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I believe I mentioned this in my previous post, not sure. Been talking with an assisted living/memory care community for a few weeks. I have a few questions.


For starters, there are no locks on the resident doors. Is this common? I called another community which used electronic key fobs, even in memory care. To me it seems logical but wandering as I know they would have to be going into each other rooms.


The next is a "community shower" or that is what I call it. The room we have been looking at is called jack and jill suite, but only has a bathroom in between. The shower is across from the room in the hall. It has like an access door into the shower. Seems strange. Has anyone seen this before? Is it common?


They have openings, where as the places we would really like for him to be at are weeks to months on a waitlist. We need him placed very, very soon.



Thank you all.

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I apologize for the confusion with calling it a community shower. I called it that because everyone who does not have a private room uses it.... one at a time. They don't go in all at once. Not like a group shower. Goodness I hope that wouldn't even be a thing.

Someone told me it was common in hospitals. A person posted here about a nursing home. To me Jack and Jill should include a shower. We are looking at affording a private room if possible.

It seems that many do not lock the doors for the posters. I think the door locks with electronic key fobs are more common in the newer facilities. Thank you all for your help.
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Fawnby May 2023
When I was in the maternity ward after having my first child, the shower was at the end of the hall. It was almost impossible to use it because there was no schedule. We went and waited in line. Only a short bench to sit on while waiting, and no aides to help. It was difficult to have to stand in line after childbirth. Painful. So I’m not a fan and went to a different hospital for my next baby.

It might be different if the facility that you describe has a schedule and patients can sign up, so maybe you should ask. But I’d be looking for a place with a shower in the room.
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No experience with memory care, but my mother’s nursing home had Jack and Jill bathrooms between each room, meaning a bathroom shared by two rooms. Each contained a sink, toilet, and shower. There was a separate bathroom on the floor with a bathtub for residents who preferred a tub bath. There were no locks on the room doors.
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I am not understanding what you mean by a "community shower" but I am convinced you do not mean one with more than one shower, and with more than one person of any sex using it at the same time?

As to locks on doors, in most places people are able to lock their doors to prevent intrusion; however there is always, in my experience, a person on premises, usually the medication nurse, with keys for emergency access should a resident not answer a knock at the door.

I hope I am getting your question well enough to answer or that you will elaborate a bit.
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Pass, I would not entertain this "Group Shower" thing. I have my stepmother in MC, she is in a large studio and has her own bathroom. It is enough of a struggle to get her to shower, let alone in a group.
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I toured facilities where they had group showers but if I remember correctly they didn’t bathe the patients at the same time. One place even had a whirlpool tub that the residents could use.

I wouldn’t want a loved one to be in a place where there were no locks and potentially anyone could walk in on them while showering.
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cwillie May 2023
The big tub and lift at my mom's nursing home was very popular with the residents, many of them had been unable to soak in a tub for a very long time :)
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At least in mom's NH, the shower was in the hall. Each person was bathed privately by an aide, so it was only communal in the sense that everyone used, but only person at a time.

Mom"s Independent Living Facility had locks on the doors and showers in the room. She was only in Memory Care briefly (no locks) and I don't recall the bathing situation.

I would get him in where you can, keep him on the waiting list for other places
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cwillie May 2023
LOL, I never even considered that anyone might think a facility would round up their residents for a group shower, they are absolutely bathed/showered one at a time in the central bath room.
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I would only have my mother live in a Memory Care Assisted Living facility where locks were on each residents door and she had a private bath and shower. Otherwise, you open yourself up to potentially huge issues like residents wandering and borrowing her things, sleeping in her bed, etc. Some MCs will say it's "against the law" to have a lock on a residents door....it isn't. They're not locked IN....others are locked OUT, that's the whole idea. Caregivers carry around a master key to let the residents into their suites if they forget their wristbands.

The private shower and toilet is necessary for modesty and also to stay safe from wanderers poking around where they're not welcome. Its very practical to have ones one bathroom......why would it not be,??? Mom was showered 2x a week by an aide in her private suite and had no issues. My biggest concern was keeping her OUT of a shared bath/room situation in a SNF with Medicaid, which I was able to accomplish fortunately.

At my mom's mc, there was a resident named Denny who took an interest in her. If not for the locked suite door feature, I have no doubt he'd have been in there bothering her all the time 😑

I'd insist on these features if I were you. Good luck.
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People in memory care need shower assistance so having their own bath and shower isn't practical - likely not too safe either.
As to unlocked doors - that's pretty standard in all facilities here.
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