Assessing Nursing Homes

I took a tour today of a private care facility. Very nice place. Homey, but not ostentatious. People looked happy. Staff appeared warm and responsive.

On the tour, I was asking about the garden, and the person giving me the tour told me how nice it is to have such a large garden. She told me the residents help out.

On one hand, that is a fairly simple comment. On the other hand, she didn't say, " the residents do the gardening." There is a difference in ownership, and in conceptualizing how care and service is provided with a statement like that.

Do the residents " help out?" Or are the residents and families the ones who design and do the garden, with the staff and maintenance people helping them?

To me, there is a world of difference.