Reform Proposal 2
Long term Care-grey group
By Cassie Fillhouer

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “Quality health means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, for the right person and having the best possible results”. Looking at long term health care this is very important and sometimes is overlooked by some care institutions. Why is this important to us? With the baby boomer population aging the elderly population is going to grow and by 2020 the United states is expecting Americans with chronic conditions to increase to 157 million (Shi and Singh p. 381). Chances of individuals knowing of someone, or in use of long term care themselves, is high. Not every American may be touched by long term care presently, but imagine for a moment a loved one, or eventually yourself, being placed in a long term care facility. How would you want to be treated and what if you could not afford a nicer facility? Would you still expect or hope to be treated for the same quality of care as a more expensive place? These are questions our group would like to address in our second reform proposal on improving and maintaining quality of long term health care at the state level.

First, to address the idea of quality of care individuals receive in long term care facilities, we would like to see more randomized auditing. By doing this, it will help ensure that residents and patients are getting the right care and hopefully help avoid neglect situations toward residents. By having more auditing reports we may also be able to prevent the problem of having unqualified staff. By ensuring that staff are qualified and trained to work with specific individuals, facilities could also help prevent the possibility of injury to residents or medication mishaps.

Improving the quality of life for the individual is another part of our proposal. “A sense of satisfaction, fulfillment, and self-worth is regarded as a critical patient outcome in any health care delivery setting. It takes added significance in long term care because (1) a loss of self-worth often accompanies disability and (2) Patients remain in long term care settings for relatively long periods with little hope of full recovery in most instances”, this is taken from Delivering Health Care in America by Leiyu Shi and Douglas A. Sing. To help address this idea we would like to see throughout the state of Wisconsin consistency in the quality of long term care, especially public facilities. We would like to see facilities create a “homelike” environment for residents by bring in children, pets, and having more activity choices available. The overall purpose of this is to make residents feel as comfortable as possible, like they never left home. According to the AARP article, A Balancing Act: State Long-Term Care Reform, “87% of people with disabilities age 50 and older want to receive long-term care services in their own homes. People want choice and control over everyday situations”. If individuals do not have the option of staying in their homes, we want to make sure that they can still feel at home wherever they choose to be.

Finally, to address the cost to improve and maintain the quality of long-term care, there would have to be an increase in spending to afford to have the extra auditing, training, and improvement in the facility environment. According to I-1029: better training or train wreck? By Kathie Durbin, beginning in 2010 long-term care workers will be required to have 34 to 75 hours of training to work. According to the article the state of Washington would pay the almost $30 million. In the long run this could help save money by the benefits of prevention and care outweighing the costs. Possible ways to get money could be from private donations or taking another look at areas that could be cut. A way to decide this could be to look at all the different consumer satisfaction ratings done by residents to determine what they want out of their facility.

Many individuals may see long-term care as something to worry about only if they themselves or a loved one use long-term care options, but long term care is just as important as any other health care option, facility, or issue in our society. Everyone is human and should have the same rights and quality of life as the next person no matter what the age or state.


Bibliography

AARP. July 2008. 15 Mar. 2009 .

Durbin, Kathie. "I-1029: better training or train wreck?." Columbian.com. 6 Oct.. 15 Mar. 2009 .

"Long-Term Care Reform Plan." Policy Council Document. 28 Sep. 2006. 15 Mar. 2009 .

Shi, Leiyu, and Douglas A. Singh. Delivering Health Care in America . 4th ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2008. 380-420.

"Your guide to choosing Quality Health Care." Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 15 Mar. 2009 .