by Tyra Phipps, Ed.D. (tyra.phipps@gmail.com)

HELP!                                                                        

Mr. Dave Berry called attention to this article, Nursing Home Worker Fired for Sharing Video of Half Naked 93-year-old.  The story was covered by Ms. Ashlee Kieler and appeared with the Consumerist on January 19, 2016.

A healthcare worker tasked with caring for patients at a Wisconsin assisted-living facility lost her job recently after she allegedly shot a short video of a nearly nude resident and posted it on Snapchat.

The incident, just the latest in a string of cases in which employees have posted dehumanizing photos of seniors on social media, culminated in a felony charge for the 21-year-old former employee.

According to the criminal complaint against the nursing assistant, who faces up to three and a half years in prison for the charge of taking a nude photo without consent, the video showed a 93-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia sitting on a bed “in a bra and no underwear and no pants.”

The assistant admitted to posting the video, noting the decision “was immoral and very terribly wrong.”

The assisted-living facility tells ProPublica that it launched an investigation into the incident as soon as it learned about the video and notified state regulators.

ProPublica reports that there have been at least 16 other cases of workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers sharing photos or videos of residents on Snapchat.

Mr. Dave Berry also wrote “... the stories ... are heartbreaking.  The more I read, the more I come to see that many ALFs are functioning merely as storage facilities for the aged … a bunch of human logs stacked up and in transit to the saw mill.  A frightening prospect for all of us.”

Ten thousand people are reaching retirement age every day.  That scenario is expected to play out for the next fifteen to twenty years.  The aging 79 million Baby Boomer population followed by the 86 million Millennial population will create great demands for long-term care.  Social scientists report that the Baby Boomer population’s greatest fear is losing their minds or having dementia.  Many members of the Boomer population have already dealt with parenting problems revolving around Alzheimer’s and how to take care of loved ones.  There are thousands of stories about finding parents in long-term care facilities sitting in their own filth, malnourished, or even dead.  Adding to the lack of care in assisted living is the fear of finding a loved one pictured nude on Snapchat.  How can this be happening?

Dr. Bill Thomas and others point to the realities of ageism causing many of the dilemmas and lack of care occurring in skilled nursing, assisted-living, and dementia units.  His answer is the Eden Alternative and the need to Edenize existing facilities.  As mentioned in the Eden post, the core values are:

On January 19, 2016, Dr. Ronald Phipps who is retired and the former Secretary of Higher Education in Alaska and, Assistant Secretary of Higher Education in Maryland, observed that, “The principles from the Eden alternative provide a superb framework for standards by which to judge and evaluate elderly care!  They can be the basis for a rating check list--if they already haven’t.”

Ms. Kathleen Johnson wrote on January 15, 2016, “How can these places possibly exist?  All of the managers can sleep in a warm bed, eat out if they do not feel like cooking, go shopping, shower everyday.  What happens when their world is turned upside down and they no longer have a choice or selection?  What goes on in long-term care facilities never ceases to amaze me.  They are truly rotten to the core.  I have this terrible vision of barely any food on the plates and no one that will show up for the shift.   Honest to God, this cannot possibly continue much longer.  Someone needs to make a change and improve this degrading prison.  At least in a prison you will have three well balanced meals a day.   If not, there would be a riot!”  Ms. Johnson was trained by hospice and has worked in home care and long-term care facilities for fifteen years.

Ms. Angie Cave, a Certified Nursing Assistant/Geriatric Nursing Assistant and studying to be a licensed practical nurse wrote on January 11, 2016, “It breaks my heart that I know the level of care in these places is so poor.  The aides that do put forth the effort and really do care are stretched so far that they burn out.  Once the burnout comes, the level of care is hurt.  I’ve been there.  I tried to fill as many spots as possible, but that left me drained sometimes.  It’s worse when you were pulled in every direction which was a lot of my problems.  I want more time for the one on one, but there were so many times I spent cleaning up and catching up after someone that just didn’t care.  Someone, like most unfortunately, that was just there to put in the hours and go home.  I complained to deaf ears.  The powers that be didn’t care.  All they were concerned with was having a warm body fill a spot in the schedule.  It didn’t matter if they were incompetent or if they cared at all about what they were doing.”

Professor Emeritus Robert Llewellyn provided a different perspective on January 21, 2016.  “I have been fortunate.  So have my relatives who have had extended care with successful and often comforting experiences.  You have to do your research as well as place your name on waiting lists.  There are email sites that have user rated comments on Baltimore and Baltimore County facilities.  I find them more credible than PR from Better Business and such.  These sites often downplay issues.”

What are the real issues?

The neuroscientist, Dr. Daniel J. Levitan noted that, “We are getting smarter and much
information reaches us by the media.  The challenge for us is not that we have too much
information, but too much of disinformation.”  That includes disinformation about
long-term care.  Ageism is real.  Snapchat pictures of half naked elderly people are real. 
Poorly managed facilities with little or no regard for the dignity of the elderly are a
reality.  The demand for quality long-term care that is greater than the supply is real. 
What will it take to address these issues?

Ms. Elizabeth Gilbert interviewed January 10, 2016 on the NPR program, Growing
Bolder and talked about her book, Big Magic:  Creative Living Beyond Fear. 
Ms. Gilbert emphasized the importance of looking at aging as presenting opportunities,
embracing curiosity, and letting go of needless suffering.  Dr. Maya Angelou, American
author, poet, and civil rights activist was asked what is most important in life just three
weeks before her death.  Reflecting on her life, she paused and said, “Courage.”  To
address the serious issues that exist in long-term care will require courage.  After all,
Mr. David Cravey, a hospice worker with more than twenty years of experience in
long-term care facilities shared on January 19, 2016, “Never ignore these people. 
Someone is still awake and aware in there.” 

Questions for Consideration:

1.  Dr. Bill Thomas, a gerontologist states on his webpage “... my rejection of the status quo in long-term care needed to be tempered (in public at least) if I was ever going to make a lasting impact.  This understanding led me to embrace It Can Be Different.  What if everything we think we know about aging is wrong?”  Read more and join ChangingAging.org.

2.  The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care started in 1975 with a group of advocates working for Mr. Ralph Nader.  It was a coalition of citizens that advocated serious reform in nursing home conditions.

The vision and mission statement of the Consumer Voice is to represent consumers and issues related to long-term care, ensure that consumers are empowered to advocate for themselves, to be a primary source of information and tools for consumers, families, caregivers, advocates, and ombudsmen to ensure quality care for the individual. 
Read more and join at theconsumervoice.org.

3.  Ms. Susan Aycock Webb suggested reinforcing a paradigm change on January 9, 2016.  “I read/saw on television about a long-term care facility that was built next door to a daycare center and about all the wonderful interactions between residents of the long-term care facility and the kids in daycare.  Interacting with children is one of the principles of the Eden approach.  I know how much children, my grandsons, were appreciated at the facility where my father-in-law lived.  This interaction is something that does not cost any extra money and gives tremendous benefits to all involved!”

4.  Ms. Jean Tyler wrote on October 15, 2015 about a consumer empowered experience and her mother.  “I have to say that Brightview, where my Mother was, served excellent meals.  They had menus for residents to choose the next day's servings and the food was also attractive in its presentation.  I would sometimes have lunch with my Mom, at an additional cost, of course, but it was always delicious.  The cook was a jolly person and took great pride in the meals he prepared.  He would walk around the dining room and inquire of the residents about the food.”  On January 25, 2016, Ms. Tyler added, "Not only did she have good meals, but she was surrounded by very compassionate people.  When she needed hospitalization and upon her release from the hospital required rehab at another nursing facility, they held a room for her so that when she got better Mom could return to Brightview."

January, 2016