As much as we want to stay home, it is not always possible to remain at home when the body or mind becomes impaired. It is difficult to know at what point it is no longer safe for a person to live at home, especially if the person lives alone. Many people fear moving to a nursing home. They don’t know what to expect and worry about losing control over their lives.

Basically, a nursing home is not a hospital. Many people enter a nursing home after a hospital stay and tend to think of the nursing home as an extension of hospital care. A nursing home is different, however. Medical and nursing care is provided as needed by qualified personnel. Yet at the same time, nursing homes try to be homes where people can feel comfortable, find familiar faces, and build a quality of life. Nursing homes do not have restrictive visiting hours like hospitals. Various activities are offered each day to stimulate residents both mentally and physically. And whenever possible, residents eat in dining rooms rather than in their rooms.

Nursing home care is costly, not because per day charge is high, but because many nursing home residents remain in the facility for lengthy periods of time. Astonishingly, a day's stay in a nursing home costs only less than many hotel stays and includes a complete set of services under one roof. In fact, nursing home care averages one-tenth the cost of hospital care.

Still a lengthy stay in a nursing home can be a substantial expense. Consumers should be aware, however, that the government provides little financial assistance for nursing home care unless a patient is insolvent and qualifies for Medicaid. Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, covers the first 20 days of care in a skilled nursing facility. Medicare does not cover stays in an intermediate care facility. As a result, personal and family resources pay 51 percent of costs.

Further, stories about inadequate care in nursing homes make news precisely because they are not typical. Family and friends can serve as an important safety net. If you feel that proper attention or care is not being given to a specific problem, speak with the director of the nursing home or the administrator. If you are not satisfied with their responses, it may be time to explore other options with the area ombudsman being one of them.