The questions to ask on a care home tour, and what to write down
A tour is designed to be reassuring. That is not a criticism, it is simply what a tour is for. The way to get past it is to arrive with the same written questions for every place you see, and to write the answers down while you are standing there rather than reconstructing them in the car.
How to use this checklist
Print one copy per home and write the name and the date at the top. Ask the same questions everywhere, in the same order, so the comparison is between the answers and not between how you felt on the day.
Write the answer down word for word, and write down the name and job title of whoever gave it. Vague answers are information too, and you will only notice a vague answer when you see the blank space beside the question.
Visit twice. Once by appointment, once unannounced at a mealtime or on a weekend evening. Weekday mornings are when every building looks its best.
Take someone with you. One person asks, one person writes, and you compare notes afterwards.
Ask for the contract to take home. Any home that will not let you read the contract away from the building has answered a question you did not ask. When you do read it, an attorney is the right person to review it before anyone signs.
The 28 questions
Money first, because it is the question people put off and the one that decides what is actually possible. Then staffing, then the day itself, then how they will talk to you.
Print two pages per home so there is room to write. Leave the right-hand third of the page blank for the answer and the name of whoever gave it.
You will not get through twenty-eight questions in one visit, and you are not meant to. Ask the money and staffing blocks on the first visit, because those answers are factual and comparable across homes. Keep the daily-life block for the second visit, when you can see for yourself whether what you were told matches what is happening at four in the afternoon.
Write the answers down in front of them. It is a normal thing to do on a tour, and it noticeably changes the quality of the answers.
- Money — What is the monthly fee, and exactly what does it include?
- Money — What is billed separately, and what did those extras add up to last year for a typical resident?
- Money — How much notice do you give of a fee increase, and what was the increase in each of the last three years?
- Money — What deposit is required, and under what circumstances is it returned?
- Money — What notice must we give to leave, and on what grounds could you ask us to leave?
- Money — Which payment programs and insurance do you accept, and what happens if private funds run out?
- Money — May I take the contract home to read before anyone signs it?
- Staffing — How many staff are on duty in this unit during the day, at night and at weekends?
- Staffing — What was your staff turnover in the last twelve months?
- Staffing — How often do you use agency staff, and who was on last weekend?
- Staffing — Who is on site overnight, and who is the senior person on duty then?
- Staffing — How is a new resident's routine written down, and who reads it before their first shift?
- Staffing — Will the same people usually be working with my father, or does it rotate?
- Daily life — What time do residents get up and go to bed, and how flexible is that?
- Daily life — May I see this week's activity schedule and this week's menu, not a sample one?
- Daily life — What happens if my mother does not like the food, or wants to eat at a different time?
- Daily life — What can residents bring from home, and what are the room measurements?
- Daily life — Does the room lock, and is there somewhere lockable for small valuables?
- Daily life — What are the visiting hours, and may I visit at a mealtime?
- Daily life — How is laundry handled, how is clothing labelled, and what gets lost most often?
- Daily life — How do residents get outside, and how often did that happen last week?
- Records and contact — Who calls the family, when, and about what?
- Records and contact — What is written down about each resident every day, and may the family see it?
- Records and contact — How do you tell the family and the doctor's office when something changes?
- Records and contact — How do I raise a concern, who handles it, and who do I go to if I am not satisfied with the answer?
- Records and contact — Which doctor and which pharmacy do residents use, and may my parent keep their own?
- Practical — May I see the most recent state inspection report?
- Practical — What should we bring on the first day, what paperwork do you need in advance, and how does the first week usually go?
Print the list twice before your next visit and take a pen that works. Write the name and title of everyone who answers a question, and the date at the top of the page. Two visits from now, when the buildings have blurred together and your brother asks how this one compares, the answer will be on paper instead of in an argument.
Questions
When is the best time to visit?
Go once by appointment and once without one, at a mealtime or on a weekend evening. Both visits are legitimate and most homes expect them. Write down the day and the time on each page, because the comparison only works if you know when you were standing there.
What if I cannot get a straight answer on cost?
Write down the answer you were given, including the phrase they used, and ask for the fee schedule in writing before you leave. A written schedule is a normal request. An answer you cannot write down is worth recording as exactly that.
Should my parent come on the tour?
If they want to, yes, and ask them what they want to know beforehand — those questions go at the top of your page. If a first visit would be too much, go ahead and take photographs and the printed answers back to them.
The free one-page emergency sheet
Everything an ambulance crew, a neighbour or a sibling would need in the first ten minutes — on one page for the fridge.
The list is not connected yet — this form is not live. The sheet is downloadable directly below in the meantime.