Systemic Advocacy
The ombudsman program promotes systems change to address the quality of life for residents of long-term care facilities.
Quick Links:
Abuse and Neglect
Best Practices: Ombudsman Initiatives Addressing Neglect & Abuse
This paper provides an analysis of 13 long-term care Ombudsman Programs and their approaches to combating neglect and abuse in long-term care facilities. See also appendices in Excel format: Overview appendix; Training Group appendix.
California's Elder Abuse Investigators: Ombudsmen Shackled by Conflicting Laws & Duties (November 2009)
A report prepared for the California Senate Rules Committee at the request of the Subcommittee on Aging and Long-Term Care
Assisted Living
Translating Nursing Home Ombudsman Skills to Assisted Living: Something Old, Something New (March 2003)
State ombudsman programs vary in the length of experience they have in assisted living. This paper shows how, regardless of the differences among states, ombudsman skills and knowledge gained in nursing homes can be applied to individual and systemic advocacy in assisted living. There are also aspects of assisted living noted in this paper that pose special challenges and that call for different approaches. (Appendices not included. Call the Center if you need copies of the appendices.)
Translating Nursing Home Ombudsman Skills to Assisted Living: Something Old, Something New – Teaching Guide (May 2008)
This document is toassist long-term care ombudsman programs in teaching the content of the paper to LTCO to enable them to be more effective advocates for residents in assisted living.
Ombudsman Advocacy Challenges in Assisted Living: Outreach and Discharge (March 2001)
This technical assistance paper is presented in two sections. It begins by describing challenges programs face in doing assisted living outreach and practical steps they might take to more effectively reach assisted living consumers and providers. It continues with a focus on Ombudsman intervention in discharge cases.
Collaboration
Joining Forces for Resdients: Citizen Advocates and Long-Term Care Ombudsmen (March 2001)
A session at the 2000 Consumer Voice Annual Meeting focused on ways citizen advocacy groups (CAGs) and Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs (LTCOPs) have worked together to achieve a common goal.
Communication
Quality Care in any Setting: Using Ombudsman Knowledge to Help Consumers (February 2010)
This paper is intended to help ombudsmen recognize the knowlegde and resources about quality of care that they has and be alert for opportunities to share key information about quality of care with consumers.
Supporting Well Informed Consumers: The Role of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman (May 2005)
This paper grew out of a session with the same title at the 2004 Annual State Ombudsman Conference, where panelists Becky Kurtz, Sharon Zoesch, and Linda Sadden shared their practices and stimulated dialogue on the responsible sharing of LTCOP data with consumers. The paper explores federal requirements and national recommendations; uses for LTCOP data; program practices in sharing data; essential elements for responsible sharing; and key points on the hallmarks of programs that are sharing data and the need for continued dialogue on this issue.
Culture Change
Supporting Culture Change to Promote Individualized Care in Nursing Homes (May 2000)
Overview of the issues, relevant practice precedents and examples of best practices in implementing culture change in nursing homes.
Return to Top
Emergency Situations
The Role of Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Nursing Home Closures and Natural Disasters (January 2000)
The purpose of this paper is to identify the multiple roles of state, local, and volunteer long-term care ombudsmen in nursing home closures and natural disasters when the need arises to move residents to alternative sites. The material is presented in six stand-alone sections. (Appendices not included. Call the Center if you need copies of the appendices.)
Legislative Advocacy
Strategy Brief The Ombudsman Program and Legislative Advocacy (May 2006)
This report presents promising practices and strategies identified by ombudsmen concerning legislative advocacy. Included are discussion highlights from National Dialogue Forum #5 convened by the National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA) on the topic in September 2005. This was the fifth in a series of Forums NASUA convened on challenging issues facing State Long-term Care Ombudsmen. Also included is information gathered from an email solicitation to all programs in September 2005 in preparation for two conference calls.
Ombudsman Program Examples of Systems Advocacy
View From the Inside: Conversations With Residents Living in the Grant Park Care Center in Washington, DC (April 2009)
In September 2008, the Grant Park Care Center Resident Council agreed to work with The Catholic University law students to present residents' voices to nursing home administrators, current owners, the DC Department of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The "conversations" gathered within this document are intended to offer insight into resident concerns and will hopefully prompt the nursing home owners and administrators to make positive operational changes for Grant Park Care Center’s residents.
Best Practices: Results of a Dental Survey of Long-Term Care Providers (June 2000)
This survey, designed and implemented by the NC LTCOP, confirmed a lack of resources in North Carolina to take care of the dental needsof long term care residents. It also found that the shortage of dental care is particularly acute for residents relying on governmental assistance. The paper includes methodology, results and quotes from respondents.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program: Ombudsmen Talk About Guardianship (February 2004)
This paper presents highlights from a discussion of challenges that State Long-Term Care Ombudsmen encounter in the guardianship and surrogate decision-making arena and how their programs are attempting to address these issues. The discussion took place during two teleconferences conducted by NASUA for the Ombudsman Resource Center.
Ombudsman Best Practices: Using Systems Advocacy to Improve Life for Residents (June 2002)
This paper provides a framework for engaging in systems advocacy. It highlights "real life" examples including strategies and approaches for effecting change, and resources for creative ideas and lessons learned.
Return to Top
Personal Needs Allowance
Personal Needs Allowances for Residents Long-Term Care Facilities: A State by State Analysis (March 2009)
This brief is a complete revision to the 2001 and 2004 papers on PNA and includes the most recent PNA data by state and compares it with previous years. The document also compares PNAs for nursing home residents with PNAs for residents of assisted living facilities under the Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Service Waivers. Finally, the paper summarizes both state and national efforts to raise the PNA for residents in long-term care facilities.
Workforce
Summary of Workforce Issues and Residents: No Quick Fix? Be Creative in Systems Advocacy (April 2000)
Highlights the discussions about workforce issues, and residents at the National Ombudsman Training Conference.
