The concern to guarantee the rights of older adults has been present, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts point out that older adults should know that they have the right to be treated with dignity and respect.
"All individuals have rights that must be respected and protected," said Blanca Castro, a long-term care advocate for the state of California, at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services where experts gathered to discuss the problems faced by residents of care centers.
And it is that in California there are at least 300,000 older adults in nursing homes who are sometimes unaware or unaware that they have the right to receive dignified treatment.
“Just by going into a long-term care facility, you're still the same person you were before you went in. You still have a name, a family, you still matter," Castro declared.
He also pointed out that «the office of the Ombudsman? Defender? It is not a police agency, but it does ensure that the rights of people who are in nursing homes and long-term care residences are protected.
He also pointed out that the Ombudsman is in charge of being the voice of the elderly and care homes.
Castro said that last year he received more than 40,000 complaints, which ranged from being discharged inappropriately to not administering medication.
For his part, Hagar Dickman, a lawyer for California Justice in Aging, pointed out that the Nursing Homes Reform Act allows them to be regulated and that the centers are obliged to provide the highest level of care they can offer.
Likewise, Dickman stressed the importance of both residents and their families knowing their rights.
"Residents have the right to be free from physical restraints, unless they are used to treat medical conditions or symptoms, and the consent of the resident or a family member is necessary," he said.
Issues with staff affect residents
Anna Chodos, a professor of geriatrics at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), pointed out that since the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in diseases, the number of nurses has been reduced.
For his part, Jerry Kirouac, advocate for the Long-Term Care Agency in Northern California, said that sometimes the nursing home staff are apathetic and that "they go for the paycheck and if it's low, they decide the minimum of work”, for which he pointed out the need for nurses and workers to be properly trained.
Kirouac was also in a veterans residence, so some of them shared their experience and pointed out the importance of solving administration problems, since most of the time, complaints do not reach the corresponding instances and therefore, the problems are not fixed.
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