Issues in Assisted Living
As the aging progresses, many of the Nation's seniors in the US opt for assisted living facilities for the long-term care that overworked and overstressed families cannot provide. Physical facilities such as big-screen TVs may attract the residents initially more when compared to bare-bones nursing homes but the facilities may often prove less safe.
A USA TODAY investigation showed that the staff shortages and insufficient training placed elderly residents at risk due to factors like inadequate care, delayed diagnosis and treatment and even death sometimes. The investigation was based on an analysis of two years of assisted living inspection data within 2000-2002 from seven states. However, the precise time period varied slightly from state to state.
The investigation found at least one staffing violation in one in five facilities inspected by regulators in those states. The problems ranged from too few employees on a work shift to lack of a certified facility manager. In some cases, residents were left to fend for themselves temporarily because there were no caregivers on the site. In one in four cases, training violations such as inadequate instruction in first aid, emergency procedures or resident rights were observed.
In some cases, just one caregiver was on duty to assist more than a dozen residents, including some with complex conditions such as dementia. This staffing ratio according to many medical and health care experts is inadequate, though there's no consensus or national standard on minimum staffing levels.
The report indicated that the actual violation totals may be certainly higher, because some facilities don't report lapses to state regulators and thus go undetected.
However, things appear to change over the period of time and now appropriate guidelines are being set for smooth operation of assisted living facilities thus benefiting senior elderly Americans. The latest move by Congress to cut down home health care tulsa to extend medicare to non-insured citizens may be a welcome move but this may have some deteriorating effect on long term care tulsa facilities for senior citizens in the US who may not be in a position to visit hospital for treatment.
