Use these column headings: policy question, facility answer, status, source, person or department, date confirmed, exceptions, and follow-up needed. In the status column, write confirmed only when an authorized representative gives a clear current answer or provides a current written policy. Write needs review when the answer is conditional, incomplete, inconsistent, or awaiting approval. Write not established when no reliable answer exists.
Separate phone access into several rows rather than one. Include personal cellphones, facility phones, calls to family, calls with children, work calls, legal calls, telephones for accessibility needs, video calls, texting, internet access, device storage, charging, and emergency messages. For visitors, create rows for eligibility, approval, identification, visiting days and times, age limits, number of visitors, searches or prohibited items, privacy, accessibility, virtual alternatives, and changes during an illness outbreak or other operational disruption. These are questions, not claims about any program.
- Write the exact answer, not your interpretation of it.
- Record whether the rule applies on arrival, during the full stay, or only at certain stages.
- Ask for the policy in writing and note if written confirmation is unavailable4. Is the expectation the same for all residents, or can it vary by individual circumstances?4. Put “LL