CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Nursing home residents encouraged to speak up for their rights

The Patriot Ledger - 10/23/2019

RANDOLPH -- Marilyn Harovas and Beverly Yankopoulos are sisters from Fall River who wound up living together again a year ago as roommates at John Adams HealthCare in Quincy. They had been living at the Braemoor Health Center in Brockton when it closed. This week they were among more than 100 residents and staff of area nursing homes who were treated to the annual ombudsman luncheon of South Shore Elder Services in Braintree at the Lantana in Randolph.

"The activities are one of the most important things," Harovas said when asked what mattered the most to her quality of life in a long-term care center. Her favorite, bingo, "has great prizes." Yankopoulos said the nursing aides and other staff "enjoy interacting with the residents -- they'll do anything you ask."

"Life doesn't end once you come to a nursing home," said Charlene Murphy, the activities director at John Adams. "It's just another beginning."

"That's absolutely true," said Harovas, president of the John Adams Residents Council.

The South Shore Elder Services ombudsman program has been hosting the luncheon to celebrate National Residents Rights Month in October for 22 years. The theme of this year's event on Tuesday was "Stand for Quality" and residents were encouraged to remember that they have the right to make their own choices in many different ways in their daily lives.

South Shore Elder Services invited three residents, a certified nursing aide, and one activities staff member from each of the 22 facilities that it covers in 11 communities in its ombudsman program. Nineteen homes participated.

Marilyn Strauss, of Braintree, director of the ombudsman program, has 11 ombudsman volunteers and will train four more in December. She has been with the ombudsman program for 20 years.

"We work to make the quality of life and the care as good as it can be," Strauss said. "We want the residents to be able to advocate for themselves, to give them assistance where needed and to make sure they know their rights. We want them to move around in the community and have as much privacy, independence and respect as they can."

Residents must be aware, Strauss said, that they have the right to get up and go to bed when they want to, to have menu choices that they like and to choose their activities. Some residents go out to restaurants or shopping together.

Alison Weingartner, executive director of the nonprofit Massachusetts Advocates for Nursing Home Reform in Beverly, also urged the residents to become more active in learning about their rights and to speak up within their facilities.

"I hope to inspire and empower them," she said. The organization, MANHR, is 20 years old and is active statewide.

Attorney Wynn Gerhard from Greater Boston Legal Services in Boston and Carolyn Fenn from the state Office of Elder Affairs were also at the luncheon. Steve Tapper of Stoughton volunteered to provide music, playing the flute and other instruments before and during the meal.

South Shore Elder Services serves 11 area communities and trains volunteers to visit area nursing homes regularly and check with the residents on their needs and wishes. The ombudsmen are encouraged to build relationships with residents, their families and nursing home staff and to help residents and their families understand and work for their rights. The state oversees the ombudsman programs in Massachusetts,

The Lantana donated one of its function rooms along with the use of a kitchen. Brian White, food service director at Marina Bay Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing in Quincy, his son Eric White, food service director at Care One of Randolph, and chef Marlon Fraser of Rockland, volunteered to prepare the meal.

"Residents' Rights Month" is an annual campaign by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care to focus on the dignity, respect and the rights of every resident.

For more information, call South Shore Elder Services at 781-848-3910 or email Marilyn Strauss at mstrauss@sselder.org. A Resource Guide is available at the web site.

___

(c)2019 The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass.

Visit The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass. at www.patriotledger.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Nationwide News