep, mobility, what upsets them, and what they enjoy. No questions at all, or only questions about hours and pay, tells you where the attention will sit once the job starts.
From: Questions to Ask a CNA
When did rates last go up, by how much, and how much notice do residents get?
Past increases are the only concrete guide to future ones, and most administrators will answer when asked plainly. What you want is a date, a figure, and the notice period written into the contract. A home that cannot say when it last raised rates is either newly managed or not being straightforward.
From: Financial Questions to Ask a Nursing Home
Who taught you to cook, and what was the first thing you learned to make?
This links a person and a skill in one prompt, so it can be answered from either end. It also hands you a recipe you can make and bring in, which extends the conversation past the visit.
From: Memory Questions to Ask Dementia Patients
Who builds my schedule, and how much say do I have over the order of my visits?
In some agencies the clinician phones patients and sets the times, and in others a scheduler sends out a fixed route. Either can work. What decides it is how late in the day a visit can be added and whether you may turn down one that will not fit.
From: Questions to Ask in a Home Health Interview

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