Recognizing National Long-Term Care Residents' Rights Month

October is National Long-Term Care Residents' Rights Month, a time to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices many long-term care residents have made to better our community and to call attention to the rights of residents in long-term care facilities. This year's theme -- Welcome Home: Creating Connections between Residents and the Community, was selected to call attention to the fact that residents of long-term care facilities are still an important and valuable part of our local communities. Residents of long-term care facilities have had experiences most of us can only dream of. They are the founders of the communities we live in, and what we have as a community is due to their hard work and contributions. As a community, we need to involve residents in our activities -- such as Boy and Girl Scout functions, community forums, election rallies and annual community events.

By listening to residents' voices, we honor their lives and experiences as well as treat them with dignity and respect; staff and residents can enjoy relationships that enhance their day-to-day lives; and the long-term care facility can operate more effectively in its daily activities when based on and developed with consumer involvement. Many people care about residents -- family members, citizen advocates, long-term care ombudsman, facility staff and others. This care can be truly individualized and focused on each person's needs and preferences.

Celebrate and acknowledge these rights by participating in Residents' Rights Month events and calling on your elected officials and local facilities to show their support by attending or organizing activities.

During Residents' Rights Week we recognize our local long-term care ombudsman program staff and volunteers who work daily to promote residents' rights, assist residents with complaints, and provide information to those who need to find a long-term care facility. In this area, the ombudsman program of the Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging serves 18 counties with 163 licensed facilities. At present the Region 2 Ombudsman Program has 48 trained ombudsman volunteers.

Your assistance and attention helps to ensure the voices of long-term care residents do not go unheard and demonstrates to residents they have not been forgotten.

Jan McFerron is the long-term care ombudsman director for region 2 with the SEMO Area Agency on Aging.