Torontonursinghomes.com was created to provide a comprehensive directory for Retirement Homes, Nursing Homes and Long Term-Care Homes in Canada. The goal of torontonursinghomes.com is to enable families to easily research the best facility for their loved ones. In choosing a facility, families are strongly encouraged to visit the facility of choice and to use the discussion board on this site to post questions or comments about the facility of their choice. The following is a list of things to keep in mind when visiting a Nursing Home or a Long Term-Care Home:
- The ratio of staff to residents varies from province to province.
- What types of services are offered at the facility, for example, is there Pastoral Services, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Social Work, Recreation, Complementary Care, Art Therapy or Music Therapy?
- Does the facility have specialized units for behavioural problems or medical speciality services?
- Does the facility have the resources to cater to individuals with dietary restrictions?
- What is the facility’s policy on abuse?
- What types of room accommodation are offered at the facility, and given dementia evolves over time, what is the policy on room and unit change?
- Are there any additional charges besides the accommodation cost? Such as, cable or podiatrist cost.
- Does the facility have ceiling lifts and electric beds for the safety of the clients and staff?
- Are there restrictions on visiting hours?
- Is laundry done on site? Generally speaking, facilities that offer laundry on site will have fewer incidences of clients’ items missing than those facilities that send out the clients’ laundry.
- What is the maximum vacation time away from the facility?
- What is the maximum time away from the facility for medical and psychiatric leave? For example, in Ontario the maximum time allowed away from the facility for medical leave is twenty one days, and for psychiatric leave it is forty five days.
- Are the hallways of the facilities brightly lit and wide to accommodate wheelchairs reasonably well? How clean is the facility? The cleanliness of a facility and the friendliness of staff can be indicative of how well cared for the clients are.
- What type of furniture is acceptable to be brought into the client’s room upon admission?
- How many baths are provided per a week to the client?
- Are private companions allowed to work with clients?
- Are wheelchairs, walkers and other assistive devices provided to the client free of charge if medically necessary, or is the client responsible for the purchase of these items? If the client is responsible for the purchase of these items, can the client choose their own vendor?
- How often are care conferences held to discuss the care and well being of the client, and what disciplines can the family expect to be in attendance? Families are encouraged to attend the care conferences as this is your opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have with the entire care team.
Given the vast number of Nursing Homes and Long Term-Care Homes in Canada, it’s inevitable that many people at some point will be looking to buy or sell items such as, wheelchairs, walkers, adaptive devices etc. As such, torontonursinghomes.com offers a free auction site to anyone who might be interested in selling their wheelchairs, walkers or adaptive devices that are no longer being used. Torontonursinghomes.com would like to emphasize that even though clients across Canada generally have their wheelchairs custom fit to their needs, there is still the possibility that some one else in the community or another facility could benefit from having the wheelchair, walker, or adaptive device that you may want to sell or donate. Torontonursinghomes.com recommends that all transactions on the auction site be done in person and cash.
The government of Canada is expecting millions of seniors in another eight years who will require services that is geared specifically towards that population, and our strategy is to be at the forefront as a comprehensive directory for Retirement Homes, Nursing Homes and Long Term-Care Homes across Canada. Torontonursinghomes.com is providing the tools for people to easily research facilities and ask or post questions via our discussion board. As well, torontonursinghomes.com is providing an easy to use platform for people to buy or sell items via our auction site.
Given that torontonursinghomes.com is a free site, we would appreciate if users can donate any funds whether it is a $10.00 or a $100.00 so we can continue to provide a free and important public service. The donations will be used to cover administration cost to host this site, and it will enable us to add a search button to the site so users can find facilities within a specific postal code or city. Local businesses are also welcome to sponsor our pages. Donations can be made through PayPal. If you have any questions, suggestions or like to list your facility with us, please contact us at admin@torontonursinghomes.com
