Mom is in a late altzheimer facility due to her need for hoyer lift.
A resident there urinates on the carpet daily, often unnoticed by staff. Often in front of my mom's room. Mom is now locked out ( or in) her room to keep him out of her room, as he's frequently soaked, and won't leave when asked. Also in the 6 weeks we've been there the call button and pull string systems fail to function properly, if at all. I've repeatedly pointed these things out to staff, but no fixes yet. Very frustrated.
What is the rating of this facility on the medicare.gov website?
Yes. it's easier for those on duty. You'd be surprised (or not) how many facilities do this.
Your observations are correct - they want all residents basically medicated so they don't have to deal with them - my mom's roommate who has no family looking in on her is in bed except for mealtime and usually I have to alert staff that she needs a diaper change
Is your mom's facility a private pay memory care or part of a Medicare facility ? As a private pay my understanding is that there is less oversight and so I'm not sure how much an ombudsman would be able to intervene - our facility is owned by a chain in turn owned by a REIT
The contributors have conducted a review of many papers, and they conclude that risk of serious injury actually *falls* when restraints are removed from a skilled nursing facility's range of options.
What they do not address - I re-read in vain - is the impact on *other* residents of an individual pacing, wandering or engaging in challenging behaviours.
We need to search more thoroughly. We need to organise. We need to get the strategic service planners and the academics and the researchers off their backsides and out of their ivory towers and in to the facilities, where they can show us how it is done. Or at least see a bit of real life, up close and personal.
I am not saying that I think restraints are marvellous, I think they're horrible. But the alternatives never seem to be pinned down by name. There's lots of talk about 'individual care needs' and 'patient-focused planning' and none that I can see about what *exactly* an aide is supposed to do when her burly male patient is standing peeing all over the dining room and punches her when she attempts to intervene.
I was looking to see if anyone had researched this topic professionally and made helpful suggestions. All I found was attitudes that made me feel frustrated and angry. I hope you will find good answers, and I hope the Ombudsmen or the facilities' senior managers will sit up and take notice.
The same man pees all over the place and no one will stop him because he becomes violent which apparently is okay as well
Memory care and especially big memory care is not a place for an elderly woman with dementia - I'm trying to determine the next placement for my mom but there are just so few options
If you'd like to private message me please do so - from my perspective complaints to the executive director have been useless
And, if after a reasonable amount of time to correct this problem, you see no change, it's time to bring in the Ombudsman for the facility.