Episode 24: A Conversation with Maggie and Suzanne about Having Friends and Loved Ones in Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Facilities

Do you know someone – perhaps in your own family – who has spent time in a rehabilitation facility? Maybe after an illness or operation? Lots of people – and particularly older people who live alone – find themselves in rehab or long term care facilities. These are somewhat different from the assisted living or independent care communities we talked about in Episode 10 - when we explored one family’s exhaustive effort to find a place for their Mom in North Carolina. Rehab facilities are often affiliated with hospital groups and deal with everything from recovering from knee replacements to stroke and even dementia care.  The residents may be there for just a few weeks – or much longer.

My husband and I discovered that two good friends each have someone they care about in residential care at the same, independently owned, northern New Jersey facility. One day they started talking about the issues they’re encountering – like staffing, adequate physical therapy, mental stimulation and the overall differences between this independently owned facility and the more common and usually larger, company-owned facilities. My husband – the video editor and producer for this podcast series said – “you know -– this would make an interesting episode”. And I thought it may also be very helpful. We decided not to use the actual name of the place – or the names of our friends. So – cozy up with a cup of tea or coffee – and join “Maggie”, “Suzanne” and me for the conversation.

Note: all episodes are also available in video form on YouTube