How to Choose a Care Home in Kathmandu: 10 Questions

Very few families in Nepal plan for a care home. It is almost always a decision made in one difficult week — after a stroke, a fall, a diagnosis, or the quiet exhaustion of caring for a parent while working a full job. The choice can feel enormous, and the information around it thin.

This is the checklist we wish more families had when they walked into their first care home. Bring it with you. Ask every question. A place that answers honestly, even when the answer isn't flattering, is usually a place worth trusting.

1. What is the nurse-to-resident ratio, especially at night?

Nights are when most emergencies happen and staffing is thinnest. Ask specifically about the night shift — not the daytime headcount. If the answer is vague, that is the answer.

2. Is there a doctor on-site or on-call, and how quickly can they attend?

For elderly and post-stroke residents, "on-call" is only as good as the response time. Ask for real numbers: within how many minutes for a routine review, and for an emergency?

3. What happens the day someone is admitted?

A good centre has a written intake process — medication reconciliation, a nursing assessment, a family conversation about goals of care, and a clear plan for the first week. If admission is casual and unrushed, that reflects the rest of the care.

4. Can I see the rooms — all of them, not just the show room?

Every centre has one nice room. Ask to see the general ward, the shared cabins, and the High Care Unit if one exists. Pay attention to the smell, the light, and how residents in the beds look — not just the linen.

5. What is included in the price, and what is charged separately?

Nepali families are used to hospital bills that surprise them. A trustworthy care home puts the base price and the extras — medication, physiotherapy sessions, oxygen, doctor visits, diapers, laundry — in writing before you sign anything. If you have to ask twice, ask a third time.

6. How is medication managed?

Ask who prepares the pills, who administers them, and who documents each dose. Medication errors are the most common source of harm in elderly care. A serious centre will show you the medication chart without hesitation.

7. Is there structured rehabilitation, or only "care"?

For stroke, post-surgery, or fall recovery, unstructured care is not enough. Ask how often physiotherapy happens — daily or three times a week? — and whether speech therapy is available. Ask what the therapist actually does with your loved one, in specifics.

8. What is the visitation policy?

You should be able to visit often, at reasonable hours, without long negotiations. Restrictive visitation is sometimes a sign that a centre does not want its daily reality observed. Ask about video calls too — for family abroad, this matters enormously.

9. How do you communicate with families?

Will you get a WhatsApp update? A weekly call? Only when something goes wrong? Families who feel out of the loop worry constantly. Good communication is not a nice-to-have; it is what makes the placement bearable.

10. What happens when things go badly?

Every honest centre has had a hard case — a fall, a rapid decline, a difficult conversation with family. Ask about one. How they answer, more than what they answer, will tell you what kind of place it really is.

What "good" looks like, briefly

A care home you can trust will let you look everywhere, put costs in writing, name specific nurses and therapists, and speak plainly about what it can and cannot do. If the visit feels like a sales pitch, it probably is. If it feels like a home where hard work is done well, you have found something rare.

Where Naman fits

Naman Care Home has run elderly care and rehabilitation in Kathmandu since 2018, across two branches in Maharajgunj and Bansbari. We answer these ten questions every week — and we would rather answer them again than skip past them. Come walk through our home before you decide anything: call 9851198668 or send us a message, and we will give you an honest hour, whether or not Naman is the right fit.

Related reading: Our rooms and pricing · Stroke recovery timeline · Post-hospitalization discharge care