Ask FRIA

Q:  My brother has a history of mental illness.  He has been living with our family for the last fifteen years, but recently has developed problems walking and eating on his own.  All the nursing homes that we have applied to say that he needs a "psychiatric nursing home."  Do these actually exist, or are these homes rejecting him because they don't want a resident with a psychiatric disability?

A:  There is no such thing as a psychiatric nursing home. Theoretically, any skilled nursing facility can care for persons with mental illness histories.

In actuality, most nursing homes able to choose among applicants pass over those with a mental illness history.  A few homes regularly accept them and have large numbers of residents with psychiatric conditions.

Some of these homes have contracted with a psychiatric hospital or  consultants to provide special training programs which may include sessions on crisis intervention, behavioral management, and working with residents with emotional difficulties.  These training programs may be designed solely for nurses aides, or for all staff including nurses, social workers, security staff, and administrators.

Not all homes that take a lot of residents with psychiatric histories have specially trained staff however. Some accept these residents purely for financial reasons;  they need to fill their beds. As a result, residents with psychiatric conditions may get warehoused in homes that don't have equipped staff or the most appropriate care. 

When considering a particular home, ask whether the staff has been trained to care for residents with mental illness, specifically mentioning the details of your brother's condition.

Visit homes you are interested in and speak to family members and friends of residents who have psychiatric conditions to get their impressions of the home.

Homes that take residents with psychiatric histories should make the commitment to develop the expertise to provide good care to these residents.  If you place your brother in a home that has not taken that step, you can meet with other family members through the family council to advocate for a staff training program.