Additional Links
The Center attempts to stay current on Internet sites that are useful to ombudsmen and to pass along the URL addresses of particularly interesting and informative websites that might help ombudsman in their efforts to promote residents' rights and improve quality of care.
The sites are organized by category. Please click on the category below to access a list of related links:
If you find an interesting site that you think should be added to these lists, please contact us with your suggestion.
Statistical Resources
Administration on Aging (AoA)
Get current information on AoA grant programs, Older Americans' Month theme and materials and find links to many useful sites on aging.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program Data
Find data and reports on long-term care ombudsman programs. All programs efforts are summarized in the National Ombudsman Reporting System (NORS) to include the number of facilities visited, the types of complaints handled, and the kinds of complaints filed with ombudsmen. Data has been collected since 1996 and gives a good picture of the extent of ombudsman activities nationally and in every state.
Federal Interagency Forum
Get the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics report: Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being. This report covers 38 key indicators of aspects of the lives of older Americans and their families.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Get the Consumer Expenditure Survey annual reports and various data tables.
Trends in Health and Aging
Click on "Trends in Health and Aging" to view trends in health-related behaviors, health status, health care utilization, and cost of care for the older population in the United States. This interactive site allows you toquery NCHS's wealth of data tables to create your own. There is also a link from this site to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics.
Census Bureau Population Profiles
Find census bureau population profiles in many different categories.
Commonwealth Fund Reports
Many Commonwealth Fund reports are available on this site, including "The Roles of Medicare and Medicaid on Financing Health and Long-Term Care for Low-Income Seniors: A Chart Book on Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees in Four States."
General Accounting Office
From the General Accounting Office home page, click on "GAO Reports," and then scroll down to "GAO Archives." Clicking on this link will give you a friendly search engine to find a wide variety of reports.
Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy
The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide access to the full range of statistics and information produced by 70 Federal government agencies for public use.
Kaiser Family Foundation Health Information
Get comprehensive health information for all 50 states, DC and the U.S. territories. Compare and rank data across states and compare to U.S. totals.
The Medicaid Resource Book
This book is designed to be a reference tool that provides information on who the program serves, the services it offers, and how it is funded and administered. It includes chapters on:
- Eligibility, benefits, financing and administration
- A Medicaid legislative history
- A Medicaid glossary
- Indicies to Medicaid statute and regulations
Prepared by Andy Schneider and staff members of the Commission (Pub #2236), you may request a hardcopy via publications number (800) 656-4533.
Nursing Facilities, Staffing, Residents, and Facility Deficiencies, 2004 Through 2009
This book by Charlene Harrington, et. al., published in 2010, provides quality of care data for nursing homes.
Nursing Facilities, Staffing, Residents and Facility Deficiencies, 2003 Through 2008
This book by Charlene Harrington, et. al., published in November 2009, provides quality of care data for nursing homes.
Legal Service Providers
Legal Services for Older Adults and Elder Law
This site, accessible from the AoA website, provides information on the growing legal specialty of Elder Law and contains direct links to many legal resources, directories and guides.
Links to Legal Services Providers for Older Americans: By State
This site, developed by The Center for Social Gerontology (TCSG), provides direct links to one or two Web sites in each state that allows to you to locate legal services providers for older Americans who have been funded under the Older Americans Act to provide services to the most socially and economically vulnerable older persons. This list had been added to the TCSG's overall State Legal Services Development site under the category of Listings of Legal Services Developers & Elder Law Programs where you can now find the following complete listings:
- Listing of State Legal Services Developers in all 50 States
- Listing of Legal Services Providers for Older Americans by State
- Listing of Legal Hotlines for Older Americans AoA Site
- Links to Other Key Legal Services-Related Sites
- Consumers' Guide to Legal Help on the Internet ABA site
Local Ombudsman Programs
More than 200 Local and State Ombudsman Programs have website. These are included in the Center's state-by-state information for consumers. If your site is not listed there, contact Becka Livesay, Project/Research Assistant, to update our database.
National Association of Local Long Term Care Ombudsmen (NALLTCO)
View the "Ombudsman Exchange" a NALLTCO publication that brings you news and views from local ombudsmen.
Georgia Council of Community Ombudsman
The Georgia Council of Community Ombudsmen's website contains good information; be sure to sign the guestbook and subscribe to their newsletter. If you have any suggestions please send your comments to their Web manager.
I CARE Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Get helpful information on the Illinois Ombudsman Program, including volunteer information and a monthly newsletter to volunteer advocates entitled "I CARE ideas." Comments or questions regarding the I CARE website may be directed to icare@icare.ws.
King County Long-Term Care Ombudsman (King County, WA)
A program of the Fremont Public Association (FPA), this site is bright and colorful with easy to read, large fonts and pictures of real people.
Northern Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman (Fairfax County, VA)
Find helpful links ranging from explanations of what an ombudsman does to how to choose a nursing home or assisted living facility. This site also includes a volunteer application.
Other Links
Administration on Aging (AoA)
AoA provides home and community-based services to millions of older persons through programs funded under the Older Americans Act. This website provides an overview of a wide variety of topics, programs and services related to aging, including the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.
American Bar Association Ombudsman Committee
Sponsored by the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, this site offers a discussion group, model legislation, and links to state laws, articles, and papers of interest.
Culture Change Now
Culture change is a mindset. It challenges nursing homes to think outside the box and adopt a social model of care, creating vibrant, elder-friendly communities that residents can call home. Visit this site for more on culture change, resident-centered care, and local initiatives.
CareWatchers
CareWatchers is a non-profit organization that advocates for resident’s rights, quality of life and care in nursing homes. The site was designed by a volunteer ombudsman to provide information to consumers and to support the organization and development of resident councils andfamily councils.
Federal Benefits
This website helps people determine if they qualify for certain federal benefits programs, including Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
HealthCare.gov
This website, mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, provides information on health insurance programs. The site provides links to two other online resources run by the Department of Health and Human Services: Healthfinder.gov, an inventory of health advice, and Hospital Compare, which allows users to compare the quality of care of hospitals throughout the country.
The National Health Law Program (NHeLP)
NHeLP has launched this new site which features hundreds of articles with information ranging from basic health care definitions to keeping health care costs down, coping with emergencies, dealing with denied claims, and what people can do when they lose coverage.
The United States Ombudsman Association
The United States Ombudsman Association is the national organization for public sector ombudsman professionals. Founded in 1977, USOA is North America's oldest national ombudsman association with members from local, state, federal governments and affiliated ombudsman offices. Its purpose is to assist existing ombudsman and ombudsman organizations in improving the operation of their offices throughout the United States.