Healthcare in Nursing Homes and Geriatric Facilities

Healthcare in Nursing Homes and Geriatric Facilities

Bindu Chunduri

Nursing homes are defined as institutions where elderly receive medical care and support, whereas geriatric facilities are hospital-like areas where medical procedures for the elderly are conducted, which are less common. The concept of nursing homes is variable based on different parts of the world. In the United States, great emphasis is placed on the concept of elders shifting to nursing homes or live-in facilities as they become hard to care for and health issues progress. This is due to America’s heavy emphasis on individualism. Here in America, the drive to succeed, and reach for the stars leaves us highly motivated, and in a sense, selfish. Americans spend all their time and energy furthering themselves, causing them not to have time to worry and excessively care for others. In America, the mindset of “18” being the age where everyone is on their own, explains how we treat our elderly and why we have numerous institutions dedicated to their care.  However, this practice and mindset is mainly tied to American culture. (Lykins, 2023). So, from the perspective of an outsider viewing America’s nursing home culture, placing one’s elders in a nursing home is viewed as a sign of abandonment. (Chen, 2023) While there are conflicting views on the idea of nursing homes, what is more concerning is the lack of accurate data available about the safety involved in 5.0 star appraised nursing homes. 

When it comes to nursing homes, there are horror stories regarding abuse in healthcare facilities. There have been far too many reports of elder abuse, neglect, and far worse, but these reports end up getting squashed by a special appeal process that essentially protect’s the facade of many nursing homes, leaving them with a 5.0 star rating even after scandals arise. Essentially, yearly, state inspectors conduct deep inspections of nursing homes around the country, following the staff, and conducting checks such as food safety. However, these inspections are not being conducted up to par, for reasons such as the overworking of inspectors, and the lack of true impact they feel they are capable of. In fact, at 40 five star nursing homes, inspectors determined sexual abuse occurred, but did not count this as an issue that put resident’s lives in a harmful position. In a 2013 survey by the Center for Medicare Advocacy, an anonymous state inspector said, “I feel sometimes the things I cite don’t mean anything because it gets tossed out at the state level or they determine it not to be as severe.” (Lykins, 2023)

Process wise, when a state writes a citation against a nursing home facility, they are able to appeal via the informal dispute resolution process. This essentially allows the nursing home to protest that the inspectors were incorrect or the consequences for their citation were too severe. These appeals can take between 60 days and multiple years, what happens next varies based on the state. But, if the nursing home wins, the citations could be deleted from the permanent record, but through this whole process, the citation is not posted on the Care Compare website, a website featuring nursing homes, their ratings, reviews, and any citations listed. This allows many deficiencies, scandals, and problems at seemingly 5.0 star nursing homes to be swept under the rug. As of 2021, the alarming truth is that nursing homes in these appeals over 37% of the time. (Gebeloff et al., 2021)

Moreover, many nursing home residents are on the government program Medicare, which provides a mere monthly $30 personal needs allowance. This amount is nowhere near enough for residents’ personal expenses, whether it be aftershave, new pants, a take-out meal or a gift for a loved one. While most nursing homes have the facilities to provide residents proper meals, there are still small desires and items residents need to purchase on their own, and this becomes especially difficult when residents do not have families that assist financially. (Sedensky, 2023)

Nursing homes can be a great option when family members do not have the means to take care of their aging loved ones. However, time and research needs to be taken to ensure each nursing home is represented accurately to the public.

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References

Chen, A. (n.d.). “why do people put their parents in nursing homes when there are so many problems in them?” USC Center for Health Journalism. https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/insights/why-do-people-put-their-parents-nursing-homes-when-there-are-so-many-problems

Gebeloff, R., Thomas, K., & Silver-greenberg, J. (2021, December 9). How nursing homes’ worst offenses are hidden from the public. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/business/nursing-home-abuse-inspection.html

Lykins, D. (2023, November 16). How other cultures take care of their elderly. Med Mart. https://medmartonline.com/blog/how-other-cultures-take-care-of-their-elderly/

Sedensky, M. (2023, March 16). In nursing homes, the impoverished live their final days on pennies. https://www.inquirer.com. https://www.inquirer.com/health/nursing-homes-high-costs-philadelphia-united-states-20230316.html