The following comments, provided by a concerned caregiver, are in regard to the article "Myths & Realities of Living in a Nursing Home" posted on this website.

Some of what you identify as realities are not accurate. My mother is in a Nursing Home. I have looked at many homes and feel (with the exception of very unreachable private homes) that hers is representative of most.

Myth #2. Reality. Truth is... most nursing home residents suffer from some form of dementia. The nursing home my mother is in has 162 residents. I would say 95% of them are experiencing some form of dementia, Alzheimers, stroke related memory alteration, mental slowness, etc.

Since my mother is mentally alert, but physically debilitated, she has little or no mental stimulation/companionship nor mentally stimulating activities. The facility does not try to find any activities she can join in and lack of staffing means that if there is an activity she can participate in they are not capable of putting her in her wheelchair and taking her to it.

Myth #3. Reality. There is no privacy in a nursing home! Light and noise levels are constantly unacceptable. You almost never can converse in peace and quiet and rooms are not private so you always must do everything and say everything within earshot of another resident.

Myth #8. Reality. Nursing Home residents do not receive adequate care. My mother does not receive appropriate, adequate care. The Nursing Home is short staffed. Staff is not adequately screened, nor adequately trained. Repeated incidents of neglect are reported, but response is poor. On an on-site level, the administrator and department heads do not really have much clout. At the State Level, forget it. The State is not willing to fix this problem and do not really have the amount of personel, nor the type of quality personel to fix this problem (frankly, I get the feeling they just don't care). Long Term Care Ombudsman - no teeth.

Myth #11. Reality. The food is awful. Poor from a nutritional standard. High-fat, Poor nutritional value, not appropriate to age nor diet specific requirements. It is of poor quality from beginning to end. Dietary staff is on hand - don't have a clue, much less the means to change the situation. Everything is dictated at the corporate level. The corporations are greed-driven, not care-driven. Fancy menu plans mean nothing. My mother has had a ruptured colon and needs a special diet. It is not provided. No one even inquires about it.

Myth #14. Reality. Medications are a real issue. If they are given appropriately (which is miraculous) they are often not renewed on a timely basis or not at all. It is nearly impossible to speak to the physician and he is usually in a big hurry. Most of the time all the doctor does is follow charts regarding patient, does not even see them. The charts are often inaccurate! Most nursing home physicians are not very familiar with the patients history and don't take (or have?) the time to familiarize themselves. Families must constantly stay on top of the situation.

Myth #17. Reality. The average Nursing Home Resident does not get much attention from the agencies that monitor complaints/problems. They do not even have an opportunity to be heard. If they are quite elderly and do not have a close family member advocating for them they are lost. There are simply not enough people on site paying attention to their needs. How can these elderly, mentally impaired folks hope to attract attention except at the most extreme level - when they make the newspapers because of some extraordinary act of negligence. What does make the papers is only the tip of the iceburg.

In closing I would just like to say....

This situation in our nursing homes is at a crisis level. Every Senior organization (site) must be made aware of the problem Seniors will face at the point where they enter the long-term care maze. As part of a society that is living longer we must find ways to improve "Quality of Life".

I am not a hysterical person over-reacting to the situation and believe me I am one of many people who spend a great deal of time caring for their loved one who is in a nursing home. On the wing that my mother resides in there are several other families who care for their loved one on a daily basis. And I mean hands-on care! We wash them, we change them, we bring them food, we follow their medical plans. We advocate on their behalf. We belong to family councils and are in touch with our long-term care ombudsman. Most do this in addition to full time jobs! We are all middle-aged or better and we did not expect to be in this situation. Our own families do not get the attention they deserve and we are t-i-r-e-d.

If this Senior Site can do anything to bring this huge problem closer to public awareness I hope you do it.

From LSDCD@aol.com

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