CMS Proposes Hotel Rating for Nursing Homes

In a continued effort to separate the good from the bad CMS plans to add a five star rating system to its Nursing Home Compare site. They will decide how many stars each nursing home gets by using data from the past three years of inspections, several measures of quality that include the percentage of residents who have bedsores, and staffing information and will consider "other consistent, accurate, reliable data sources."

I would not advice to just gaze at the stars on this one. A one star facility actually might be a five star facility when it comes to the resident experience and employee satisfaction. Using just clinical indicators is not enough and satisfaction data does not go far enough either. The problem with inspections is that the data on the web site may well be old data and not updated with the latest inspection report. Inspections in some states are spotty and inconsistent so again you could be working off old data.

As we have been writing this is just one more thing in a comprehensive set of to do's that you need to undertake when having to consider where to place a loved one. Use every available resource.

Sex in the Nursing Home

Here is a somewhat heart warming and disturbing article in Slate.com entitled "She was 82. He was 95. They had dementia. They fell in love. And then they started having sex." It is nicely written by Melinda Henneberger.

Stop and read it then come back and comment about what you think.

My opinion - the son was wrong in not allowing his father to remain in the facility and the relationship to continue. There are many relationships in nursing homes and even if the couples are in their own realities and not those of this world it is real to them so they should enjoy their life as they have been forced to live it because of dementia or worse. Justice O'Connor bravely has seen a bizarre twist in her life when her husband with Alzheimer's struck up a relationship with someone in the home where he was living, not realizing he was married or recognizing his wife. Her reaction was that this was good for him. Should we all be like that.

The problem in this case was the SEX. And mostly because the son witnessed it. This is a talk that we baby boomers might want to have with our kids. What of this happens and what should you do or not do... Perhaps it is stipulated in a medical power of attorney or another document.

People should be allowed to live their final days in happiness however they define it.

What do you think?