Elder Care in Harvestland

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Elder Care in Harvestland

• Great Harvest Public Health Department
• Council in Geriatric Care

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Overview

• Poor standards exist in nursing homes
• Key issues and concerns
• Solutions for better emergency preparedness

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Message 1

• Elder care in nursing homes and assisted living
  facilities inadequate in addressing needs of
  elders
• especially in times of emergency
• and/or crisis.

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Devastation in New Orleans

• 34 residents of St. Ritas nursing home died as a
  result of criminal negligence.
• Owners and staff did not evacuate residents
• 34 counts of negligent homicide have been filed
  no convictions as of yet
• (Source CNN News (9/13/05)

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Elderly Most Vulnerable

• A majority of people killed by Hurricane Katrina
  were older residents unable or unwilling to
  evacuate in the rising floodwaters
• Source http//www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/23/katrina.
  deaths.ap/index.html

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Inadequate care in Harvestland

• Only 3 out of 9 nursing
• facilities have consistent staff/patient ratio
• No nursing facilities have an operational
  emergency preparedness plan
• Recent fire shows need to develop
• a plan of action

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DHHS Recommendations

• Minimum of two hours of care
• each day from nurses aides
• Patients receive at least 12 minutes
• a day of care from registered
• nurses.
• Source http//archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/aging/
  07/24/nursing.homes.ap/index.html

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Message 2

• Staff turnover is extremely high and is a
  contributing factor
• Increase staff training
• More rigorous health care worker certification
  process
• Increase salaries and improve working conditions
  (e.g. schedules)
• Higher licensure requirements for institutions
  and personnel

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High Turnover

• Results from a recent U.S. Department of Health
  and Human Services study revealed understaffing
  contributes to increased patient incidences of
• severe bed sores
• malnutrition
• abnormal weight loss
• Source http//archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/07/26/
  nursing.home.danger/index.html

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High Turnover

• High turnover can lead to nursing facility
  residents vulnerable to injury or death.
• Low staff-to-patient ratio doesnt contribute to
  the safety/well-being of nursing residents.

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Message 3

• Comprehensive policies and procedures, such as
  emergency evacuation, must be established and
  practiced.

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Solutions

• Mandatory accreditation for nursing care homes
  and assisted living facilities in excess of those
  established by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
  Services (CMS)
• Establish operational procedure manuals and
  drills
• Modify and improve staff variables
• Increase facility and staff licensure
  requirements
• Increase salaries
• Improve schedules

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Medicare

• Improvements require continued Medicare and
  Medicaid funding
• Great Harvest Council in Geriatric Care advocates
  for reversal of cuts in Medicare reimbursement

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Emergency Preparedness

• Create emergency plans for each long term care
  facility to be reviewed by the DOH
• Practice drills on a regular basis

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Target Audience

• Target audience for this story include
• Harvestland baby-boomers
• Harvestland elderly
• Citizen watch groups
• Governors and legislators involved with funding

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Best news outlets

• Local Newspapers
• Harvestland Daily Tribune
• Smaller regional weekly papers
• Internet Outlets
• Harvestland Daily Tribune web publication

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Other Resources

• National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home
  Reform (http//www.nccnhr.org/)
• The US Administration on Aging (http//www.aoa.gov
  /)
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  (http//www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/survey-cert)