Atlanta Nursing Home Personal Property Responsibilities

Atlanta is a proud Southern city and one that stands for certain things. One of those is family dedication. It’s not uncommon for aging adults to live with their younger family members, who take care of them.

The reason is that in the South, people respect age for the wisdom it brings. Grandparents and other relatives often occupy a special place at the table. The younger family members ask them for advice, which they’re only too happy to give.

It hearkens back to a bygone time. However, sometimes, an older Atlanta adult has serious medical issues, and their family can no longer take care of them as well as they’d like to at home.

It’s then that the family often begins discussing nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They’re not ideal solutions, since the older adult might not necessarily want to go. However, sometimes, it’s the best option for everyone.

Nursing homes need to take care of their residents and treat them respectfully, but they also need to watch over whatever property these individuals have brought with them. Let’s talk about how they can do that.

The Trust Issue

The priority for Atlanta nursing home workers is to watch over their residents. That means giving them nourishing meals, warm blankets, and medication. It means helping them with physical therapy if they need it or providing activities to entertain them.

Beyond that, nursing homes are responsible to protect your property. It’s not likely that an older adult who moves into a nursing home will have that much with them. Space is probably limited.

They might bring things like:

• Some cherished photo albums
• Jewelry or other family heirlooms
• A few trinkets or knickknacks to add some color to their living space

Likely, these aren’t worth very much money. Still, it falls on the employees to watch over those personal belongings, as they watch over the residents themselves.

This becomes a trust issue. Many Atlanta nursing homes don’t have locking doors. The employees don’t want the doors locked, just in case they need to get to a resident having a health crisis during the night.

Because of this, residents leave rooms unlocked, with their possessions inside. They must trust the staff not to let anything happen to their belongings.

How Can You Determine a Staff’s Trustworthiness?

As the person or one of the people who helped pick out a home for your older family member, you need to do some research before selecting what feels like the right home for them. You can:

• Look online for nursing home feedback
• Try to read as many staff and facility reviews as you can

You’re looking for elder abuse reports, but you also want to find out if any of the staff have sticky fingers. If you see anything like that, you might decide that facility is not for your loved one.

You Might Install a Camera

Of course, you may not always find detailed nursing home reviews online, or not as many as you’d like. When you visit a facility, everything might seem fine, but how do you know what’s going on when you’re not around?

You might consider setting up a hidden camera in your relative’s room. You can tell them about it. If they’re out of the room during the day getting some exercise, you might pick up an employee who has decided to help themselves to some family keepsakes.

Listen to Your Relative

Another thing you can do is talk to your older relative frequently to make sure the facility works well for them. Suppose they report that employees are taking their belongings.

In that case, you should believe them and take the appropriate action, assuming your relative is lucid and not dealing with dementia or some debilitating mental condition.

Fire Prevention Measures

One final thing you’ll want to look at closely before you let your older relative stay in a nursing home is what kind of fire safety equipment they have. Ideally, fire extinguishers should be readily available, not to mention a wet-pipe sprinkler system throughout the building.

This can prevent not just personal property damage, but also save lives. Older adults can’t often move as fast, and they might not have any defense against a rapidly-spreading fire.

Atlanta residents want what’s best for their older relatives. If they can no longer live with them, they need to carefully pick a nursing home. They want one that respects not just the residents, but also their prized possessions.