Register for our next Residents’ Rights webinar, happening on Thursday, November 21th!

Here’s a clip from our October 3rd webinar:

 

Long-term care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities, are a critical part of Washington’s long-term care services system. It is a long-held standard that individuals who reside in long-term care facilities receive appropriate services, be treated with courtesy, and continue to enjoy their basic civil and legal rights. Read more about residents rights in detail during our weekly series!

WEEK 1:

Assisted living and skilled nursing facility residents must have the opportunity to exercise reasonable control over life decisions. This means encouraging residents to make daily decisions that can promote independence and sense of self and supporting those decisions.  For example, a resident can be encouraged to choose what clothing to wear, what types of foods to select from the menu, and what types of activities to attend.  Even a resident with cognitive decline can make choices about one’s life that can offer a sense of control over life decisions.

WEEK 2:

Residents in long term care facilities have rights to choose, participate, have privacy, and have the opportunity to engage in religious, political, civic, recreational, and other social activities foster a sense of self-worth and enhance the quality of life.  Just like anyone living in a city or town across Washington state, residents in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities can start or continue participating in activities of their choice.  Religious and spiritual activities are encouraged and supported if the resident chooses to be active in these types of gatherings. Political and civic involvement do not cease when a resident moves to a long-term care facility; in fact, these activities can keep the resident involved in personal interests and in touch with the local community.  Recreational and social activities improve a person’s overall happiness and sense of life satisfaction.  Get creative!  Host a political debate in your facility or engage a team of resident and staff volunteers in a local civic-related event.

WEEK 3:

Residents in long term care facilities are to be cared for in a manner and in an environment that promotes maintenance or enhancement of each resident’s quality of life.  This is what person-centered care is all about! Getting to know each resident as an individual and infusing his or her habits, interests, preferences, needs, and wants into day-to-day life will certainly promote the resident’s overall quality of life.  Not only is this ‘getting-to-know-you” a good idea, it’s also a resident’s right!

WEEK 4:

A resident should have a safe, clean, comfortable, and homelike environment, allowing the resident to use his or her personal belongings to the extent possible. An assisted living or skilled nursing facility, while long-term locations where residents can receive care and services, are also designed to be as homelike as possible. Clean and well-maintained buildings promote resident safety.  Residents have the right to bring personal belongings; this enhances that homelike feel and can add a sense of calm.

WEEK 5:

All residents living in a long-term care facility have the right to a dignified existence, self-determination, and communication with and access to persons and services inside and outside the facility.  Just because a resident is living or staying in an assisted living or skilled nursing facility does not mean they lose their rights as a citizen of the United States and Washington. They deserve dignity and respect, the ability to make decisions to the best of their ability, and to communicate with anyone of their choosing both inside and outside the facility.

WEEK 6:

A long term care facility must protect and promote the rights of each resident and assist the resident to exercise their rights. The resident has the right to exercise his or her rights as a resident of the facility and as a citizen or resident of the United States and the state of Washington. Getting to know each resident means learning what is important to them and supporting them in exercising their rights as a resident, an individual, and a citizen or resident of Washington and the United States.  This might mean working with families to educate them on the importance of advocating for their loved one to support their quality of life.

WEEK 7:

The resident has the right to be free of interference, coercion, discrimination, and reprisal from the facility in exercising his or her rights. No one – not facility staff, visitors, a resident’s family, or anyone else – can interfere with or coerce a resident to exercise or NOT exercise his or her rights.  A resident cannot be punished or otherwise discriminated against for expressing the rights given as a citizen and resident of Washington and the United States. The facility staff is essential in ensuring a resident can express rights freely and without reprisal.

WEEK 8:

The facility must inform the resident both orally and in writing in a language that the resident understands his or her rights and all rules and regulations governing resident conduct and responsibilities during the stay in the facility. This is generally reviewed during the resident’s admission or move-in process. Most facilities have a sheet detailing resident rights outlined in RCW 70.129 as well as “house rules” best described in a resident handbook or similar.  It is essential these documents, however they are packaged, are reviewed verbally with the resident as well as in written format; this allows for questions and answers.