Elder Abuse in LTC

The 2001 Waxman Report had some very alarming statistics:

One out of every 3 nursing homes in the United States was cited for elder abuse.

Of the 9,000 complaints of abuse between January 1999 and January 2001 3,800 were not discovered by inspectors. Instead the abuse did not come to light until a formal complaint was made.

For every case of abuse that is reported it is estimated that another 5 cases go unreported.
http://www.ltcombudsman.org/ombpublic/49_369_1847.CFM


According to the Safestate website in California alone elder abuse has grown 25% with 2/3’s being committed by the family members. One might infer that this increase is because family members are taking more of an active role in caring for their elder family members then placing them in facilities. Elder abuse can not only include physical and psychological harm but financial abuse as well. Nationally it is estimated 1 in 20 elderly persons will be abused in their lifetime.
http://safestate.org/index.cfm?navId=11


As a society how do we combat this problem?

The statistics above are alarming and disturbing. Even with the great strides that have been made since the Waxman report of 2001 there is still a long way to go to protecting our elders from abuse. In 2006 the NCCNHR campaign kicked off a 2 year campaign to improve the quality of long term care facilities. This is a collaborative project involving legislators, administrators and consumers with the goal of improving nursing home care. The NCCNHR boost they have a 45.6% participation rate of nursing homes at this time in their program.
http://www.nhqualitycampaign.org/

Other ways to combat this problem is increase public awareness. Every state is required to have an Obudsman representative where people can address their concerns and complaints to. The Obudsman program in Florida is a volunteer based program but operates under state and Federal law. If someone suspects elder abuse in a long term care facility contacting the LTC administrator or your state’s Obudsman representative is the first step to stopping the abuse.
http://ombudsman.myflorida.com/

In order to break the cycle of abuse we need to arm ourselves with the knowledge to combat it. This means increased training for employees in LTC facilities, awareness campaigns for family members and arming those residents in LTC facilities with the information of where to report abuse. As a society we need to demand tougher regulation and fines for those LTC facilities that have repeated complaints. The screening process for employees of LTC needs to be more stringent and consistent across the board. Increasing public awareness of this problem is the first step in combating it.

Veterans Homes- A Different Kind Of Long Term Care

In researching my next topic for Blog number three, I ran across a website discussing Veterans Homes. This website caught my eye especially since I myself am a Veteran and my husband is currently still serving in the Army today. Currently in Florida there are six Veterans home.

What are Veteran's Homes?

Veterans homes are long term care facilities that provided a variety kind of care. In most cases this a partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and states. They have short term care mainly for rehabilitative services after surgery or those awaiting placement in a community nursing home. Short term care is defined by 90 days or less. Care is also available for those that require care over 90 days. Those individuals must met a specific set of criteria such as prolonged wound care, ventilator and respiratory care, and spinal cord injury care for example. Veterans home also provide care, short term and long term, for those needing some sort of dementia care. Palliative Care is also available in some Veterans Homes. The range of services in State Veterans homes vary (VA)

Who is Eligible?

In the State of Florida those veterans who have been residents of Florida for over a year prior to the date of needing care and have qualifying wartime or peacetime experience. Those Veterans with service related injuries needing long term care and those veterans unable to pay for nursing home care will be first priorities (FL Vets)


Disadvantages?

Veterans homes do have some disadvantages such as unlike its civilian counterparts the application process is typically a long one followed by a waiting list. Those needing care for alzheimer's usually have the longest waiting list. There also is a certain set of criteria that has to be met before one can even be considered such a low income Veterans with limited means (VeteransBenefits).

Who covers the cost?

In state veterans homes the Department of Veterans Affairs pays the state a per diem. To make up the remaining costs some states charge a flat rate monthly per diem to residents and other have a sliding scale based on economic means and rely on other subsidies to cover the rest.

Veterans homes are a priceless benefits to those veterans who have served our country proudly. These state veterans homes are held to the same state guidelines as those private and other state nursing homes.

http://www.floridavets.org/nursing/nursing_rq.asp

http://www1.va.gov/geriatricsshg/docs/VA-NHCU.pdf

http://www.veteransbenefitsmo.com/Articles/state_veterans_homes.htm