Agency program for the elderly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Agency program for the elderly - Essay Example The service that is going to be discussed here is National Long-Term-Care Ombudsman Program. This program is supported by US Administration of Aging and is executed from Ombudsman Resource Center at National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform at 1424 16th Street, NW, Suite 202, Washington, DC 20036. This is a joint funding program, where apart from the US Government, the local state governments and community agencies fund it additionally. Separate addresses are there for all state units, with the most common location being the State LTCOP in the State Unit of Aging. Information about them can be accessed at ttp://www.aoa.gov/pro/aoaprog/elder_rights/LTCombudsman/National_and_State_Data or http://www.ltcombudsman.org/ or http://www.ccal.org (LT-COP).As the word Ombudsman indicates, the state Ombudsman works in the area of the long-term care of the elders, where he serves as a trained advocate to protect the health, safety, welfare, and rights of the residents of nursing home, board and care facilities, and the assisted living facilities. The residents of all these facilities are aged, and many of them are frail and most often isolated from their communities. Very often while under care, these resident's rights have a chance to be violated, the quality of care may not match with the required standards, and therefore, their quality of life may not be attained that it is supposed to be attained. In fact literally, this program has been designed to investigate citizen's complaints against local or national government agencies that may be infringing on the citizen's rights. This term, ombudsman means friends who can provide information, advice, and guidance (Capezuti, EA., Siegler, EL., Mezey, MD, 2007). With an aim to review and improve the care processes, these officials facilitate change at local, state, and national levels. Numerous volunteers and paid staff employed in a long-term basis, regularly visit long-term care facilities to monitor care, observe the interactions between the staff and the residents, evaluate the physical environment of the care facility, and act as advocates for the residents who are more vulnerable due to lack of family, cannot speak, or are unable to speak for themselves. To be able to do this, each state designates a long-term care ombudsman who is responsible for developing a state-wide program in order to investigate, identify, and submit complaints on behalf of the residents. Typically, regionally they are located in area agencies on aging, but many of them are sponsored by private programs or legal agencies. The program, therefore, comprises of the work responsibilities of the ombudsman. As opposed to the conventional concepts, they are not surveyors or regulators. They are supposed to identify and solve the problems with care of the elderly in the care facilities. Hence, their role can be to identify and resolve the problems on behalf of the residents. Ideally, the OAA described roles include representation of the interests of the residents before government agencies. If the residents' interests are hampered in any way, they, through this program, are entitled to seek administrative, legal, or other means for redressal of the grievances and issues. The care home residents are consumers, and they have valid consumer rights. This program also facilitates consumer education, and thereby, they also serve as agents of facilitation of public comments on laws, policies, and, actions. This program, through the ombudsman, also seeks to provide technical supports for new or ongoing resident and f amily councils. Perhaps, the most important aspect of