Archive for the ‘Grassroots’ Category
April 20, 2009
“Ratings don’t function well to explain abuse”
The Oklahoman founder of a national watchdog group for nursing homes called state and national governments to action to change how substantiated abuse cases are cited and how they influence the rating of nursing homes on the federal Medicare.gov Web site.
Because families of nursing home residents rely heavily on this rating system, the information there needs to be accurate and complete, he said. Otherwise, the whole system should be taken away.
During a town hall meeting, Wes Bledsoe asked the audience members what they would like to know about a nursing home if they were searching for one for a loved one. They all agreed they would want to know if there has been mistreatment or any kind of abuse.
He went through numerous Minnesota Department of Health reports. Many showed there was substantiated abuse. But because the facilities self reported the incidents and implemented a plan of correction before the state health department arrived, they were not cited any deficiencies.
In fact, more than 80 percent of the cases where abuse was substantiated in Minnesota over the last four years, there were not any deficiencies cited.
Full Article and Source:
Nursing home crusader calls for change
See also:
Nursing Home Ratings
EA Advocate Holds Meeting
Community Outrage
Posted in Federal, Grassroots, Medicare, Minnesota, Nursing Home, Oklahoma | 8 Comments »
April 20, 2009
>
“Ratings don’t function well to explain abuse”
The Oklahoman founder of a national watchdog group for nursing homes called state and national governments to action to change how substantiated abuse cases are cited and how they influence the rating of nursing homes on the federal Medicare.gov Web site.
Because families of nursing home residents rely heavily on this rating system, the information there needs to be accurate and complete, he said. Otherwise, the whole system should be taken away.
During a town hall meeting, Wes Bledsoe asked the audience members what they would like to know about a nursing home if they were searching for one for a loved one. They all agreed they would want to know if there has been mistreatment or any kind of abuse.
He went through numerous Minnesota Department of Health reports. Many showed there was substantiated abuse. But because the facilities self reported the incidents and implemented a plan of correction before the state health department arrived, they were not cited any deficiencies.
In fact, more than 80 percent of the cases where abuse was substantiated in Minnesota over the last four years, there were not any deficiencies cited.
Full Article and Source:
Nursing home crusader calls for change
See also:
Nursing Home Ratings
EA Advocate Holds Meeting
Community Outrage
Posted in Federal, Grassroots, Medicare, Minnesota, Nursing Home, Oklahoma | Leave a Comment »
April 15, 2009
Canada – Though it’s already been passed by the legislature, an Alberta advocacy group is calling for repeal of the province’s new Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act.
The group, the Elder Advocates of Alberta, is planning an information session April 16 in Lethbridge. It’s set for 1 p.m. at the local Legion.
Ruth Maria Adria, a spokesperson for the Edmonton-based organization: “Once you have had your rights taken away from you, you are totally powerless. You become a non-person.”
She warns that’s one of the impacts of the new law, recently proclaimed in effect after receiving approval in the Alberta legislature. It replaces former “Dependent Adult” law. “Because we receive and investigate complaints, we are grassroots people who understand the legislation through the eyes of persons who have been aggrieved by Dependent Adult legislation.”
The new law, she believes, is unjust because it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People of any age can be placed under guardianship, she points out, and they’ll lose control of all finances and property.
The organization predicts the proclamation of this act will open the floodgates of the financial abuse of thousands of Alberta citizens, and human rights abuses on an unprecedented scale.
Source:
New law not in seniors’ best interest, group says
Posted in Grassroots, International | 5 Comments »
April 15, 2009
>
Canada – Though it’s already been passed by the legislature, an Alberta advocacy group is calling for repeal of the province’s new Adult Guardianship and Trusteeship Act.
The group, the Elder Advocates of Alberta, is planning an information session April 16 in Lethbridge. It’s set for 1 p.m. at the local Legion.
Ruth Maria Adria, a spokesperson for the Edmonton-based organization: “Once you have had your rights taken away from you, you are totally powerless. You become a non-person.”
She warns that’s one of the impacts of the new law, recently proclaimed in effect after receiving approval in the Alberta legislature. It replaces former “Dependent Adult” law. “Because we receive and investigate complaints, we are grassroots people who understand the legislation through the eyes of persons who have been aggrieved by Dependent Adult legislation.”
The new law, she believes, is unjust because it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People of any age can be placed under guardianship, she points out, and they’ll lose control of all finances and property.
The organization predicts the proclamation of this act will open the floodgates of the financial abuse of thousands of Alberta citizens, and human rights abuses on an unprecedented scale.
Source:
New law not in seniors’ best interest, group says
Posted in Grassroots, International | Leave a Comment »
April 11, 2009
Wes Bledsoe is founder of
A Perfect Cause, an Oklahoma organization dedicated to ending elder abuse in long-term care facilities. Local complaints about Castle Manor Nursing Home brought him to Hot Springs, where he conducted a town hall-style meeting involving more than 200 people on March 5.
Since then, Bledsoe said he has received more calls from current and former workers about additional alleged abuse, as well as allegations of neglect and billing issues.
Bledsoe was asked if he had attempted to contact the nursing home administration to arrange a meeting, to which he replied, “I don’t make a practice to meet with administrators. By the time I am called, the time for talking is past, and it is time to take action.”
There is an ongoing investigation by local and state authorities into allegations of sexual abuse involving a former male nursing assistant last fall. Bledsoe said he had met with Fall River County State’s Attorney Jim Sword to discuss the case and additional allegations. Sword by telephone confirmed the meeting but did not discuss details.
Full Article and Source:
Elder care advocate holds another meeting in Hot Springs
Posted in District Attorney, Elder Abuse, Grassroots, Nursing Home, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Web Site | 5 Comments »
April 11, 2009
>
Wes Bledsoe is founder of
A Perfect Cause, an Oklahoma organization dedicated to ending elder abuse in long-term care facilities. Local complaints about Castle Manor Nursing Home brought him to Hot Springs, where he conducted a town hall-style meeting involving more than 200 people on March 5.
Since then, Bledsoe said he has received more calls from current and former workers about additional alleged abuse, as well as allegations of neglect and billing issues.
Bledsoe was asked if he had attempted to contact the nursing home administration to arrange a meeting, to which he replied, “I don’t make a practice to meet with administrators. By the time I am called, the time for talking is past, and it is time to take action.”
There is an ongoing investigation by local and state authorities into allegations of sexual abuse involving a former male nursing assistant last fall. Bledsoe said he had met with Fall River County State’s Attorney Jim Sword to discuss the case and additional allegations. Sword by telephone confirmed the meeting but did not discuss details.
Full Article and Source:
Elder care advocate holds another meeting in Hot Springs
Posted in District Attorney, Elder Abuse, Grassroots, Nursing Home, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Web Site | Leave a Comment »
December 13, 2008
About 50 angry residents turned out at a community meeting sharply criticizing the county attorney and the management of Good Samaritan nursing home for their handling of abuse cases that have rocked the community.
Criminal complaints filed last week say six teenage aides taunted and groped nursing home residents who had advanced dementia, hitting and poking their breasts and genitals, sticking fingers in their mouths or noses to keep them from screaming, and laughing about it.
One after another, people at the somber meeting voiced amazement that the abuse could continue for months and that the aides were charged with gross misdemeanors rather than felonies.
The two-hour meeting at an Albert Lea hotel was organized by Wes Bledsoe, an activist from Oklahoma. Bledsoe started the advocacy group A Perfect Cause after his grandmother died from maltreatment in a nursing home there.
Guilty or not, he said, “if the two young women had been men, they would have been charged with felonies” instead of gross misdemeanors that might yield only suspended sentences and fines. They thought they could get away with it, because the residents had dementia, couldn’t speak up for themselves”.
Document: Complaint against Brianna Marie Broitzman
Document: Complaint against Ashton Michelle Larson
Full Article and Source:
Families sound off on abuse at Albert Lea nursing home
See also:
The Albert Lea abuse case
Town Hall Meeting Addresses Albert Lea Nursing Home Abuse
National Advocate in Albert
Albert Lea Community Outraged Over Allegations of Nursing Home Abuse
Six Former Workers Charged in Albert Lea Nursing Home Abuse
Video: Abuse Allegations Meeting
Video: Community Backlash
Posted in Elder Abuse, Grassroots, Minnesota, Nursing Home, Oklahoma, Video, Web Site | 7 Comments »
December 13, 2008
>
About 50 angry residents turned out at a community meeting sharply criticizing the county attorney and the management of Good Samaritan nursing home for their handling of abuse cases that have rocked the community.
Criminal complaints filed last week say six teenage aides taunted and groped nursing home residents who had advanced dementia, hitting and poking their breasts and genitals, sticking fingers in their mouths or noses to keep them from screaming, and laughing about it.
One after another, people at the somber meeting voiced amazement that the abuse could continue for months and that the aides were charged with gross misdemeanors rather than felonies.
The two-hour meeting at an Albert Lea hotel was organized by Wes Bledsoe, an activist from Oklahoma. Bledsoe started the advocacy group A Perfect Cause after his grandmother died from maltreatment in a nursing home there.
Guilty or not, he said, “if the two young women had been men, they would have been charged with felonies” instead of gross misdemeanors that might yield only suspended sentences and fines. They thought they could get away with it, because the residents had dementia, couldn’t speak up for themselves”.
Document: Complaint against Brianna Marie Broitzman
Document: Complaint against Ashton Michelle Larson
Full Article and Source:
Families sound off on abuse at Albert Lea nursing home
See also:
The Albert Lea abuse case
Town Hall Meeting Addresses Albert Lea Nursing Home Abuse
National Advocate in Albert
Albert Lea Community Outraged Over Allegations of Nursing Home Abuse
Six Former Workers Charged in Albert Lea Nursing Home Abuse
Video: Abuse Allegations Meeting
Video: Community Backlash
Posted in Elder Abuse, Grassroots, Minnesota, Nursing Home, Oklahoma, Video, Web Site | Leave a Comment »
National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse 