You may have heard the term ombudsman before in your research of nursing home neglect and abuse. This is an important person when it comes to this issue. They can help you if your loved one gets neglected or abused while in the care of a nursing home. Here, information will be provided to help you understand the role of this person.
Ombudsman
The government usually appoints an ombudsman. This person represents the interest of the public. They do so by investigating and addressing complaints of violation of rights. A violation of rights includes the neglect and abuse of your elderly loved one.
The usual duties of this person are to investigate complaints and to try to resolve them. This oftentimes happens through recommendations or mediation. They go through the appropriate steps to see what happened to your loved one. They make sure the correct actions are taking against the abusers.
These people sometimes also aim to identify systematic issues. These issues lead to poor service or breaches of people’s rights. If you suspect a breach in our elderly loved ones rights, the ombudsman will help you to get justice.
At the national level, ombudsmen have a wide mandate to deal with the whole public sector. Sometimes they also deal with elements of the private sector. In some cases, there is more of a restricted mandate. This might happen with particular sectors of society. The ombudsman is here to help you during the difficult time after the neglect or abuse of your loved one.
What an Ombudsman Can’t Do
There are certain things that these people can and cannot do. It is important for you to allow the ombudsman to do their job correctly. For example, and ombudsman can:
- Listen to you and discuss your concerns.
- Answer your questions or refer you to someone who can.
- Explain how policies or procedures work.
- Help you identify options or get information to help you resolve a problem.
- Mediate a dispute or help communication among people in conflict.
- Recommend changes to policies/procedures that appear outdated or problematic while maintaining confidentiality.
- Refer you to the appropriate office should you want to file a formal complaint.
- Identify trends or patterns of complaints or problems that might be systemic.
- Provide other forms of help to help you resolve a problem informally.
An ombudsman cannot:
- Make or change decisions, rules, or policies.
- Set aside a decision or supersede someone else’s authority.
- Duplicate an existing grievance procedure.
- Provide legal advice or act as a substitute for union representation.
- Testify in formal grievance, or legal proceedings about confidential communication.
- Conduct formal investigations.
These are rules that cannot be broken. If they are broken, it could result in the ombudsman losing their job. Of course you want this person to help you in your case. But, if they lose their job, they will not be able to help you anymore. It is important to follow their guidelines so that the process is done correctly.
Ombudsman and Neglect and Abuse
In a neglect and abuse case, an ombudsman is an official who investigates complaints. They will find out what happened and then help you to resolve the issue. They might do this by going to court or just working something out with the nursing home.
Get in touch with an ombudsman who investigated claims made against a home you have been researching. This will give you you more information about neglect and abuse in that home. This can help you make decisions about which homes to avoid and which ones will be suitable for your parent. It is important to know which homes have a bad record with the ombudsman. You can be sure that you are not going to put your loved one into a home that they could potentially be harmed in.
When contacting an ombudsman, understand that they won’t completely solve your problem. The ombudsman is there to investigate the issues reported. They are a useful source of information when it comes to researching a home to put your loved one in. This person can help you to prevent abuse before making the decision of which home to send your loved one to.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman
A long-term care ombudsman is a person dedicated to keeping elderly people in long-term care safe. The long term care ombudsman program does this by:
- Educating the public.
- Advocating for victims of abuse.
- Resolving nursing home resident complaints.
- Exploring issues of neglect, abuse, and exploitation.
The services offered by a long term care ombudsman apply to people such as:
- Residents of nursing homes.
- Those living in care facilities.
- Residents of assisted living facilities.
- Family members and friends of such residents.
- Employees of nursing homes.
- Administrators of nursing homes.
- People who are thinking about entering long term care.
- Those interested in the well being of long term care patients.
When such a person gets neglected or abused, they can get help from a long term care ombudsman. Your family or the victim can contact the long term care ombudsman program. A trained professional will work with you to resolve the complaint. This person has training to determine what is neglect and abuse. They know what is abuse and what is not. They will work to prevent issues of neglect and abuse by:
- Educating providers and consumers about neglect and abuse and how to prevent it.
- Checking in with facilities to make sure that their practices prevent neglect and abuse.
- Take part in local and state abuse prevention programs.
- Getting involved in public policy related to the neglect and abuse of the elderly.
- Developing citizen organizations and counsels to prevent abuse.
Finding the Right Home
When choosing a nursing home for your loved one, watch out. Consider finding a facility that has a relationship with this program. Nursing homes and other facilities that work with ombudsmen usually have plans in place. These plans can help prevent neglect and abuse.
An ombudsman can investigate neglect and abuse. They can confirm the neglect and abuse, which could help if your loved one wants to take the case to court. You should consult with the long-term ombudsman program. This should be one of the first steps after learning about abuse. An ombudsman can help your loved one in this situation. They can also prevent future neglect and abuse with the information from your loved one’s situation. For more information on getting help for your loved one, contact a neglect and abuse attorney.
