Elder Abuse Is A Serious Problem

Elder Abuse POLICY STATEMENT

 Over 3 million cases of elder abuse are reported yearly, this according to the national council of aging. The council also states that over half of these cases are not reported. It is not a great thing to think about. These adult care homes are places that most elderly persons are brought to come and relax and enjoy comfortable conditions. The owner or key administrators of these places are to make sure that the place is very safe and reside-able. It wouldn't be a great news to hear that one of the adult occupant is getting abused or has been abused. These things happens daily in several other care homes and are often perpetrated by those least expected to commit the crime. It is the duty of the adult care home to take great steps in making sure they don't get this problem.

PROCEDURE 

The care home shall screen new staff very well. This is in a bid to find out who they are and what they've done. Make sure to do proper home checks on the new employees and staff. The usual checks and screenings shouldn't be enough, the employment department at these care homes are to truly make they do these checks properly. • Signs of abuse and molestation should be communicated to staffs in the care homes. Since staffs and several other personnels attend to the occupants everyday, it is very important to brief them on the various signs of abuse. They should be and must be able to identify of any of the adult occupants has been or is being abused. • Abuse policy trainings should be and must be conducted on a consistent basis so as to make sure that staffs understand the general implications of these things. • The adult home care facility will ensure to make provisions for a swift and efficient reporting process. The administrators or director or staff that possess as the person to be reported to just be very efficient and that person must be known by everyone and approached when they are faced with abuse should be well communicated to everyone. • It is very important to appoint someone who is attentive and homely considering how sensitive the case is. • Include information in new employee/staff orientation as well as new intake orientation. If peradventure you make any changes to the existing reporting process, try as much as possible to notify families, residents, and staff immediately. • Investigate each and every single concerns and complaints made. Ignoring any concerns or complaints makes you look like you don’t care about your home occupants. Respond immediately to show they can trust you and that abuse is not acceptable in your home. Assuming that something is an isolated incident or being exaggerated, this will definitely result in massive loss of staff and occupants. And they are more likely to send their concerns to law enforcement or licensing department without your prior knowledge or anything.

Memory Assessments for residents. POLICY STATEMENT 

The adult care home is required to carry out a certain degree of analysis and cross-check on each and every new resident. This is just a means to enable them better understand the residents physical, medical as well as dietary needs. Memory assessments are very important and should be done periodically. This assessment tends to help facilities in measuring their residents cognitive ability as well as changes in these abilities when carrier out on a regular basis. PROCEDURE The facility is expected and required to conduct the memory analysis and cross-checks, which may actually sound scary and 'non-neccesary' to some residents but is very valuable. It will help in telling how the residents are faring over time, whether they are progressing or not. The three major items to include in the residents assessment are: • History Review; This is done by the facility to residents when they arrive the first time. They include general questions about they family history. Questions to find out if any of their family members have dementia or Alzheimer's. In cases where the answer is yes, the staff interviewing should be sure to find out the age the ailment started. The facility shoud also as the residents as well as their family members to rate their current cognitive ability with what it was some five, six years back. • Carrying out screening tests; These adult care homes should endeavor to carry out these screening tests immediately they have new residents and repeated on each resident yearly. The aim of the test will be to provide information to the resident before later asking them to actually recall that information randomly. It could be a name or maybe an address but ensure to tell them you will be needing it later. The staff in charge could also see if the residents can count back from 20 down or arrange a set of alphabets. The staff can then tell the residents to provide the name and address at the end of the section. • • Interviewing residents family members; The care facilities should also try to family members of those under their care when they come visiting. Ask them if they notice any change in the residents memory or if the resident is having any difficulty recalling past events.

Assessment of care levels POLICY STATEMENT

 It's absolutely very important for everyone to understand the fact that each and every one of the adults at these adult care homes come with their own demand and certain level of care. Understanding this as an adult home manager or director will do you a lot of good before the admission of new occupants. Great assessment of the homes care levels is a great way for the administrators to truly understand how best to offer their services to these occupants and also determine the best way to run the organization yearly. A good assessment of care levels will go a long way in helping these homes to understand their occupancy varied needs thereby making them effective in providing and caring for these needs without issues. Majority of these needs come in form of health care, general body care, other activities and needs that would generally be dismissed at first thought. PROCEDURES It is very important for each one of these care homes to own assessment of care levels tools. assisted living facility to have a level of care assessment tool. If any of the homes does not have one, they should use these; • The adult care homes need to find an assessment of care levels tool. • There are lots of free assessment of care levels for adult homes level out there which staff of the homes in question can quickly purchase and make use of. • The adult care homes need to ascertain their assessment of care levels for all their occupants. This process shall be started as soon as the tool is acquired by the home. All of the occupants in the care home shall be alerted as well as their family members and/or power of attorney. The occupants are to be part of the decision and assessment. All of these present should go through a series of assessment questions and answers to determine if the care levels they've been receiving is good enough. • Attach all of the assessment of care levels done as part of the homes new policies and well as procedures. This is to ensure that the home carries out these assessment on all new intakes in the home and to ensure it is done in the presence of their relatives. • Make sure to establish a follow up care analysis policy. • The major aim here is to ensure that these care homes are facility is clear on when and how regularly they should be carrying out these assessment of care level checks. Typically one of the proven best method of doing this assessment of care is to do them on the facilities new intakes the moment they come. With a follow up test coming just after 99 days. 

Residents rights POLICY STATEMENT

 Some of the most perfect care homes in several states are those owned by dedicated and committed administrators. They tend to create comfortable living environment for all of their residents and creating these environments require total dedication as well as knowledge and time. As a matter of fact, all states have their very own rules and guidelines that guide how to start as well as manage these adult care homes home as well as ways they can manage their residents. One of the major rules is that which goes on to say that your residents have rights. One of the very first rights came into law around year 1987 and it came under the NHRA (Nursing Home Reform Act). It was earlier made for homes that offered all kinds of health care for people and was only created to ensure home livers had the best care. 

PROCEDURES 

Just like these law postulates, every state that has adult care homes actually has their their very own unique occupant rights. Some of these laws and right's that is needed in almost every state are: • Every occupant has rights to live in an environment promoting peace of mind and respect. • All adult home occupants are free to select their physician of choice. • All occupants shall be free from all kinds of staff abuse. • All residents should and will be treated equally, kindly and well. • All adult home occupants posses rights not to be held in restraints. • All adult home occupants should participate in making their own care decisions. • All adult home occupants are free to actually speak and interact freely with their family members and friends that are outside the home • All adult home occupants have the right to either accept or reject any drugs of choice with good reasons of side effects. • All adult home resident shall keep their personal effects as they see fit. • All adult home occupants are free to wear their choice clothes so long as it's decent.

Hurricane season at the facility POLICY STATEMENT 

Hurricane seasons are one of those compulsory seasons where each and every adult care homes in a hurricane zone must be prepared for. It is essential that your home prepares for hurricane now before it comes, because when it does it is devastating. Hurricanes come with severe high and misty winds, as well as great amount of rainfall and downpour. They have a habit of causing destruction and genuine havoc to the communities they attack. The plan that the adult care home creates today will go a long way in ensuring it is better ready to protect it's occupants and staff when the hurricane season does arrive. PROCEDURES It is essential to have an evacuation plan during hurricane seasons. The adult care homes are to create valid evacuation plans and place these evacuation plans at their homes. These plans must have the best route for all it's occupants and staff to take once disaster strikes. It should end at a common meeting place for all members, a well known place. The meeting place can be a normal zone where staff and members often meet or a very safe place that can offer vast protection for a lot of people in it. • The organizations emergency numbers should be kept active and up to date. It is essential to have an up-to-date and a very active emergency number now, so that when disaster strikes, the organization can easily reach out to their emergency support without having to worry about the number availability. The adult care homes should also ensure that these lines are open to all home inhabitants and their families as well as staff. • The organization should also try and make emergency kits available and ready for use. These emergency kits include those items that are necessary for the immediately care of members and home inhabitants in cases of emergency. Some of the most important ones are torchlight, drugs, water and food. • The adult care homes should also make sure to have a practical hurricane safety drill. This drill should be practiced once every 3 months as the hurricane season approaches. Practice makes perfect, hence it is very important to engage staff and home inhabitants in these drills. These drills will tell the areas that need adjustments during the actual event, it will also help set out expectations.