A long-term care ombudsman is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to representing the interests of residents in care facilities. If a family member needs assistance, an ombudsman can help you with everything from finding a nursing home that meets your loved one's needs to resolving problems that arise once he or she is living in the chosen facility.
All 50 states have state and local long-term-care ombudsman programs. Typically, the state's point man is a state employee whose primary job is to coordinate with local ombudsman programs.
Although the state and local programs vary in the way they are structured, their goals are comparable: to educate people about long-term-care issues; to provide the information the elderly and their families need to make good decisions about nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and home-care agencies; to advocate on behalf of residents; and to resolve problems that arise between care providers and residents.
Most local programs rely on trained volunteers who visit facilities, meet with residents and develop a bond of trust. Residents are more willing to discuss their problems with someone they know.
Volunteers assist with a wide range of problems. They can help residents resolve disputes with their roommates and find solutions to their concerns about activities, food, dress requirements and a facility's policies on visitors. For example, Ruth Morgan, ombudsman for the Barren River District in Kentucky, recently helped a resident who complained that he wasn't getting the help he needed to take the daily walks that his doctor recommended as part of his physical therapy. She brought the problem to the staff's attention, and the patient's written care plan was revised to clarify the doctor's orders.
Often residents can handle a problem themselves, once an ombudsman explains their rights and suggests ways to resolve a dispute. But an ombudsman can also act on a resident's behalf and present the complaint to the staff or management if authorized by the resident or a person who legally represents him or her.
Depending on where you live, your state's long-term-care ombudsman may take on more complex issues. For example, if you believe that you or someone in your family is being wrongly discharged from a facility or denied Medicaid to cover long-term-care costs and you don't know where to turn, start with your ombudsman.