AARP coverage of Memory Care Facilities (good, bad, legal rights?)

[ah5205525]

I live in rural Colorado where the availability of well run trust worthy memory care facilities is slim. The ones in my community have poor reputations based on factors such as insufficient staffing, poor training, abysmal supervision and mentorship of CNAs and RAs and seemingly unethical policies. At least two facilities do not allow staff to directly feed residents even though state law allows it. One facility allows staff to cover up family installed webcams in private rooms, thus defeating the purpose of the camera to provide family members the ability to remotely see and talk to their loved one when they are in their room. Some facilities have no on-site nurse and seem to rely more on hospice nurses and/or publicly funded emergency response units. Is this acceptable? I was not aware that the facility had a patient care plan until I started asking questions and was provided one. Shouldn't I have input into these plans and sign off on them? There are so many questions I wish I knew to ask before putting my loved one in one of these care facilities. Perhaps AARP can provided information on what to look for in memory care facilities and discuss legal rights of residents and their legally responsible caregivers. That kind of information  might open up a conversation that could gain the attention of the (mostly) corporate entities that oversee memory care facilities and help improve their operations such that families can entrust these places and their staff to properly care for their loved ones. Maybe that's a pipe dream but we can try, right?

[AARPJanelleM]

@ah5205525 Thank you for taking the time to reach out! I invite you to check out the following articles from AARP that highlight choosing a facility and questions to ask in the process: 

https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/basics/info-2021/choosing-long-term-care-facility.html

https://states.aarp.org/alaska/5-questions-to-ask-about-visiting-nursing-facilities-and-assisted-liv...