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March 10, 2015
New Report from Texas LTCOP on Residents' Rights in Assisted Living Facilities
The 83rd Texas Legislature increased funding for long-term care ombudsmen to expand services to protect residents’ rights and regularly visit assisted living facilities (ALFs). In 2014, ombudsmen services to ALFs in Texas grew dramatically. This report describes ALFs in Texas, ombudsmen services, and recommendations to ensure the highest quality of life and care for residents.
Click here to view the report.
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Direct Care Alliance Finds New Home for Its Network at National Domestic Workers Alliance
After closing in 2014, Direct Care Alliance (DCA) searched for a new home for its members and network and has found it with the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). NDWA has been a strong and effective advocate for home care workers since its founding in 2007, and it seeks to transform care work in all settings. NDWA is all about creating strength in unity, just as DCA was. Like DCA, they do that partly by bringing workers together and partly by helping people to understand the need to improve direct care jobs in order to meet the growing demand for high-quality care. If you are a direct care worker, DCA invites you to become an NDWA member. And whatever your connection to direct care work, you can keep up with what NDWA is doing by signing up for its free email alerts.
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Consumer Voice Leadership Council Members Provide Insight in U.S. News Article
Consumer Voice Leadership Council Chair Brian Capshaw and Vice-Chair Mitzi McFatrich were recently quoted in an article from U.S. News & World Report entitled "Crucial Questions to Ask When You're Choosing a Nursing Home." Brian and Mitzi shared their insights on how to make a knowledgable choice when deciding on a nursing home for yourself or a loved one. Tips included making sure the nursing home location is realistic, checking nursing home survey ratings, asking questions about staffing, being specific about types and quality of care, talking to current residents about their experience at the facility, and learning more about dining options and activities. Read the article here.
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MANHR Board Members Present at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Commitee Conference
Last Friday, Arlene Germain, Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (MANHR) President, and Penny Shaw, MANHR Board Member and independent nursing home and disability advocate, participated in a group panel as part of the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee (MHLAC) one-day conference entitled “Navigating the Clinical and Legal Choices of Elders with Mental Health Issues”. MHLAC works to enhance and protect the rights of persons with mental health concerns in key areas most closely related to their ability to live full and independent lives free of discrimination.
Arlene and Penny participated in the Nursing Home Hot Topics panel that also included a Harvard medical instructor/psychiatrist and two elder law attorneys. Arlene presented issues concerning the inappropriate use of psychoactive drugs with nursing home residents (click here for a resource document), and Penny discussed mental health issues in long-term care.
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Dr. Bill Thomas Publishes Blog Series on Culture Change
Dr. Bill Thomas recently published a series of blogs on ChangingAging.org. Dr. Thomas’ blogs announce a new “gloves off” attitude in his long-standing goal to achieve quality, person-centered care in nursing homes. He says in the title of his first blog, “The Culture Change Movement is Over.” Dr. Thomas decries the fact that there hasn’t been much improvement overall in care Americans can expect from nursing homes; he notes that while physical restraints are largely gone, they have been replaced by chemical restraints. In his third blog, he calls for locally-based consumer education and activism as well as licensing reform to shake up nursing home practices. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of the blog series.
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New Resources on CMS's HCBS Rules Now Available
In early 2014, CMS finalized new rules that define the characteristics of a Home & Community-based Services (HCBS) setting. The new standards aim to improve HCBS quality and ensure individuals who receive Medicaid HCBS services can engage and fully participate in community life, better control and coordinate their care, and have opportunities to seek employment in competitive settings. States have now had over a year to develop transition plans to ensure their current HCBS settings will come into compliance with the new rules by March 2019. The National Health Law Program has compiled comments and state samples as a useful starting point if your state has a draft transition plan out for public comment. Justice in Aging, along with other national disability and aging organizations, have put together a Q&A written for advocates and the general public to explain the transition process and what the rules do and do not require. Justice in Aging has additional resources on the new rule here.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Holds Hearing, Releases Report on Forced Arbitration; Illustrates Need to Eliminate Such Clauses in Long-Term Care Facility Admission Agreements
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report and held a hearing focusing on the use of forced, pre-dispute arbitration clauses in financial contracts. For those who may be unfamiliar, forced pre-dispute arbitration agreements require consumers to agree in advance to resolve disputes through an arbitration process instead of a court of law. Residents of long-term care facilities and their families are often the victim of such arbitration clauses in long-term care facility admission contracts that must be signed before admission into a nursing home, assisted living facility or other long-term care setting. Such agreements unfairly compel consumers and their family members to resolve any disputes that might arise regarding abuse, neglect or poor care within a facility through an arbitration process as opposed to a court of law, stripping these individuals of their constitutional right to a trial by jury. Furthermore, a forced arbitration clause may be buried within the fine print of a very lengthy facility admission agreement and go unnoticed given the huge amount of paperwork that must be signed during the admissions process and the stress that moving to a facility can cause.
By releasing a report and conducting a hearing on the use of pre-dispute, forced arbitration agreements in financial contracts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has highlighted the unfair nature of such clauses in consumer contracts. Consumer Voice now urges CFPB to publish a rule barring the use of these agreements in financial contracts where they have authority to do so as a way to begin eliminating their use across all consumer contracts, including long-term care facility contracts. Furthermore, we also call on Congress to reintroduce and pass the Arbitration Fairness Act. For more information on pre-dispute, forced arbitration and the Arbitration Fairness Act, visit our website here.
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Briefly Noted...
- After 43 years, the National Senior Citizen's Law Center has changed its name and is now Justice in Aging, which can be found online at www.justiceinaging.org.
- Getting annoying calls from telemarketers? Contact the National DO NOT CALL Registry at 1-888-382-1222 or online at www.donotcall.gov.
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Spotlight on Giving: Sponsor the Gazette
Consumer Voice is now accepting sponsorship for each weekly issue of The Gazette. As a benefit of sponsorship, the contributor may honor, remember, or thank an individual or organization. For more information, click here or contact Richard Gelula at rgelula@theconsumervoice.org
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Spotlight on Educational Resources
The Consumer Voice and the National Ombudsman Resource Center have a multitude of resources available online covering a wide range of long-term care topics. Visit the Consumer Voice website and the NORC website to explore all the available resources. Take a look at this week's highlighted resource:
Resident to Resident Aggression - Newly released from the Consumer Voice and the National Center on Elder Abuse, this brochure (and large print fact sheet) identifies mistreatment, shares information about an individual's rights, and offers resources where they can go for help. The brochure and fact sheet are also available for purchase in the Consumer Voice store.
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In this Issue
New Report from Texas LTCOP on Residents' Rights in Assisted Living Facilities
Direct Care Alliance Finds New Home for Its Network at National Domestic Workers Alliance
Consumer Voice Leadership Council Members Provide Insight in U.S. News Article
MANHR Board Members Present at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Commitee Conference
Dr. Bill Thomas Publishes Blog Series on Culture Change
New Resources on CMS's HCBS Rules Now Available
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Holds Hearing, Releases Report on Forced Arbitration; Illustrates Need to Eliminate Such Clauses in Long-Term Care Facility Admission Agreements
Briefly Noted...
Spotlight on Giving: Sponsor the Gazette
Spotlight on Educational Resources
4.1 It CAN Be Done!
As part of our nursing home staffing campaign, Better Staffing: The Key to Better Care, Consumer Voice is advocating for a minimum of 4.1 hours of nursing care per resident per day. To show your support of this campaign, individuals can send us a photo with the slogan "4.1 - It CAN Be Done" by tweeting us pictures @ConsumerVoices, posting on our Facebook or emailing your photos to info@theconsumervoice.org. Get the word out and encourage consumers to participate by sending in their photos too!
Calendar of Events
April 20-22: HealthCare Chaplaincy Network's Caring for the Human Spirit Conference, Orlando, FL
Wednesday April 29: Delivering Your Message in Person: The Nuts and Bolts of Meeting with a Key Decision Maker, Advocacy skills training webinar from the Consumer Voice
Tuesday, June 30: Delivering Your Message: Utilizing Both Traditional Approaches and Social Media, Advocacy skills training webinar from the Consumer Voice
Thursday, August 27: How to Grow, Support, and Activate Your Network, Advocacy skills training webinar from the Consumer Voice
October: Residents' Rights Month, CARE Matters
November 5-7, 2015: Consumer Voice 39th Annual Conference, Crystal City, Virginia
Your Car Can Help Promote Quality Care
Do you, a loved one or friend have a car that you or they would like to dispose of? Now, Consumer Voice can help – and your used car can help Consumer Voice! By working with our car disposal agency, Vehicle Donation to Any Charity (V-DAC), the proceeds from the sale of your car become a contribution to Consumer Voice.
Note: We are actually registered with the service as “NCCNHR” so when asked which charity you would like to benefit, just say or type in “NCCNHR.”
Here is a link to our page on the V-DAC site http://v-dac.com/org?id=52-1122531 and you can get started there – or just call 877-999-8322 toll free. And to discuss your donation with Consumer Voice, just write to us at info@theconsumervoice.org or call (202) 332-2275 x209
Join the conversation and follow us on social media!
Last Week's Most Popular Post:
Tuesday, March 3:
On February 20, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the re-calibration of quality ratings and other improvements to the Nursing Home Five Star Quality Ratings on Nursing Home Compare.
Last Week's Most Popular Tweet:
Wednesday, March 4:
#DaylightSaving Time begins Sunday at 2:00am. Be sure to tell LTC consumers & workers so they are in synch
Long-Term Care Resources & News
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