As many of you know, we are collectively facing devastating cuts to state funded programs serving the elderly, disabled and low-income families. At risk, according to the Institute on Aging, are 36,000 frail elderly statewide, and over a thousands of elderly in the Bay Area alone. For many seniors eligible for nursing care in the San Francisco Bay Area, they will only be able to remain living in their homes with the assistance of these state funded programs.
Programs that the state could drastically reduce funding to or eliminate include:
Multi Purpose Senior Service Program (MSSP) providing vital social and healthcare management and services to four hundred San Francisco community members (over ten thousand statewide).
www.ioaging.org/services/programs/mssp/
Adult Day Health Centers (ADHC) are licensed medical model day care programs for seniors, providing a variety of health, therapeutic, and social services to those at risk of being placed in nursing homes. These programs stress partnership with the participant, the family, the physician, and other community resources in working together to maintain personal independence.
www.ioaging.org/services/programs/adult_day/
Alzheimer’s Day Centers (ADC) offering specialized care to those with all stages of memory loss, as well as support and education for their families and caregivers.
www.ioaging.org/services/programs/alzheimers_day_care/
The implications of these cuts are that if these budget cuts pass, many individuals could end up needlessly institutionalized. In addition to the loss of their dignity and identity in our community, California does not have the facilities for this flood of nursing home residents. Furthermore, if only 11 percent go to nursing care, it will cost the state just as much as the proposed cuts.
In just two years, ten thousand baby boomers will turn 65 every day. We need to speak up about this impending social crisis.
What you can do:
Write to your legislator www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html. Thousands of letters are being sent in each day, these letters are being read and considered! Please take just five or 10 minutes in the next two days to let our legislators know that we care about the lives of our growing senior population and we need to find ways to care for them that make financial and social sense!
Advocate:
Many organizations need passionate people to help advocate for seniors and educate the community about these threats that affect our budget. It can be as simple as letting all your friends and family know this is happening, or as involved as running up to Sacramento to shout on the capitol’s steps! Let’s talk about what you can do!
Keep volunteering!
Agencies serving elderly need the support of the community now more than ever! From program development and support, to assisting staff at the ADHC’s, to simply talking to a lonely or frightened elder on the phone or visiting them in their home - there are endless ways to be involved.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tips and Tricks for Nursing Care Selection
Selecting nursing care is a little bit like dating. It’s daunting, not always fun and who knows if the meal you might get out of it will be any good.
According to Medicare.gov the Five-Star Quality Rating System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas to ask questions about along the way. This rating system is based the result of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), a nursing home reform law, and more recent quality improvement campaigns such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a coalition of consumers, health care providers, and nursing home professionals.
Nursing homes vary in the quality of care and services they provide to their residents. The experts say, some of the most important things to do are to visit the nursing homes under consideration and keep in mind the differences in how the inspection process varies from state to state, even though the standards are generally the same across the country. There are differences in state licensing requirements that affect quality, and in state Medicaid programs that pay for much of the care in nursing homes.
Other tips include looking at the overall number of staff compared to the number of residents and how many of the staff are trained nurses. Quality is generally better in nursing homes that have more staff who work directly with residents. It is important to ask nursing homes about their staff levels, the qualifications of their staff, and the rate at which staff leave and are replaced.
Check out the System at: http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/ProximitySearch.asp?bhcp=1
Dan Frith, Attorney and featured Blawgger recommends that families and individuals look out for nursing homes requiring that a family member signs the Admission Contract as a "Responsible Party." The Nursing Home Reform Law (Section 483.12(d)(2) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations) prohibits a nursing home from requiring a family member or friend to become financially liable for nursing home expenses of the resident, Frith states, adding, that the signature of a family member or friend can only be required when the individual is signing on the resident's behalf. In other words, the signature of a family member or friend can only be required when they are signing as "power of attorney," "guardian," or "conservator," for the resident.
We know how important, delicate and confusing it can be to select a care facility that loved ones can call home. Through the bevy of resources available to us, a little handy work in connecting the dots and looking out for each other, perhaps together we can find care that adequately fits the needs of our aging community and at the very least, make a new friend along the way.
According to Medicare.gov the Five-Star Quality Rating System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas to ask questions about along the way. This rating system is based the result of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), a nursing home reform law, and more recent quality improvement campaigns such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a coalition of consumers, health care providers, and nursing home professionals.
Nursing homes vary in the quality of care and services they provide to their residents. The experts say, some of the most important things to do are to visit the nursing homes under consideration and keep in mind the differences in how the inspection process varies from state to state, even though the standards are generally the same across the country. There are differences in state licensing requirements that affect quality, and in state Medicaid programs that pay for much of the care in nursing homes.
Other tips include looking at the overall number of staff compared to the number of residents and how many of the staff are trained nurses. Quality is generally better in nursing homes that have more staff who work directly with residents. It is important to ask nursing homes about their staff levels, the qualifications of their staff, and the rate at which staff leave and are replaced.
Check out the System at: http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/ProximitySearch.asp?bhcp=1
Dan Frith, Attorney and featured Blawgger recommends that families and individuals look out for nursing homes requiring that a family member signs the Admission Contract as a "Responsible Party." The Nursing Home Reform Law (Section 483.12(d)(2) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations) prohibits a nursing home from requiring a family member or friend to become financially liable for nursing home expenses of the resident, Frith states, adding, that the signature of a family member or friend can only be required when the individual is signing on the resident's behalf. In other words, the signature of a family member or friend can only be required when they are signing as "power of attorney," "guardian," or "conservator," for the resident.
We know how important, delicate and confusing it can be to select a care facility that loved ones can call home. Through the bevy of resources available to us, a little handy work in connecting the dots and looking out for each other, perhaps together we can find care that adequately fits the needs of our aging community and at the very least, make a new friend along the way.
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