Boomers and Beyond: Ombudsman looks out for elderly

It’s a lot more fun to talk about funny stuff. I think we all get a big kick out of watching ourselves, and the remarkably creative ways we can find to accommodate (and put up with!) the raging indignities of getting older.

But, let’s get serious, let’s bite the bullet and look at a subject we’d rather sweep under the rug. It’s about every person’s worst nightmare – going into a “nursing home.”

Despite all we, as a nation, have learned about the personal rights and the proper care of the elderly residents of these nursing facilities, we obviously don’t have our act together yet. Although it’s not headline news, we do hear about cases of abuse and neglect that are still happening.

Granted, we’ve made some headway, but many care facilities still have a pretty bad rap sheet.

Let’s give the devil his due; let’s realize that getting residents of a skilled nursing facility cleaned, bathed, fed and dressed every morning requires almost an assembly line operation. Unfortunately, elderly residents are not “cookie-cutter people,” and despite the similarity of their basic needs, their medical and emotional needs vary widely.

So, the very nature of elder care is “one size does not fit all.” The seemingly continual demands placed on the care staff by the residents, far outweighs the amount of time the caregivers can spare from providing residents’ basic needs.

It does not take a genius to see that care facilities need to pay their staff higher wages and increase the numbers of staff. But who among us has a magic wand? It would take a Harvard MBA, maybe even a rocket scientist, to keep a facility operating in the black if they did increase the salaries and the numbers of care workers, without raising the already outrageous cost of care – $75,000 per year is the national average.

So, when Mrs. Richards in Room 201 can’t find her glasses, or needs help in the bathroom, sometimes help is not forthcoming in a timely manner. This is very stressful, and Mrs. Richards feels hopeless, dehumanized and angry.

Sometimes this can be out and out neglect. It’s easy to get by with elder neglect – older people are so vulnerable and often they are too terrified of retribution to even complain at all.

Enter the blessed ombudsman to the elderly.

An ombudsman is a powerful person, and a vital person.

An ombudsman to the elderly is an advocate for residents’ rights and quality care for people who are over the age of 60 and living in long-term care facilities, skilled nursing, residential care homes, assisted living, personal care homes, and/or adult foster care homes.

“Being treated with dignity and respect is one of the five basic categories of residents’ rights. One example is for a staff member to knock on a resident’s door and be invited in, instead of just barging in. That’s showing respect,” explains Jan Young, long term care ombudsman for Idaho’s, Region I.

Young is quick to point out that when elderly people are first admitted to a care facility, most of them have a difficult time adjusting. Why wouldn’t they? These once-viable people have had to give up all the things that were precious to them – the stuff of their lives – their home, their car, their privacy, and their independence, to name a few.

Can we blame them? They suffer grief and anger with this loss of control over their lives and are definitely not happy campers. However, if they are treated with kindness, dignity and respect by the nursing staff, it helps to soothe their very ruffled feathers.

But when it’s more than ruffled feathers, and the patient’s feel they are not being treated with respect – and in some cases basic needs are not even being met – that’s the time for the ombudsman.

The ombudsman program in North Idaho is offered through the office of Area I Agency on Aging. Young, Region I director, makes random, unannounced visits to about 60 elder care facilities throughout Idaho’s five northern counties. She talks to the residents and investigates complaints or reports of abuse she receives.

Young also trains volunteers in the ombudsman program. Volunteers also visit residents, offering a willing ear to them, many of whom just want to talk. This makes them happier.

“I really love my job,” says Young with a heartfelt smile, and her volunteers echo this enthusiasm for the job.