Residents Have Rights

Our long-term care Ombudsman program has many volunteers who walk through facilities to visit with the residents. The volunteers see how the residents are doing, observe the physical appearance and watch interactions with the staff members.

Last month one of our volunteers had gone to an Assisted Living facility. Just before the volunteer arrived a resident named Barbara had fallen. Barbara was still on the floor when the volunteer walked in. By this time the staff had met with the resident who was shaken from the fall but physically alright. The volunteer observed the Assistant Director come in to do a final check over and said, “I am going to have to let your son know you had another fall”. Barbara asked the Assistant Director to not call her son because she did not want him to know. The Assistant Director said he was sorry but he had to let him know.

Residents have rights. Even if Barbara has assigned her son to be her power of attorney, she has the right to say she does not want him to be informed of her fall. Many family members, as well as long-term care facilities, are not aware that a person can revoke a power of attorney at any time. These are issues the Ombudsman discuss and educate facilities about on a regular basis.

A few days after the incident an Ombudsman went back to speak with the Assistant Director about Barbara’s right to say “no”. The Assistant Director stated he always respects the resident’s wishes and he would never make a call if he was told not to. Regardless of whose account of the conversation is accurate the Assistant Director was educated on Resident Rights. The Ombudsman will always respect and promote the resident’s right to self-determination.