I would start by visiting the nursing homes in the area where you are going to place them. You can set up appointments with the DON for tours and you can also just make appearances at various times of the day to see what the residents are doing. Nursing homes can run the gammet (sp) some with lots of organized activities some with none, ask about staffing, meals, activities, who's in charge, do they need skilled care or just residential assistance and someone to check in on them? I think smell plays a big role when starting to look at nursing homes.