Elder1y Advocates Welcomes Working with Long Term Care Facilities

Elderly Advocates welcomes working with long term facilities that strive to give quality care to residents and work with families with challenges they face.

Founder's Thoughts.....

We will keep getting this message out. This organization wants to work with long term care facilities that have intentions to give acceptable care to their residents. There are so many things that we can work together to improve things. Family councils should be welcomed to have that communication between the facility and the familes. It can reduce complaints by addressing issues and concerns the famies have. We will try to find the way to get more volunteers for activities so that maybe good aides can get better pay. We can educate our policy makers that not enough money is being paid to the long term facilities to take care of Medicaid residents. We can work to find ways to give meals to the residents that are of better quality. We can work towards volunteers to come in and just fill water containers or help transport a patients to different parts of the building. Families can do easy fundraisers or bake sales to provide special events. Facilities can be proud of their efforts to take care of their residents. We want the good facilities to thrive. It's an important and difficult businesses taking care of people that are in challanged situations, but we can work together to make it one of the most gratifying businesses to be in. We work to fill the beds of facilities that care.

We know there are good nursing homes, good nurses and aides out there. We value them deeply! However, we must do something about the ones that cut corners at the resident's expense, the ones that put high profit over care, the ones that have this systems of labeling family members that speak up as trouble makers and at times convincing other family members they trouble maker is the problem, when in fact, most times the so called trouble maker sees through the lies. We have never heard or seen of so many family members being banned from facilities or in fear of them. Facilities should encourage families to get through these times together, when in fact, we see them split the families against each other. We are not out of line to be upset about abuse, neglect and unsafe care. We are not out of line to be upset that some of these facilities are not even humane for people to live in.

This comes from someone who finds it unacceptable that her uncle fell 5 times in one week only in the bathroom because no one would help him pull up his pants. This comes from a person who saw her uncle's lips all dried out and having nightmares because no one would bring him water. This comes from a person that had lies said about her to ban her from the property because she spoke up about things that were not right or acceptable. This comes from a person that the facility did drive a wedge between her and her uncle for a short time, until he found out the niece was right and he got tossed out on the street pretty much without her in the picture to advocate for him during those few months they drove a wedge. But in the end, the could not break that special bond the uncle and neice had all their lives..

The most sad part, is when people contact us, I already know their story, it is all the same, just the name changes. How can so many of us be wrong and having the same exact issues ? How can anyone say we are just out to bash facilities? The care of our loved ones and treatment of families has become unacceptable in too many facilities and we will choose for some to judge us badly for trying to impove things and getting our loved ones the care they deserve. If a facility wants to provide the care they say they will, they should welcome us in helping them achieve that goal. If you are a facility that does not welcome us, we tend to think you have things to hide.

Paula