Do we have valid concerns?

We can’t say enough, we feel our long-term care system is broken and in need of immediate repair. What is suppose to work, does not. We are not bored sitting around thinking how can we cause trouble today. We simply want our loved ones ot live out thier lives with respect, maintain their dignity and receive acceptable care. Is this too much to ask for our elders now and in the future growing elderly population? We have to sit and watch our elders not getting the care they deserve. We have to watch families being labeled trouble makers for bring up concerns or complaints. Many times they are silenced by being banned or restricted from visiting their loved one. This is a volunerable population that needs protected just from a human rights positon alone. We can’t ignore this or stay silent anymore. This becomes a matter of life and death in the outcomes that we see many times. This traumatizes the familes and leaves lasting effects on thier lives that they could not do more in a system set up to fail them. This is one of the challenges the families need immediate help with.

We want to share our first experience working with the ODH in assiting a family member on this page. At this point, we want to believe that maybe there needs to be better vetting of who is best able process paperwork and to supervise investigations. We can't improve care without knowing what supports are in need of repair. Our findings:

1. Credible evidence important to the investigation was not used in the investigation, it was "lost"?
2. A second complaint was not investigated and not included in original complaint or investigated seperately.
3. The person making allegations in the complaint is not considered as credible as the facilty defending the allegations and has the potential to be cited.
4. The investigators tend to believe that a family member has "behavior issues" without any specific incidents given, no prior police reports before the complaint, and no unpaid or unbiased witnesses, is is believed simply because the facility says so.
5.The family member is looked unfavorable if they have made comments they will sue the facilty or anyone else. This shows level of frustration and obvious need to go higher. It is their right to sue if that is the only option left for them.This should be a flag the family is not getting any assistance from the facility on the issue(s) they are facing.
6. In these investigations, the facility gets a chance to have the last say. The person filing a complaint does not get final input to correct anything the facility has said or claimed.Also no opportunity to speak up that evidence was left off, or an allegation was not addressed. It falls through the cracks right here.
7. Allegations are included in the report against the person filing the complaint, and they have no access as what has been alleged against them and documented in a report. They cannot see the report if it is not substantiated. Why is this?Any person should be able to view and defend themselves when allegations are made against them. This causes confusion that these are not proven statements, simply allegations.
8. It appears that the families need solid proof of their allegations and the facilities need no proof.

We now can see why there is such a low number of substantiated complaints. We have seen close to 1,000 people make complaints and less than 300 get substantiated. We are always left with something that attempts to make us feel better, however, does not. What we are left with is the common saying, "we believe you, we know this probably did happen, but if we can't substantiate it". Translation: We need to have an investigation system that works!

We use this example to bring awarness this is the challenge of many families and we get this example heard and seen to make change happen! This is a story close to home.