Nursing home abuse and neglect is a serious and horrifying reality in the United States. Naturally, you will want to protect your mother from this as much as you are able to do so. However, it is also important to differentiate potential adjustment pains from abuse and neglect.
Even the absolute best quality nursing homes may not live up to your mother’s exacting standards 100% of the time. According to the AARP, common nursing home complaints include not liking the food and having problems with roommates.
What if my mother says the food is bad?
Of course, it is important to keep your mother’s comfort at the forefront of your mind. However, there is a difference between food that is nutritionally inadequate or outright disgusting and food that may not meet your mother’s standards. Even high quality nursing homes probably do not cook the food exactly the way your mother would like it. This is particularly true if your mother likes particular spices or typically consumed food from a certain ethnic cuisine.
What if my mother says her roommate is awful?
Keep in mind that if you want a single room as a resident at a nursing home, you will often have to pay a lot of money for the privilege. Unless you or your mother has the resources to put her in a single room, she will need to adjust to having a roommate. Depending on your mother’s prior living situation, this may be very difficult to do.
Of course, reputable nursing homes will make roommate swaps if necessary. However, make sure to discern that the problem is actually with the roommate and not with your mother just disliking having a roommate in general.
