The Black Hole
- ericagroten
- Sep 2, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 5, 2024
Is your care recipient in a rehabilitation home, a nursing home, a board and care home? It could be one of these or something similar. Have you noticed that your loved one's items disappear? The Black Hole is where residents' items go, never to be found again.
Here is an example. My father was placed in a rehabilitation home after his fall. I brought him items that he would need on a day-to-day basis:
Shoes,
Socks,
Pants,
Shirts,
Undergarments,
Phone,
Phone charger,
Glasses,
Book.
By the second day his phone, glasses, and pants disappeared. By the first week, he was wearing borrowed clothing, and his phone and glasses were still missing. His book had also disappeared, which was useless without his glasses. All items were labeled with his name and room number.
The missing personal items was one of my biggest frustrations. I was at this facility two times a week. I continually spoke with the Social Services Director, facilities, the nurses, and the laundry department. I purchased new items, including new prescription glasses multiple times. I even had to purchase a new phone because the facility did not offer phones in the room. After two months my father's original phone was located. Where was it you ask? It was sitting on a counter in the kitchen, and no one had bothered to move it to the lost and found box or give to the Social Services Director.
There is no easy fix for this situation; however, below are some recommendations on working to stop this from happening.
Create an inventory list. You can find my example at the bottom of this page. Provide the list to a manager or the Social Services Director at the facility. Ensure they keep a copy. Before bringing your loved one a new item, update the inventory list with a new date and item(s). Then give this new list to the appropriate person or department. Keep a running inventory list, on your computer or in your notebook, of all the personal items at the facility. Only remove an item, from the list, if you have taken something away. If it is lost or missing, do not remove the item. Mark it lost for your records. I highlighted the lost items and continued to provide updated, highlighted lists to the Social Services Director.
Keep all receipts. On the receipt, write notes to remember the item. Sometimes receipts don't spell out what you purchased. Receipts give you a general idea of the item. By adding your additional notes, you can quickly remember the exact item. For example. If the receipt says pants at $7, write green pants or black sweatpants with white trim next to that information.
Label all physical items in your loved one's possession. For my father's clothes, I sewed a label onto the collar or seam and wrote his name and room number on the label. (The room might change, but that is an easy update to the label.) I used a permanent marker on a cotton twill tape ribbon. For his phone, charging cable, and books I used a label maker and applied a piece of packing tape over all the labels. This helped me in one instance. A worker had actually taken my father's phone cable and it was partially hanging out of her purse.
Create a tally and include the dollar amount for each missing item. Present your accounting to the director of the facility and request reimbursement. If this step is ignored or denied you might need to file a complaint. For information on filing complaints, check out my post on Complain: Getting that Additional Help.
Don't give up. Your loved one's items are important and do not deserve to be treated so poorly.
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Products used:
Receipts Organizer This is similar to the one that I used.
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