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The type of care your loved one needs will help to determine the type of facility you want. Placing someone in a nursing home who is in charge of their faculties and they are able to communicate their wishes and needs to the staff, is different than admitting a patient that for one reason or another is unable to make their needs known.

If your loved one is more vulnerable and unable to communicate, they may be unable to report neglect or abuse. This by no means suggesting that inappropriate behavior is the norm, but you want to be assured that your family member is well taken care of and safe.

Little telltale signs of abuse include and are not limited to unexplained bruises, welts, and sores. Patients with bedsores or are dirty, have an odor, improper clothing for the weather, lice, dehydration, weight loss are signs of neglect. Signs of emotional abuse are derogatory remarks, verbal harassment and threats.

Here are a few things Arizona residents should look for when evaluating a facility:

1.Resident's hygiene: As you walk through the facility, how do the patients look? Make a note as to whether or not the patients look and smell clean.

2.Staffing: How many staffers do you see? Is there only one nurse caring for 18 patients or is there an adequate staff to patient ratio based on the types of illness/afflictions of the patients.

3.Facility cleanliness and safety: When you walk through the premises, check to see if whether the corridors are clean or dirty. Are there broken windows? How does the furniture look?

4.Trust your instincts. If you're thinking of putting a loved one in a facility, trust your initial gut reaction. If there is something about the facility that makes you feel uneasy, don't ignore it. Maybe that facility is not for you.