If you have a loved one living in a nursing home, it's likely because they are no longer able to care for themselves on their own. A nursing home is a great facility for them to be in because it allows them to receive the care that they need on a 24/7 basis. However, it's important that you are regularly checking up on your loved one, not only to help them maintain their emotional and mental health, but also to be sure that they are not being abused in the facility. Here are four rights your loved one still has while living in a nursing home that must be upheld:
- Some Level of Independence: Yes, your loved one is in the nursing home because they are no longer able to live independently. However, this doesn't mean that their freedoms should be stripped entirely. In fact, your loved one should be making most life decisions independently. For example, they should be choosing what to wear if they can, what to eat, and what to do in their spare time. If your loved one is not allowed to make little decisions like this, then this is a form of abuse that needs to be addressed.
- Private Communication: When your loved one makes calls, write letters, send e-mails, and even communicates with others in the nursing home, it needs to be private. Nothing should be intercepted by the nursing home workers. The right to private communication is important for your loved one. This is also true when it comes to having visitors, such as their family. These visits shouldn't be monitored, and your loved one has a right to be alone with their family during visiting times of the day.
- No Forced Treatment: Your loved one should not be being forced into taking certain medications unless it is important for their health and issued by their doctor. If there are problems, your loved one has the right to communicate with their doctor to talk about why they don't want to take that medication and if there are other options for them to consider instead.
- Not Being Excluded: All activities and social groups on the facility need to be open to all residents, and your loved one has a right to be involved in whatever it is that they want to be involved in. If they are excluded, it is a form of abuse that needs to be addressed, especially since exclusion at this stage in their life can be damaging to their mental stability.
When you know what kinds of rights your loved one has while living in a nursing home, you can take note when something is not being done properly and needs to possibly be addressed in a nursing home abuse case. In this case, you can contact a lawyer at a law firm like Gelman Gelman Wiskow & McCarthy LLC to move forward with this process for the protection of your loved one.
