Rights cannot be enforced if they are not known. Whenever anything is in question regarding the care of a resident in a care facility, ask questions and keep the lines of communication open. Otherwise, the resident’s rights may be compromised. Make inquiries with your loved one frequently about their care as a resident, how they are treated and if all of their needs are being met.
What are some resident rights? According to the Alzheimer’s Association, a resident’s basic rights are as follows:
If a person cannot exercise his or her rights, someone else must act to protect them. A person in residential care has the right to:
(source: http://www.alz.org/national/documents/carefinder_topicsheet_knowrights.pdf)
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get information
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participate in care
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make choices
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voice complaints
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be treated with dignity and respect in privacy and confidentiality
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have possessions stored securely
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leave one facility and transfer to another
Above all, patients have the right to privacy. If this right is compromised in any way and they are unable to communicate this issue, someone must be made available (friends, family, another staff member, etc.) to help them voice their grievances. When these services are not made available to them, and a resident’s privacy is continuously compromised, many states view this treatment as abuse. This is where advocates are necessary to help residents retain and enforce their rights.
Other rights include the resident’s choice about when they want to go to bed at night, and when they want to rise in the morning. Some facilities like to keep their residents on a schedule, but the key is finding a facility that will create that schedule around the resident’s predetermined choices and schedules. Otherwise, the experience becomes to institutional-like or prison-like. No one wants to see their loved one in a situation like that.
Tags: Alzheimer's Association, Assisted Living Facility, privacy rights, resident rights, senior rights
