The best way to protect the rights of an elderly loved one is to know specifically what they are, and then making sure that they are not infringed upon. This is most applicable to individuals living in assisted living facilities and nursing homes, but all people do have rights, and they need to be protected. By looking out for a loved one and their senior rights, you will be doing them a great service.
Many issues are easy to prevent. For example, if your loved one has advanced medical needs or medications that need to be taken at precise times, letting those in charge of their care know about this can enable them to make sure that the proper care steps are taken with more ease and caution. Also, looking at a few different facilities before finalizing your decision will help you to make a better choice. By giving yourself choices, you can choose the best service with the most highly trained caregivers. Compassion is an important virtue to look for wherever you look for care, and some services look for it when they hire employees, while–sadly–others do not.
If you have a loved one living in a senior care home of some variety, it is important that you know the people that you should contact in the event of an incident. The ombudsman is usually a good place to start. This is a volunteer that has been put in place of improving life at the facility. Most government sponsored care organizations have these in place, especially those that have residents that rely on Medicaid or Medicare for their health insurance. Regardless of the institution that your loved one is in, though, there should be a method for reporting concerns. If all else fails, contacting the police first and elder protective services second will be your best course of action.
Preventing abuse is the most effective way to keep your family members safe when they are being cared for away from home. Other methods can keep care in the house, such as in-home care or the occasional respite care, but this doesn’t completely eliminate the possibility of neglect or abuse occurring. It’s unfortunate, but you always need to be on the guard from this. The benefit of in-home care is that the odds of it happening are far smaller, and you have more control over the situation in the rare event that it does happen. Also, when you go with a caregiver service that performs background checks and provides better training, many of the caregivers that would be prone to such an action–even if it is only done unintentionally–are taken out of the mix.
Some types of instances are more preventable than others. For example, falls are considered a reportable incident in most areas, mostly because they can be prevented with precautionary measures. These include better shoes, clear walkways, handrails, and provisions for getting around, such as a walker or a wheelchair. Having assistance when residents are getting around is also available if needed. Look for these things and make sure that measures are already in place if you want your loved one to be as safe as possible.
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