Nursing Home Relatives Questionaire

[Loopiloo]

I have mentioned on the 'Loo & Saffie' thread that my husband's nursing home has sent me a Relatives Queustionaire and some of the questions are stumping me. Such as:

a) How well do you feel that your relative's privacy is being respected?

b) How well do you feel that your relative's democratic rights are being protected?

c) How well do you feel that your relative's Equality of Opportunities are being respected?

d) How well do you feel that your relative's views and wishes are listened to and acted upon?

How can I say when I am not there all the time to judge? You'd surely need to be a fly on the wall to know.

Especially when the relative has dementia. My husband would be unable to express his views and wishes. He does sometimes complain about being got up too early, and I know some of the staff do leave him in bed a little longer if possible. The nurse on duty has to give him his insulin injection before his breakfast and a number of the dementia residents are bed bound, in end stage dementia, so mornings are busy .

He can express himself concerning something he does not want to do. But in general he wont express views and wishes. Or just say a yes or no if asked about some preference. (More likely a 'No'!) Or simply stare at them, not comprehending.

About a third of the 62 residents are in the dementia wing, the others are elderly frail although some with early dementia.

Any advice would be welcome.

Loo x

[kassy]

I have mentioned on the 'Loo & Saffie' thread that my husband's nursing home has sent me a Relatives Queustionaire and some of the questions are stumping me. Such as:

a) How well do you feel that your relative's privacy is being respected?

b) How well do you feel that your relative's democratic rights are being protected?

c) How well do you feel that your relative's Equality of Opportunities are being respected?

d) How well do you feel that your relative's views and wishes are listened to and acted upon?

How can I say when I am not there all the time to judge? You'd surely need to be a fly on the wall to know.

Especially when the relative has dementia. My husband would be unable to express his views and wishes. He does sometimes complain about being got up too early, and I know some of the staff do leave him in bed a little longer if possible. But that could depend on the individual staff.

He can express himself concerning something he does not want to do. But in general he wont express views and wishes. Or just say a yes or no if asked about some preference. Or simply stare at them not comprehending.

About a third of the 62 residents are in the dementia wing, the others are elderly frail although some with early dementia.

Any advice would be welcome.

Loo x

I filled in a similar questionnaire Loo.Some of it i thought wouldn't apply to mum,only the younger,more able residents.The questions you've posted are very similar,i left some blank.Most of the questions i found quite pointless to be honest.x

[Billie61]

Can you answer them with "I am unable to express an opinion on this"?

[thatwoman]

Hi Loo,

I'm an old cynic on forms like these! I think they're what the CQC would use as evidence of the home seeking the views of relatives. We have had a very similar one given to us each year while Dad has been in the home. Quite honestly, how would any of us know the real answers? Last year I spoke to a number of other relatives at one of our "meetings" (whose real purpose is fundraising), and they all said they felt it was only polite to say everything was hunkydory. Dad's home isn't a bad home, but like most homes, it isn't perfect. If I have concerns I email the manager, and don't worry about questionnaires. In principle they are a good idea, but in practice they're meaningless. Just my opinion.

Love Sue xxx

[Jo1958]

a) How well do you feel that your relative's privacy is being respected?

b) How well do you feel that your relative's democratic rights are being protected?

c) How well do you feel that your relative's Equality of Opportunities are being respected?

d) How well do you feel that your relative's views and wishes are listened to and acted upon?

Loo, hi
These are silly questions but they need serious answers, I know you take these things are seriously as I do, but:

a) my husband needs total person care, his privacy has got to come second to good general care. While wiping his bottom I hope that staff talk to him in a respectful way and are gentle.

b) my husband is now part of a larger community, his democratic rights have been removed by the society that issues right to individuals. (My husband hasn't been in nursing care for long enough that there has been a general election but I cannot believe that candidates take much time visiting nursing homes to elicit votes)

c) if there is a communal event taking place in my husbands nursing home then I hope that he is treated equally and invited to join in, but he is dependant on the biased opinions of care and nursing staff to allow him access to everything, if there isn't enough room for everyone then they may choose not to invite him, if there are cookery sessions then they may only think of taking the female residents, there are many ways in which he cannot have Equality of Opportunities.

d) my husband lives in an institution, his views and wishes are listened to and acted upon if the first carer of the day puts his teeth in correctly and he can speak clearly and be heard and understood, without this he cannot communicate or eat. He is totally dependent on others to allow him dignity.

Loo, can you ask for the results of these questionnaires, or at least some feedback from them, it would be really interesting to hear what response they get and what they think that they can 'do' with them.
Take good care, with kind regards from Jo

[jeany123]

Oh I hate these kind of questionaires I'm sure most people just put anything ,what do they prove?

Jeany x

[TinaT]

I would base my answers on my own observations and give examples.


a) How well do you feel that your relative's privacy is being respected?


I would answer this by saying that when he needs to be taken to the toilet to be changed, staff speak to him quietly and respectfully and tell him what they are going to do. If he responds by kicking them and hitting them they chat a little while and then leave him for a while in the hopes that he will be better disposed to let them at a later time. So I consider that they are trying to maintain his privacy.



b) How well do you feel that your relative's democratic rights are being protected?

If he refuses to eat his meal, then the meal is put to one side and warmed up later when he is more responsive. I think this is the only level of democracy which my husband has, which is the right to refuse to do something he is being asked to do

c) How well do you feel that your relative's Equality of Opportunities are being respected?

If there is a concert my husband is taken into the room and placed where he can see all that is going on. He is spoken to in a pleasant way and he is not excluded in any way in activities within the home although he can take no part except to watch

d) How well do you feel that your relative's views and wishes are listened to and acted upon?

He is never forced to do something he does not want to do. The toileting routine is important because there are a number of incontinent residents involved and having a routine enables the staff to complete the task in an orderly fashion. However if he refuses to allow them to take him, his wishes are respected and they will return and try again later.

On the other hand I pointed out to staff that he does not like mushy peas but noticed that they continued to give him them. I brought in small tins of carrots and mixed vegetables for them to use instead but it took many weeks of reminding them that he wanted other vegetables when mushy peas were on the menue. Even now he can get the odd dish with mushy peas on and if I wasn't there to tell them, they would not remember to give him an alternative.

I have answerd these questions based solely on my observations and feel that given the very serious condition he is in and his inablity to speak for himself , they try hard to maintain his dignity, personal choices etc.,

It would be impossible to answer such questions if I didn't visit asd often as I do. Severe dementia means that unless a relative is there very often during the week, these questions are completely meaningless.

xxTinaT

[Loopiloo]

Thank you very much for your replies Kassy, Billie61, Sue, Jo and Jeany. Most of which reflect my own thoughts about such questionaires.

Kassy wrote:
i left some blank.Most of the questions i found quite pointless to be honest.

I wondered about leaving some blank, and I also found most of them pointless.

Two interesting ones were:

Have you been invited to attend training sessions within the Home?

Have you been invited to participate in recruitment process?

Followd by "Would you like to be?"

I shall tick "Yes" for the last question, but won't hold my breath! I didn't know relatives could be invovled in training sessions or recruitment and I wonder if this is a new questionaire this year or if the same one goes out each year. I think they are issued by the care home company and perhaps such relative participation only pertains to certain homes, not all of them...

Sue wrote:
I'm an old cynic on forms like these! I think they're what the CQC would use as evidence of the home seeking the views of relatives.

In principle they are a good idea, but in practice they're meaningless. Just my opinion.

Exactly my feelings. I'm relieved not to be the only cynic!

Last year I spoke to a number of other relatives at one of our "meetings"
(whose real purpose is fundraising), and they all said they felt it was only polite to say everything was hunkydory.

Sue, do your meetings have a good attendance? I have only been to one meeting. Missed one about six weeks after my husband went into the nursing home as I did not know about it. The next was cancelled, then I attended the one after that with only six relatives there (of 62 residents), and it lasted twenty minutes. Missed the last one due to ill health.

I'm not by nature confrontational, and I admit to having a bit of the "I don't want to sound like a complainer" syndrome. But when it comes to my husband's welfare and best interests I could not out of politeness give answers impying that everything was hunkydory.

To date I have spoken to the named nurse about any concerns or problems as I feel she is the one staff member who best knows my husband (especially as this year there have been several staff changes in my huband's wing). We have developed a good rapour and she does listen, usually addreses the concerns there and then.

Jo, thanks for taking the time to address each question, your responses so echo exactly my own thoughts and some strong feelings, doubts I have.

Our loved ones are now living in institutions and as you say totally dependent on others to allow them dignity, they are no longer living with our care, with those who know them so well. It is very hard to come-to-terms with, isn't it. I think this is difficult for some care/nursing home staff to fully grasp.

My husband's nursing home is not "excellent", nor is it "poor", so I wont be ticking those boxes. That leaves boxes marked "very good", "good" and "average". In my opinion the nursing home is very good in some respects, good in others and probably average in yet other respects. I think this probably applies to the majority of homes.

I did visit one home which certainly came under "poor", it was like something out of a Dickens novel. I cannot imagine anyone agreeing to a loved one going there and wondered if perhaps the residents were mainly those with no relatives.

Concerning the questionaire results or feedback, Jo, at the one meeting I did manage to attend there was a bieif reference to the results. A few questions and answers were read out, very quickly, and that was it.

A hurried meeting, 20 mintues although I was told meetings lasted about an hour. I had booked a taxi and had a three-quarters of an hour wait! Perhaps it was not typical of the home's meetings although I don't think they are well attended. Later talking about it to the senior nurse, she said my husband's wing's relatives used to be like a little community.

I don't see many relatives when I visit although they may visit in the evenings. But of the relatives I do see, none were present at that meeting. I am hoping to manage to attend more meetings and get a better idea of the average.

With the questionaire came a diary of meetings for this year, I see there are unit meetings for each of the units or wings once a month and staff, residents and family members are welcome. I am interested to see who turns up at those.

Thanks again, I now feel more at ease about answering the various questions.

Love
Loo xxx

[Loopiloo]

Tina, I only saw and read your interesting post after I had posted mine. Thanks for your input and I shall return to it. But it is now later than I realized and long past time I headed for bed.

Loo x

[Loopiloo]

Thanks, Tina, for taking the time to write as you did and I appreciate you doing so. From what both you and Jo have written I have a better understanding of how the questions I quoted relate to a loved one with dementia.

I still haven't decided which boxes I tick for the questions I quoted. Jo, I feel as you do in many respects about the total dependency on others concerning dignity, Equality of Opportuities etc. We can be a voice for our loved one with dementia, and I certainly have been. But how much of the acknowledgement received from senior staff is lip service and how much is applied...

I doubt if such questionaires hold much weight, other than as Sue said, being evidence of the home seeking the views of relatives.

Thanks again for your responses, they have helped clarify things as well as giving me food for thought. Although I have plenty of that as it is. The questionaire has depressed me, reinforcing the insitutionalisation, the loss of individual freedom, and how much is out of our hands.

Love
Loo xxx