King County has about 1300 adult family homes, about three times the number of Starbucks which seem so ubiquitous. How can the care be monitored and assured for care and safety. The Seattle times published a critical article about this growth industry in an article a few years back. They stated that the aged and frail were being exploited.
King County’s chief Ombudsman Jeremy Bell will be speaking at Skyline this Wednesday at 3:30 PM. He supervises a relatively small staff who, in turn, train and supervise volunteer Ombuds (the “man” has been dropped) to visit adult homes and nursing homes to act as advocates for residents. He will be available in a Q & A as well as presenting an outline of the King County program in facilities like Skyline. Currently an Ombuds is available on request to residents of the Terraces by not to those in independent living.
A presentation by the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is one of the most important programs CCRC residents can attend all year.
An office MORE important to residential care facilities than that of the LTCOP is the Complaint Resolution Unit of the DSHS, the Department of Social and Health Services:
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/residential-care-services/residential-care-services-online-incident-reporting
The Complaint Resolution Unit recommends that you first contact a long term care ombuds before calling the CRU. The protocol is to work at the lowest level first to resolve any complaints you may have regarding your “quality of life” and “quality of care” while residing in a long term care facility.
Which complaints actually get resolved is a verrry long story. I will share one complaint you could end up having with the ombuds program itself, nevermind the follow-up by DSHS:
Suppose a religious institution establishes residential housing for the elderly. And suppose that institution wants no oversight regarding the state and federal regulations for the care of the elderly. Then suppose the religious institution has a constituent, a friend, a follower, perhaps a member of the board, who receives training and becomes a “community (volunteer) ombuds”. That ombuds may then be assigned to their own religious institution’s nursing home, CCRC, or adult family home to monitor complaints. If challenged regarding a conflict of interest, the Ombudsman Program will ask this conflicted ombuds a few questions, such as whether they have a financial interest in the residence. In whose favor would you expect complaints to be resolved?
I site this example from my own experience as a Community Ombuds. To be informed consumers of residential care, we must know both our rights and the realities. It’s our responsibility – to ourselves and each other.
Sylvia Peterson
This is an interesting example which has obvious conflicts of interest. When I volunteered as an Ombudsman I was prohibited from acting in that capacity at Skyline or Parkshore – the two facilities under the PRCN umbrella at that time. So, at least sometimes, things turn out right. An ethical volunteer, in Sylvia’s example, would have recused themselves from being involved.I put this on the blog to encourage all residents to attend Jeremy’s talk.
Your Long Term Care Ombuds is trained to hear complaints. If these complaints get worked out, great. The big question is what to do if complaints are not resolved.
Management has a cadre of handlers and defenders. Residents are “outgunned”. If they have a Resident Council it might at least serve as a sounding board.
Those complaints which are forwarded to DSHS may be addressed by state surveyors who visit the long term care facility to determine the severity of the report. When the surveyors visit Assisted Living and Nursing Homes they may also be there for a routine inspection. These typically last one week or more. These routine inspections conclude with the all-important Exit Conference. It is held to present the surveyors’ findings to the building management.
Residents may attend these Exit Conferences. Residents’ personal Representatives may attend these conferences either with the resident or in the resident’s place. Ombudspersons may attend. Attendance varies widely from building to building. In some facilities much of the staff attends as a cheering section. [Protocol: no one speaks but the surveyors and management unless called upon.]
It could be said that residents of long term care facilities have many avenues yet unexplored to familiarize themselves with the players in this game. There’s the Exit Conference, the Care Conference, the Board Meeting and the Resident Council. If meetings are anathema to you perhaps you can ask others to report back to you. You may shy away from any interactions which are, by definition, adversarial. If you do, you can find some way to assist those who forge ahead.
Sylvia Peterson