A Bad Experience.
We chose Care Dimensions:Kaplan House in…read moreDanvers, MA for our loved one's end-of-life care after reading and hearing positive reviews. We made a last minute decision to switch and admit during a time of crises. Unfortunately, we did not have the same experience. I am sharing this review as a warning to other families who may be making this incredibly difficult decision.
Our concerns were poor communication, limited patient check-ins, and staff making assumptions rather than taking the time to understand the individual patient's needs and wishes. We often felt that a "one-size-fits-all" approach was being used rather than individualized care. We were made to feel judged.. not my words.. these were the words of an aide on duty and told to back off and let them do their job.
We also felt that family input was not welcomed or adequately considered. Despite communicating our loved one's wishes to staff, those wishes were not honored in the way we expected. We did not receive a consistent daily update or helpful info. regarding her condition or prognosis, which left us feeling uninformed, helpless and lost during an extremely critical time.
We also had concerns about how some nurses and LNAs interacted with us and our loved one. We received a mix of care and icy interaction. In our experience, more training appeared to be needed in compassionate communication. There was a lack of communication with patients who were still lucid and able to express themselves rather than just giving orders to the patients not taking into consideration the patient's desires or needs for comfort.
Our loved one entered Kaplan House lucid and able to stand on day one. By day two, she was unable to stand. By day three, she was having hallucinations, was unable to communicate, and then passed away. We understand that end-of-life decline can happen very quickly, but the lack of communication and our concerns about whether her individual needs and wishes were being adequately addressed made an already devastating experience even harder.
We also experienced what appeared to be staffing limitations. There were times when we felt there simply were not enough staff available to provide the level of attention and individualized care we expected.
I realize that every family's experience may be different, and I cannot speak for anyone else. This is simply what our family experienced.
My strongest advice to families considering any hospice facility is: ask questions, clearly communicate your loved one's wishes, and stay involved and insist on a daily prognosis that we did not receive. If possible, have a family member present as much as possible. Families may not realize everything that is happening when they are not there.
End-of-life care is an incredibly vulnerable time. However, if you are present overnight, insist on regular staff check-ins even if you stay - especially over night. Families deserve compassionate communication, individualized care, respect for the patient's wishes, not be judged, and to feel that their concerns are genuinely heard.
I sincerely hope Kaplan House takes this feedback seriously and uses it to improve communication, staffing, compassion, and individualized care for future patients and their families. We made the mistake of changing hospice agencies last minute from Lahey Health at Home to Care Dimensions. The nurse who came out from Care Dimensions to admit did not know the situation and made harmful assumptions. Her inaccurate assessment set the tone for a traumatic 3 days which continues to this day. I waited to write this review to allow the grieving process. However, the experience has left me with ongoing unsettled sadness and regret for choosing Care Dimensions. Im giving 2 stars instead of one because one of the doctors was understanding and compassionate. Unfortunately, our contact with a doctors was towards the tail end of that misfortunate journey.
