The answer to this question is a resounding NO. Throughout the United
States, there are many thousands of people, who are afflicted with dementia and
Alzheimer’s disease, and reside in nursing homes, that are not equipped to
handle the special needs of this population. Instead these unfortunate souls
(mostly poor) are thrown in with the general population at these facilities,
and they die prematurely, not from physical illnesses, but from the rapid
mental deterioration, due to the lack of meaningful therapy and stimuli.
Hurricane Sandy
announced itself by tossing a section of Boardwalk against the
Promenade nursing home in Rockaway Park, Queens, blowing out its windows
and sending waves washing through the first floor.
This nursing home like so many others in New York State has been consistantly rendering sub-standard care to thousands of elderly and disabled adults, never even complying with minimum standards of care as required by State and Federal Law. Every year the negligent and irresponsible New York State Department of Health rubber stamps the horrendous care in these facilities.
One of my pet peeves with is that there is no rhyme or reason to how they choose their residents. The only goal is to “fill” a bed without regard to how a potential resident will get along with other residents.
For the first time the proposed Executive Budget suggests a major change in how nursing homes are reimbursed for the care they give. The Governor and the Department of Health are proposing to focus more on quality outcomes. This is something LTCCC has been advocating for years. This is an initiative we must encourage.
The new proposal allocates $50 million in budget year 2009-2010 and $125 million in budget year 2010-2011 to reward facilities both performing well (in year one) and for those who perform well and improve (year two). Facilities with immediate jeopardy or substandard quality of care violations are eliminated from consideration.
Moving a parent or sibling into a nursing home is emotionally and financially difficult. Keeping them there may be getting even harder.
The Wall Street Journal reports that increasing numbers of frail and sick residents are being forced out of nursing homes across the country. In some cases, they're asked to leave because they are difficult or expensive to care for. It violates federal law for a nursing home to evict residents for those reasons.
An older person's likelihood of entering a nursing home or other long-term care facility is particularly high immediately after the death of a spouse, new research indicates.
