Lifestyle

Why You Should Avoid Moving Elderly Loved Ones into a State Facility

Published

5 years ago

March 26, 2021

Nobody is ever truly prepared to move a loved one into a care facility. Whether it’s an assisted living environment or a long-term care (LTC) facility, it’s not an easy move. It’s hard for older people to be forced into an unfamiliar living environment that doesn’t feel like home.

Although most people can get their care completely covered by moving into a state-run facility, it’s not the best choice. Ideally, your loved one will be happier in a private facility. Here’s why.

State facilities don’t have the budget to create a thriving environment

Everyone deserves to live in a luxurious environment with homemade meals and plenty of love and care. That’s exactly what Anna Pittard thought when she created Cotton Grove Estate – an exceptional personal care home for seniors in Georgia.

It’s not hard to create a thriving environment. Luxury private care homes exist all around the United States. However, state-run facilities don’t have the budget to create this type of atmosphere. That’s where they fall short.

State-run facilities rely on government funds that don’t go nearly as far as they should. For example, budget priorities are functional rather than aesthetic, even though aesthetics play a huge role in a person’s ability to thrive in their environment.

State facilities tend to furnish rooms and common areas with drab furniture, drab upholstery, and residents are lucky if the wall décor is even slightly inspiring. Most of the time décor doesn’t even match.

Private facilities, on the other hand, hire interior decorators to create an environment that supports the residents in feeling good wherever they roam.

State-run LTC facilities feel more like a hospital

Unless you’re moving your loved one into an assisted living facility, they’re probably going to be living in an environment that feels more like a hospital than a home.

Long-term care facilities generally have two residents per room and each bed is separated by a hospital curtain. While residents can have personal belongings, there’s no real privacy or room to decorate to any extent.

Although one lucky room resident gets a window view, they still have to stare at a curtain. Staring at a hospital room curtain can be depressing. The hospital environment is amplified by the fact that people come in and out all day long to check vitals and administer medication.

State-run nursing homes are usually (and perpetually) understaffed

It’s unfortunate that any care facility would be understaffed, but it’s a common problem with state facilities. Being understaffed places a huge burden on staff. Even the best nurses and aides struggle to do their job and be there for their residents.

Often, staff members can barely finish their basic tasks distributing medications, getting residents fed, bathed, and changed. That leaves no time to connect, play a game of cards, or just talk with residents. Companionship is necessary, yet it’s not in the budget.

In a state facility, your loved one may miss out on these important things:

Companionship. Sometimes people just want someone to chat with about their life. Staff in a state facility don’t usually have time to chat for longer than it takes for them to perform their duties.
Eating meals with company. Many people prefer to eat their meals with other people and eating alone is a guaranteed path to depression. If it’s hard for someone to get out of bed, they’ll struggle to get to the dining room to eat with others.
Having their living space organized. State staff don’t have time to tidy up a resident’s room to keep it looking good. Things like aligning books on a bookshelf, standing greeting cards back up, and flipping the calendar to the current month often go ignored. Attention to these details can make all the difference in a patient’s wellbeing.

Choose private care whenever possible

Statistics show that people who move into nursing homes pass away within 6 months. Sometimes it’s because of an illness, but much of the time people lose interest in life because of their environment. They stop eating, drinking, and won’t participate in activities.

If you don’t have a choice, make sure you do thorough research before choosing a state facility. Visit potential facilities multiple times (unannounced) and do extensive research to get the full picture. This includes requesting each facility’s state inspection survey (Form 2567), which they are legally required to provide.

If you can put your loved one in a private facility, don’t hesitate. They’ll have a higher quality of life and that’s always worth the extra cost.

Lifestyle

When Seasons Shift: Dr. Leeshe Grimes on Grief, Loneliness, and Finding Light Again

Published

4 days ago

February 22, 2026

Michelle Langton

Some emotional storms arrive without warning. A sudden change in weather, a holiday approaching, or even a bright sunny day can stir feelings that don’t match the world outside. For many people, the hardest seasons are not defined by temperature; they are defined by what’s happening inside, where grief and loneliness often move quietly.

This is the emotional terrain where Dr. Leeshe Grimes has spent her career doing some of her most meaningful work. As a psychotherapist, registered play therapist, retired U.S. Army combat veteran, and founder of Elevated Minds in the DMV area, she understands how deeply seasonal shifts and unresolved grief can affect people. Her upcoming books explore this very space, guiding readers through the emotional weight that can appear during different times of the year.

What sets Dr. Grimes apart is her ability to see clearly what many people overlook. Seasonal depression, for example, is usually tied to winter months. But she often sees it appear during warm, bright seasons, the times when the world seems happiest. For someone already grieving or feeling disconnected, watching others travel, celebrate, or gather can create its own kind of heaviness. Sunshine doesn’t always lift the mood; sometimes it highlights what feels missing.

The same misunderstanding surrounds grief. Society often treats it as a short-term experience with predictable phases and a clean ending. But in her practice, Dr. Grimes sees how grief keeps evolving. It doesn’t disappear on a timeline. It weaves itself into routines, memories, and milestones. People learn to carry it differently, but they rarely leave it behind completely. And that’s not failure, it’s human.

Her approach to mental health centers on truth rather than pressure. She encourages clients to acknowledge the emotions they try to hide: sadness that lingers longer than expected, moments of joy that feel out of place, and the waves of loneliness that return even when life seems stable. Instead of pushing for quick recovery, she focuses on helping people understand how emotions shift and how to care for themselves through those changes.

Much of her insight comes from her military years, where she witnessed the emotional toll of loss, transition, and constant survival. She saw how people continued functioning while carrying pain that had nowhere to go. That experience shaped her belief that healing requires space, space to feel, to speak, and to move through emotions without judgment.

In her clinical work today at Elevated Minds, she encourages people to build small, steady habits that anchor them during difficult seasons. Journaling helps them recognize patterns and name what feels heavy. Community support breaks the cycle of isolation. Therapy creates a place where emotions don’t have to be minimized or explained away. And intentional routines, daily sunlight, mindful breaks, and calm evenings help rebuild emotional balance.

Her upcoming books expand on these ideas, offering practical guidance for navigating both grief and seasonal depression. She focuses on helping readers understand that healing is not about escaping pain. It’s about learning how to live with it in a healthier way, honoring memories, acknowledging loneliness, and still allowing room for moments of light.

What makes Dr. Leeshe Grimes a compelling voice in mental health is her ability to bring language to experiences that many struggle to explain. She reminds people that emotional seasons don’t always match the weather and that there is no single path through grief. But within those shifts, she believes there is always a way forward.

The seasons will continue to change. And with the right tools, compassion, and support, people can change with them, finding steadiness, softness, and light again, one step at a time.